First of all, I want to say that I AM a Christian... NOT a Muslim, Hindu, Satan-worshipper or anything else. OK? Lets get started...
Lets start with marriage. We all assume that monogamy is God-ordained. Yet, I have yet to find a passage in the Bible that says polygamy is evil. It might be IMPLIED, but it was never actually stated. Solomon didn't get in trouble with God for having lots of wives. God got on his case because he married outside the faith. His wives persuaded him to worship their gods. Personally, I think we're monogamous because most 1st century Jews, Galileans, and Samaritans could only afford one spouse.
Then, there's Christmas. As far as I know, if the shepherds were out at night at Jesus' birth, then the real Christmas really is in July. Or, at least, a month warmer than December. That Christmas tree? I think that tradition started in Germany. Plus, the pre-Christian Germans used trees for their worship. Oh, and Santa Claus? He's a combination of the legend of Saint Nicholas of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) and a character from Coke commercials.
Easter is another fun one. As far as I know, the word "Easter" came from the goddess Eostre. And guess what? She had a pet rabbit. That's right, our Easter bunny. As for the painted eggs, eggs are an ancient symbol of birth or rebirth to the best of my knowledge. Easter wanders around because it's pegged to Passover, which is determined by a lunar, not a solar, calendar.
Then there's Halloween. The ancient Celts had a different calendar than ours. They started theirs in November. Our Halloween was their New Year's Eve. They believed that on that day, the boundaries between the spiritual and earthly realms vanished; gods and spirits roamed the Earth according to their religion. Their word for Halloween was Samhain, pronounced "sow-en". Yep, every year our kids are ghosts and gods.
One last thing... ever wonder how our days of the week got such odd names? Well, Sunday and Monday are fairly obvious. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday got their names from old German gods and goddesses. Saturday I believe was named after the Roman god Saturn. Try looking up the names of the months in a good dictionary too. You might be in for a surprise.
So, there you have it... my take on Western civilization, or at least parts of it. If you have a beef against what I just said, or just a comment, join Gmail (mail.google.com) and submit your comments.
