OK, one more thing about the Christmas thing and then I'll get off the soap box.

One of the biggest complaints against it is that the roots are pagan. One person has commented about how Christians are unknowingly celebrating a pagan holiday. I just feel like saying "and your point is...." The thing is, if  nobody even really remembers these so called gods anymore hardly (Except the Christians who want to keep pointing them out) how can it be a pagan holiday anymore? Isn't the fact that nobody remembers them and only really associates the day with the birth of Christ a true example of the reality of Christ's triumph over these gods? And if we retreat from the day and point out the gods (that nobody else remembers) are we not in fact reviving them and giving them back power? Are we not supposed to be taking over these things? We should find another pagan holiday to take over!

When we lived in a really, really liberal weird area of Portland there was a coffee shop by us (run by witches)  that was closed all day for winter solstice but only closed a half day for Christmas. If Christmas is so pagan, why weren't the witches wanting it?

And as for celebrating the Jewish feasts, isn't that kind of a return to Judaism that God warns against in Hebrews and so forth? I'm not going to go as far as to say it is WRONG to do this, but it seems to me that to replace distinctly Christian culture with the holidays and customs of Judaism is a step backward. But Christians seem to be falling all over themselves to please the Israelites these days. I find the whole thing perplexing. Is it a kind of "white guilt" sort of thing-since we did treat them shamefully for years? I guess that's another topic... Obviously I'm up with insomnia again. But what about you, do you find it perplexing?

I know probably nobody who reads my blog really has much to do with this argument. I'm still kind of detoxing from my uber conservative days I guess. It just frustrates me.