Christmas is Christian?

Ok, so the holiday we call Christmas does have the word Christ in it. But, what about all those traditional Christmas customs?

Let's begin with the timing.  If one reads the Bibe, it certainly points to a time other than late December as the birth of Jesus. Oddly enough, many pagan rituals predating Jesus' birth take place in this time of year. Late December, specifically, the 25th, seems to be the time of birth for many deities - all predating Jesus.

Now then, what about those trees? Our beautiful Christmas trees, surely they are strictly christian in nature? Sorry, no they are not. The use of evergreen trees is a European pagan tradition. The evergreen symbolized rebirth to these pagans and was used in the celebration of the winter solstice. Which occurs, amazingly enough,  in late December. These was referred to as the celebration of Yule, for their "Sun God".

The fat man in a red suit? Well, it seems he may have started out as Odin, the pagan Norse god, a frightful character if ever there was.

None of which means a damned thing. Just don't try to convince me that "Jesus is the reason for the season". Because, it seems he has little to do with it after all.

Happy Holidays, pagans ;-) 

The purpose of life

The Muslims purpose may be to serve Allah, the Christian to serve God (they are the same!).
The parent's purpose may be to see that her children grow into fine adults.
The addicts purpose may be to find his next fix, or to get himself clean.
Politically, conservatives have a purpose, liberals have a different purpose.
A woman's purpose may be to be independent, or to be partnered with someone.
A man may or may not want self sufficiency.

My point is, we all want something different. We all have different perspectives, regardless how large or small those differences may be, they are differences. How then, can we ever hope to see a universal Purpose of Life?

In my life, I had the good fortune to meet and train with the father of American Tae Kwon Do, Grand Master Jhoon Rhee. Master Rhee and I are from different cultural backgrounds, different ethnic groups, and different religious beliefs. However, he taught me the universal purpose of life. The purpose, as he explained it, transcends all of our differences. We ALL have the same purpose.
The Purpose of life is to be Happy.

Simple really. We are supposed to be happy. Whatever we may do, whatever we may say, how ever we may believe, is all done in the pursuit of our happiness.

Can we actually achieve happiness? Who knows? What is important, is that we strive for that happiness.

Of course, we must be careful that the pursuit of our happiness does not infringe on someone else's happiness. Or at least try :-)


Or, I suppose one could follow Emerson:
"The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well."

But, then again, he is merely stating what made him happy ...

......

And, Yes. I am pursuing my own happiness ;-)

The Religious Right vs Jesus...

We see a lot of conservative flak generated towards president Obama these days. They like to claim he is a socialist, or worse, a muslim.

I know that not many good muslims would claim to be christian, so we could probably toss that one out on that basis alone. The socialist claim, however, might be a little harder to deal with.

I'll concede that some of his plans, from my limited understanding, may seem socialist. But so do a lot of other, time honored, American institutions (The military, public schools, and Social Security, just to name a few). Whether or not he is a socialist, I'm not convinced.

But, if we are to judge Obama by the criteria set forth by the conservatives, perhaps we should aso hold another, beloved, leader to the same criteria???

Yes,  I am going there.

Jesus was a socialist !

"How so?" you ask. Let's examine together, shall we?

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"And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God" Mark 10:21-25

"My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?" James 2:1-7 (he's really giving it to the "rich pricks" here)

And, finally, what about that Health Care fiasco of the president's?
"When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal." - Matthew 25:38-41. It seems Jesus is, in no uncertain terms, telling his followers that they are, indeed, responsible for taking care of their less fortunate brethren.

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But, hey, I'm no Christian. Nor, am I a socialist. But if I were either, I'd certainly see the connection here.

Religious Right,

 isn't it about time you started following the teachings of your master?