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186 Comments
- immatellyouwhat, on 11/11/2009, -8/+64Also, many Pagan rituals and ideals where taken and put into Christianity. I don't remember completely but eating the body and drinking the blood of a god is one of them. Also December 25th was Pagan date, Jesus was never born in December.
- solecize, on 11/11/2009, -5/+44Not to be confused with heathens, or people without religion otherwise known as diggers.
- Wareznuke, on 11/11/2009, -25/+59Twelve Things You Probably Don't Give a ***** About.
- doctechnical, on 11/11/2009, -1/+29Celebrating around an equinox or solstice isn't limited to one culture or another, Easter comes close the the Spring equinox (1st Sunday after the 1st new moon post-equinox IIRC), Dec25 is pretty close to the Winter Solstice (the Romans celebrated Saturnalia around the same time frame)...
Orbital mechanics do not respect religion :) - Snoogs, on 11/11/2009, -2/+24These dates were absorbed by the Christian religion to appease, then convert, the existing Pagans without either killing them or destroying their culture.
Jesus was born in September, 6 BC by recent calculations based on Bible stories and astronomy. - Divals, on 11/11/2009, -3/+22As opposed to...?
- benmandude, on 11/11/2009, -9/+27One thing about atheists, we do not give a a ***** about religion.
- Divals, on 11/11/2009, -1/+17I don't think I've ever heard of a religion that bases its beliefs on evidence. If it did, it wouldn't be a religion, being that religions are based around faith in something that cannot be proven.
- MacBandit, on 11/11/2009, -2/+17This is not true. That is a definition that was created by Christians.
- Kirizan, on 11/11/2009, -2/+17Jesus would have been born in the spring, because that's the only time Mary and Joesph would have been traveling to Bethalham, since that was where you celebrated passover. It was also where the government would do the census and collect taxes, since everyone was in one place. December 25th is the birthday of the sun god Mithra, and also the birthday of several other sun gods. Easter is a celebration of the goddess Ester who was born from an egg, and who's symbol was the hare, which is why you paint eggs and eat chocolate bunnies on Easter. Ester was also the mother of Mithra, and the goddess of fertility, so if you read about early celebrations of Easter, it's comparable to modern day Marti Gras.
Christmas,Halloween, and Easter were adopted by the early Catholic church during the Consul of Nicea and some time there after as a way of making Christianity more appealing to the Pagans. As far as the eating of the body, and drinking of the blood, I do not know if pagans also did something similar, but I do know it's the only ceremony that came from the bible. Christmas, Easter, and Halloween were never put in the bible as one of Gods festivals, and are actually pagan rituals dressed up and giving the name of God, which violates the 3rd commandment. - anexanhume, on 11/11/2009, -0/+15Actually, you do. Otherwise, atheists wouldn't spend so much time telling people that they're idiots for believing in God and why God isn't necessary for the universe to exist.
- MacBandit, on 11/11/2009, -1/+15I'm personally a spiritual person but not big on religions. I will not deny the possibility of a god or gods but don't necessarily have one I believe in. That said if I were to follow a religion it would be something like Paganism. I love camping and hiking year round and a big part of that is spiritual it feels. I like the religious beliefs of the Native Indians in the Pacific NW in that every rock, plant, and animal has a spirit.
- aklu, on 11/11/2009, -1/+15Oh yes you do. Think about it. You just took time to post the fact that you don't give a *****. That must mean you care enough to post your opinion, hoping to sway others to your view. You most definitely give a ***** about it. You just disagree with it.
- holzy44, on 11/11/2009, -2/+14naww. i think it's less ridiculous, they pray to real things like the moon, stars, and seasons. not some vengeful old man.
- serif69, on 11/11/2009, -1/+12That's a pretty bold thing to say considering the level of rage religion inspires in atheists here on digg.
But then again I'm agnostic. So I'm not sure I know anything. - goobly, on 11/11/2009, -2/+13Are you kidding? You're not allowed to say Merry Christmas? By whose decree? Spare me your victim complex, you piece of *****.
- saucercrab, on 11/11/2009, -1/+12I believe you're mistaking Pagan for Heathen.
- hmmdar, on 11/11/2009, -0/+11The concept of painting eggs for christian Easter original came from the Pegans celebrating the new life that spring would bring.
- jeremiahjw, on 11/11/2009, -0/+10RE: many elements of Paganism being in Christianity, this is true. Christmas being on December 25th, practices of Christmas (trees, holly, etc), Easter eggs, and the likes. Thing is that they aren't in the BIBLE. As various pagan groups were "converted" they kept some of their practices and assimilated them into Christianity. Also, those trying to gain converts would incorporate some of the Pagan practices in order to draw them in.
- jumbalia, on 11/11/2009, -2/+11Really not a fan of authors who use the pronoun "we" when referring to a large and diverse group of people. I'm sure there are many self-identifying Pagans who would disagree with many of these points.
- blobrana, on 11/11/2009, -2/+11May the force be with you
- Harabeck, on 11/11/2009, -2/+10No publikjohn, I feel I'm quite correct. When I said "scholars" I did not mean clerics, I meant historians, people who would look at the issue objectively. It is widely believed that a man named Jesus did in fact live and preach a new form of Judaism. I said nothing about what mythological attributes or events are tied to him, or where those claims originated. And let me be clear, he is not my Jesus, I believe he existed, but I believe he was just a man.
Also, your little word play there (son => sun) is pretty retarded. That only works in english. Your other "arguments" aren't much better. - opticwind, on 11/11/2009, -2/+10I'm sure Paganism within itself is fine, but in college all the Pagans I know are just wanna-be "individuals" who think that being something underground will make them appear cool and unique. Ultimately they just get branded as the weirdo who wants to tell you about the moon goddess.
- JasonAdams13, on 11/11/2009, -0/+8Zoroastrianism begs to differ.
Zorro + Astro = pretty awesome in my books - Kronos6948, on 11/11/2009, -0/+8I'm an atheist, and yet I still say "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Hannukah". I recognize the holidays for what they are.
- guanyin, on 11/11/2009, -1/+9I am Pagan and Proud and we are growing everyday. Most Pagans are solitaries, who study and develop their own belief system based on Earth centric values and a dual divinity, male and female. We do not proselytize, and try to do no harm to living things. Other than these core values it is pretty much what you make it. I don't feel I have to validate or justify my religion to anyone, and all the negative comments only remind me of the reason for rebuking main stream religion and smug intellectualism.
Blessed Be! - SpazAttack5000, on 11/11/2009, -0/+7I take that as a compliment.
- briarmoss, on 11/11/2009, -0/+7sounds like catholics
- holzy44, on 11/11/2009, -0/+7um SlothAnus i think you forgot a /s
- capheine, on 11/11/2009, -3/+10THIS IS DIGG. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BE AGNOSTIC OR SPIRITUAL.
ATHEIST OR GTFO. - Zoshx, on 11/11/2009, -2/+913.) Hipsters love Paganism.
- Elranzer, on 11/11/2009, -3/+9Not that I'm a Christian, but publikjohn your theory is flawed. The English words "son" and "sun" being homonyms don't play a role at all in the Christian faith, as they have nothing to do with the original languages they were written it.
- guanyin, on 11/11/2009, -0/+6Honestly, that is what I like about it. Part of the appeal is that religion is ridiculous but somehow necessary for some of us to be happy. Paint your own wagon so to speak. Why not have a religion that take the best of ancient wisdom and science seriously?
- Alabaster1234, on 11/11/2009, -1/+7The word pagan originally didn't have anything to do with religion. It was a synonym for "rural" or anyone not of the city.
It became a more generic anti-christian word when the church was trying to exert control over the common folk and their disparate multi-deity nature based religions. - KissTheRing, on 11/11/2009, -1/+7Yeah I know what you mean, of the people I've known that call themselves pagans I haven't met one that considered it a serious religion, they just think all the stories and celebrations are neat.
- DouglasScott, on 11/11/2009, -0/+6Gotta love Saturnalia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnalia - inactive, on 11/11/2009, -1/+7Well Pagans, christians, Islams whatever all think they reserve the right to fill in gaps with supernatural phenomena. That kind of non critical thinking is the fundamental underpinning of all religion.
- rocknog, on 11/11/2009, -0/+6Are there any religions whose beliefs are evidence-based? Pretty much all religions I can think of off the top of my head are faith-based, and faith, by its very nature, necessitates a lack of evidence. Also, to many pagans I know, their beliefs are metaphorical representations of how they perceive the world, not literal beliefs about how the world actually is, anyway.
- Harabeck, on 11/11/2009, -1/+6I think you're getting "laboratory plasma physics" and "commonalities within the human psyche" mixed up. Yes, the warrior-hero appears in many cultures, but it's not uniformly tied to Mars.
- goobly, on 11/11/2009, -0/+5I don't understand... I was under the impression that we are not allowed to say Merry Christmas...
- skipvt, on 11/11/2009, -0/+5Free goat leggings!
- relvlix, on 11/11/2009, -3/+8From the article...
Magick - "the non-coincidental accumulation of meaningful 'coincidences.'" - MrChunks, on 11/11/2009, -2/+7Praying to the moon, stars and seasons isn't ridiculous? It's all ridiculous!
edit: Ah, you said less ridiculous. It's marginally less ridiculous but it's still ridiculous. - marm0lade, on 11/11/2009, -0/+5@chuckDontSurf
I had tripe last week and it did not taste at all irrational, nor have I *ever* eaten irrational tripe in all my days. I don't think you know what you are talking about. - jumbalia, on 11/11/2009, -1/+6This may be news to you, but there are other monotheistic religions besides Christianity
- 4NDr01D, on 11/11/2009, -5/+10"Pagan" is not a religion
its is a term used by xtians to describe non xtians
wiccan is wiccan
druidism is druidism
norse is norse
great buffalo is great buffalo
great turtle is great turtle
white elephant is white elephant
quezocatl is quezocatl
xtians should be fed to lions - anixmander, on 11/11/2009, -1/+6Harabeck and Elranzer have you there, Publikjohn, just taking a quick look at the words for son and sun, in say, Hebrew, and you'd realize this.
Sun= shemesh
Son= ben - Kronos6948, on 11/12/2009, -0/+4Atheists aren't taking away your right to anything of the sort.
You have any proof? - Soleanthia, on 11/11/2009, -0/+4It's used to differentiate between illusion "magic", like Penn & Teller pull a rabbit out of the hat stuff. Can't remember what started that trend, but I've seen it many times before.
- Elranzer, on 11/11/2009, -2/+6Atheists give a ***** about religion. They just don't give a ***** about gods.
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