Well, the birth wasn't virgin...
He was a Nazorean..'not from nazareth'
An ancient practioner of the religion of Egypt, Isis and Osiris....
...and Mary, snakes and all was not the whore, however the death, annointing,
rebirth and sacred sex thing piques my interest....

....
some say he came from New Orleans,
where he got in a fight oer a cagin' queen,
and a crashing blow from that big right hand,
sent a Mississippi gambler to the promised land,

big John . . . the Baptist

"Cyli" wrote in message
...
On 16 Dec 2004 22:37:38 GMT, irate (Dave LaCourse)
wrote:

Bill Claspy opines:

And, don't forget the reason for the season.

Winter solstice!


The Bible doesn't say when Christ was born, and while it is true that the
winter solstice was chosen, it is NOT the reason MOST people celebrate
the
season. We celebrate His birthday, whether you like it or not. He is
the
reason for the season.

Most Biblical scholars say it couldn't have been anywhere near the
winter (N of the equator) solstice. They figure probably spring some
time.

If the Passover weren't so well dated and the New Testament didn't
indicate that the death and resurrection were together with it, I'd
think that Christmas and Easter should be the other way around. What
more appropriate (especially in English or related language) than the
return of the Sun and the Son? What more appropriate for spring than
the birth?

Most CHRISTIANS celebrate Christ's birthday. Almost all other
religions, old and new, that are much written about and in the
northern temperate zones have or had some sort of special observance
at that time of year. The Solstices were unequalled in all non-urban
(every race / creed at one time) groups in their power to affect
people. Even urbanites are capable of noticing that it nights get
longer and the fresh fruits and veggies either aren't around or aren't
local.

Traditions of some kind that long predated Christianity in our rather
Euro-Centric world were practiced. Many of them similar to the ones
which have grown to cluster now around Christmas. Now spending large
amounts of money has been added. It's okay.

BTW, I advise skipping the book, "Skipping Christmas". It was
assigned for our book club this month (a non-meeting month) and I
faithfully read almost half of it. John Grisham is generally a good
writer, but that was all I could handle. So I skimmed the last half.
It made me think of an attempt at something literary based on the
Griswold Family Christmas movie. It sucks. I'd sooner re-read all
the gun threads I've ever seen on rec.backcounty and here than ever
read it again. The characters were less loveable than ROFF on a bad
day. The premise was mildly interesting, but only mildly. The plot
got pretty badly stretched in some spots so "humor" could be forced
in. The very few episodes with real sentiment were overshadowed by
the, still few, episodes of deliberate schmaltz.

If you want to read something that will inspire you to contribute to a
food bank or homeless housing, try his book, "The Street Lawyer",
which will tell you why you might want to give a little more. Except
for the dramatic opening, it seems to be a realistic clue on what
happens to the fringes who can't make it into our idea of normal
society.

Cyli
r.bc: vixen. Minnow goddess. Speaker to squirrels.
Often taunted by trout. Almost entirely harmless.

http://www.visi.com/~cyli
email: lid (strip the .invalid to email)