The Long and Intriguing History of Christmas

christmas 2007 (Photo credit: paparutzi)

The Long and Intriguing History of Christmas:

"Commercial activities during Christmas today are often decried as making the season too materialistic.
This has caused comments that the religious aspect of Christmas is so overlooked and overshadowed that its celebration seems to be purely pagan.
But today’s comparisons aren’t the first -  there is a historical link between Christmas and pagan celebrations.
As a religion, church leaders instituted Christmas during winter because that time of year was a popular for the celebrations of many pagan festivals.
The hope was that Christmas would also become a holiday that would gain much popularity."

A good short article on the history of Pagan and Christian observance of Winter Festivals.

'via Blog this'

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We are what we think...

Fox News Attacks Wiccans

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If you are looking for a religion with the most holidays, you either have Hinduism or Catholicism. If you don’t take the spiritual or practical significance of holidays into account, Hindus and Roman Catholics are tied for the most, because pretty much every day of the year has some special significance in the religious calendar of each. Roman Catholics have sainted more than 10,000 people, and every day of the year is the feast day of a handful. Hindus recognize hundreds of deities, and most have celebrations for birthdays and significant milestones. There are also Hindu holidays celebrating the changing of the seasons, the harvest, lunar phases, and other notable natural events. --Scott McKnight

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Americans reveal their 3 favorite sins – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs

Americans reveal their 3 favorite sins – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs

A new survey, however, gets specific about the type of temptations most Americans battle against, and shows that men and women seem to wrestle with different vices.

“Temptations and America’s Favorite Sins,” a survey conducted by the Barna Group, a Christian research firm, concludes that the moral struggles that vex most Americans aren’t the salacious acts that drive the plotlines of reality television shows. Most Americans are too worn down or distracted to get snared by those vices, the survey concludes.

The top three sins seducing most Americans: procrastination, overeating and spending too much time on media.

photo credit: “Caveman Chuck” Coker via photopin cc

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The Omnists: New Practical Dimension to Omnism

The Earth seen from Apollo 17. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Omnists: New Practical Dimension to Omnism: Giving new Dimension to Omnism or Omnitheism & proving it as a practical path to attain World Peace & Supreme Bliss....

Provides an interesting overview of Omnism.