Article on Origins of Xristianity I Wrote REALLY UPSET Local Christians (page 2)

Seeker4

I'm not sure how angry Dawkins is, but he damn sure is smart and convincing. And I wasn't surprised at the pastor's reaction. More scared than surprised...

By the way, what's christdom and who are the Rabis??

S4

Green Chille

You sound a bit angry there seeker....don't like my speting, do you? Makes you feel good, doesn't it? Kind of surperior, are you?

I don't think you are scared at all, YOU are bragging

purplesofa

I don't think you are scared at all, YOU are bragging

not that seeker needs any help from me...........but I have found that comments like the one you just made tell more about you ........than who you are talking about.

so, in your line of thought..........if YOU posted a story like this .........YOU would be bragging.

Im a little curious............are YOU jealous?

While I think most of us know that many, if not all aspects of Christmas can trace it's roots to the ever-reliable pagans, I have to say I think it's a slap in the face to those who treasure the holiday, to write an article like that at this time of year without expecting a backlash. Maybe I'm wrong in my thinking, but to me, that's no different than someone writing an article bashing Americans for their many sins on the anniversary of September 11th or on the American Thanksgiving. Or maybe I just got so damn tired of hearing how Christmas is of 'pagan origin' when I still went to the Hall, that I get annoyed when I hear it now....brings back too many bad memories of being left out because of this "pagan" bullshit.

Seeker, I admire your posts and think you are highly intelligent and a good person. But I can't say I agree with the way you presented the facts about Christmas. From being a Dub for so long, surely you could see what the reaction would be?

stevenyc

: Call the origins of Mohammad a Greek myth and tomorrow some fanatic will be more than happy to kill you and your family.

LOL, the Jewish / Christian / Muslim God are all one and the same.

Good response.

steve

cabasilas

I generally stay away from these type of threads as I barely have time for the stuff I'm involved with as it is, let alone getting involved in these type of discussions.

The article and your response makes it appear that all scholars are agreed on these points. Are they really? Certainly, there are scholars who take the view you're proposing but is there agreement by all scholars on this? Are these the "leading" scholars in these fields? Or, is this one faction of a debate?

There are other views on this that also quote scholars for their support. For example:

http://www.answeringinfidels.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=87

(The link to the above review does not work in some browsers. If it doesn't for yours click on "Reviews" and go to the review for "The God Who Wasn't There.")

http://members.optusnet.com.au/gakuseidon/God_Who_Wasnt_There_analysis.htm

http://www.tektonics.org/gk/godthere.html

But, again, your article suggests that scholarship has proved your view. Has it? Or, is it just one opinion?

wozadummy

"I've seen how emotional this issue is in discussions on this board, but I have to say that the level of anger it creates when someone questions fundamentalist beliefs is more than a little scary. I can understand why people like Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins keep their locations under wraps!

S4"

This reminded me of a fanatic years ago when I was witnessing with a young girl from door to door, we noticed a house was a do not call as we just started up the driveway, and before we could turn around this minister holding a large wooden cross held it in front of him and screamed at us we were the spawn of Satan and even continued this tirade when we went to the house next door! What a looney ,the poor girl was terrified.

uwishufish

Christmas a pagan holiday the christians have done well with.

Seeker4

Mary,

That was the Pastor's complaint today, among many other things - why mention this in an article at this time of year?

It's a valid point, but... Ah, you're not likely to get an article assignment about Christmas in July, if you know what I mean! And I hardly think this is quite the same as bashing the US on September 11 - but I understand your point. And yes, I understood how some might react. That really wasn't a surprise. More that I was sharing the experience, the responses.

Green Chille,

Bragging about what? Getting my assed reamed? Angry about what? Certainly not at your post. Telling a story is more like it. And I must admit that consistent misspellings make me very suspicious about the intellectual rigor of the writer. We all make mistakes, but lots of grammar and spelling errors, incomplete sentences, etc., do nothing to make your readers confident about your reasoning and education. People new to the language can be given a break on that, but we've got lots of folks on here for whom English is the second or third language, who do a terrific job. It makes it seem as though they really care about what they are writing.

Stevenyc,

Yeah, I've come to the conclusion that essentially all these religions are just variations on the same ancient myths and stories.

cabasilas,

Thanks for the links. I also had a few problems with statements in the The God Who Wasn't There film, but that is just one source of many that I've been reading. What these various sources have helped me with is to resolve a lot of the problems I had with the Greek scriptures when I was a Witness. I'm sure there is a lot to be learned on these subjects, but even as a JW I subscribed to Archaeological JournalReview, which was pretty conservative, and articles in there on 'Yahweh's wives' and such really made me think that there had to be a much broader background to the Bible than I was being exposed to as a JW.

S4

Terry

Frankly, I had thought I was getting a terrific education in the early history of Christianity in all the books and articles I studied while a member in good standing at the local Kingdom Hall.

What I did not know was that I was getting a laundered, sanitized and polarized peepshow that ridiculed opponents of the JW's and simply pretended the rest was not there.

I'm ashamed it has been so late in life that I took the trouble to really get down to deep research about the history of Christianity, the bible canon, the Early Church fathers, the trends of conflict between competing doctrines and the enormous tension to establish just one orthodoxy at the expense of all the voices who had equal claim on any reality about Jesus.

I now see things so differently I can't honestly regard anything which calls itself "Christian" as anything more than a chosen delusion. My opinion. I'm not trying to insult anybody. That is where I find myself in regard to facts.

99% of the people I talk to who are devout believers know next to nothing at all about any details of fact. It astonishes me. They read a lot of books and grow less informed by them as a result!

Christian Living books sell by the tons for a lot of money and say next to nothing that Dear Abby or Dr.Phil couldn't say better.

Christian writings are a hot water bottle for people afflicted with cold feet.

Article on Origins of Xristianity I Wrote REALLY UPSET Local Christians

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