Santa Hates Moscow MItch, Too.

The Golden Rule is NOT christian

I understand what Nancy LeToureau is trying to do here, but she's as dead wrong as every other religious person who thinks religion has anything to do with morality.  It doesn't.  The Golden Rule has nothing to do with Jesus.  It's not in the bible.  Go ahead, look it up yourself (your pastor is lying to you about that as about everything.)

The Golden Rule - do unto others as you would have them do unto you - and the Veil of Ignorance are, in fact, the foundation of Human Morality.  Which evolved with humanity itself, and became the basis of moral human behavior tens of thousands of years before a bunch of greedy, power-grabbing misogynists invented religion to subdue and impoverish their fellow humans.

The path to restoring the Golden Rule leads far away from the greed, arrogance and IMmorality of religion.  It leads back to human morality, treating others as we want them to treat us.  That is the only thing that matters.  That is the only rule we need.  Religion can't restore the Golden Rule but religion is what kills the Golden Rule.  Make human morality our goal, and fuck this religion shit.

Oh, and the real "reason for the season" is axial tilt.

It has become common to complain that we have forgotten “the reason for the season” when we celebrate Christmas. A theology professor once said something that helped me understand how that happened. He pointed out that Christians tend to celebrate the birth and death of Jesus, but don’t pay much attention to how he actually lived.

That is why my one tradition during these holidays has been to reflect on something kid oakland wrote years ago about the life of the man whose birth so many people celebrate tonight.

SNIP

That does a good job of capturing why so many Christians have abandoned the idea of focusing on how Jesus lived his life. He was a radical—not in doctrine or politics—but in how he treated others.

Throughout history, prophets from every major religion have been telling us the same thing, as Karen Armstrong pointed out.

What we need is a new kind of religious discourse that goes back to the core values of the religion: every single one is based on compassion and on the golden rule, first propounded by Confucius 500 years before Christ: do not do to others what you would not like them to do to you. Look into your own heart, discover what it is that gives you pain, and then refuse under any circumstance to inflict that pain on anybody else… This is civilization. The golden rule is the basis of civilization.

More than anything else I can think of, that is the antidote to the poison that has infected our system these days. My hope for everyone reading this is that you find a moment of peace to look into your own heart and contemplate your core values.

My core values are religion-free values of human morality.  What are yours?

The Merry Christmas Atheist

Rude Pundit nails it:

As desperately as conservatives want this "Merry Christmas" thing to be, well, a thing, it's not. Every Jew and Muslim and Hindu I've ever met has no fuckin' problem with "Merry Christmas." A few dicks might, but a few dicks will always be dickish. And some of those dicks exploit minor dickishness in order to show that they are major dicks. 

Trump taking credit for "bringing Christmas back...bigger and better" is like standing in a rainstorm in a boat in the middle of a reservoir that was always full and declaring you have ended a drought. As much of a liar as you are, there will always be people who believe there was a drought and that you made it rain. But then again, that's how we got religions.

Real, confident atheists don't think it's offensive to say, "Merry Christmas." We think it's adorable.

There's Nothing Christian About Christmas

Gifts, feasting, caroling, lights, decorating evergreens, even charity:  all establishing pagan traditions centuries if not millenia before anyone invented christianity.


LiveScience:

When you gather around the Christmas tree or stuff goodies into a stocking, you're taking part in traditions that stretch back thousands of years — long before Christianity entered the mix.

Pagan, or non-Christian, traditions show up in this beloved winter holiday, a consequence of early church leaders melding Jesus' nativity celebration with pre-existing midwinter festivals. Since then, Christmas traditions have warped over time, arriving at their current state a little more than a century ago.

SNIP

The Christmas tree is a 17th-century German invention, University of Bristol's Hutton told LiveScience, but it clearly derives from the pagan practice of bringing greenery indoors to decorate in midwinter. The modern Santa Claus is a direct descendent of England's Father Christmas, who was not originally a gift-giver. However, Father Christmas and his other European variations are modern incarnations of old pagan ideas about spirits who traveled the sky in midwinter, Hutton said.


But why this fixation on partying in midwinter, anyway? According to historians, it's a natural time for a feast. In an agricultural society, the harvest work is done for the year, and there's nothing left to be done in the fields.

"It's a time when you have some time to devote to your religious life," said Shaw. "But also it's a period when, frankly, everyone needs cheering up."

The dark days that culminate with the shortest day of the year ­— the winter solstice — could be lightened with feasts and decorations, Hutton said.

But the big pagan source of Christmas - the one most blatantly stolen by Christians - is Saturnalia.

 It was a public holiday celebrated around December 25th in the family home. A time for feasting, goodwill, generosity to the poor, the exchange of gifts and the decoration of trees. But it wasn’t Christmas. This was Saturnalia, the pagan Roman winter solstice festival.

Winter Solstice 5:44 a.m. Wednesday

Of course the Xians stole it.  That's what they do. 

 

International Business Times:

For many who are already sick of long nights and wondering when the sun is going to start making a longer appearance in their lives, hope is right around the corner. Winter solstice will occur on Wednesday, marking the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, the moment when the North Pole is tilted furthest away from the sun – 23.5 degrees, to be precise. For 2016, the exact moment falls at 5.44 a.m. EST, Dec. 21.

While it also marks the start of astronomical winter, the winter solstice heralds the shift toward increasing sunlight hours. That is certainly something to be cherished today but for many cultures throughout history it has been considered a hugely significant event.

Pagans

Thousands of years ago, when people were dependent on the harvesting of crops for survival, the seasons and the sun were of crucial importance. Thus the winter solstice was seen as a rebirth, marking the start of lighter days. Many ancient civilizations, including the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, made offerings to gods as a celebration of the sun’s return.

One of the most enduring pagan celebrations of the winter solstice is the ancient German festival of Yule. As well as sacrifices being offered to the god Odin, it was an occasion for much merriment, with feasts, ale drinking and singing.

Stonehenge

Celebrations of winter solstice continue to this day, with one of the most prominent set to take place at Stonehenge. The English historical landmark is believed to have been constructed thousands of years ago by Celtic druids to line up with the exact position of the sunset on winter solstice. It was then the sight for a festival featuring animal sacrifices and much eating and drinking. In 2016, people – druid or not – will be given free admission to the site to observe the solstice, sans-sacrifice.

Christmas

Winter solstice celebrations also continue to live on with Christmas. Many traditions of Yule are linked with the Christian holiday, such as the Yule Log, which was burnt during Yule celebrations in ancient times and has now been made into a tasty treat. Christmas trees, mistletoe and gift-giving also have their roots with the winter solstice.

But the very date Christmas is celebrated also has its roots in the Pagan rituals. No date is given for Jesus’ birth in the Bible and it was originally Easter that was given far greater significance in the Christian calendar. It wasn’t until the fourth century that celebrating Christmas was crystalized in the calendar. It is believed by some that the date of Dec. 25 was chosen for Christmas in part because it coincided with the Roman winter solstice celebration of Saturnalia.

The best way to celebrate the beginning return of light and life is to get naked outside friends, jump in a hot tub and fuck your brains out.

 

Happy ALL Holidays

Divine Irony:

"Reconnect with the values that bind us together"

"Celebrate the birth of the baby Jesus,"  Mr. President? What about Winter Solstice, and Saturnalia, and Yule?  Unlike the "birth" of a mythical figure, Winter Solstice, Saturnalia and Yule actually do occur in late December. Whatever happened to diversity? 




Full transcript here.

What We Are Supposed to Do

Maybe you have to have been a reporter back before newspapers and radio and TV stations were owned and run by corporations, to really appreciate this, but even in my day, in the waning years of Real Journalism, this wasn't unusual.

From Digby:

Reck of the Tribune

December 25, 1986|Al Martinez

It happened one Christmas Eve a long time ago in a place called Oakland on a newspaper called the Tribune with a city editor named Alfred P. Reck.

I was working swing shift on general assignment, writing the story of a boy who was dying of leukemia and whose greatest wish was for fresh peaches.

It was a story which, in the tradition of 1950s journalism, would be milked for every sob we could squeeze from it, because everyone loved a good cry on Christmas.

We knew how to play a tear-jerker in those days, and I was full of the kinds of passions that could make a sailor weep.

I remember it was about 11 o'clock at night and pouring rain outside when I began putting the piece together for the next day's editions.

Deadline was an hour away, but an hour is a lifetime when you're young and fast and never get tired.

Then the telephone rang.

It was Al Reck calling, as he always did at night, and he'd had a few under his belt.

Reck was a drinking man. With diabetes and epilepsy, hard liquor was about the last thing he ought to be messing with, but you didn't tell Al what he ought to or ought not to do.

He was essentially a gentle man who rarely raised his voice, but you knew he was the city editor, and in those days the city editor was the law and the word in the newsroom.

But there was more than fear and tradition at work for Al.

We respected him immensely, not only for his abilities as a newsman, but for his humanity. Al was sensitive both to our needs and the needs of those whose names and faces appeared in the pages of the Oakland Tribune.

"What's up?" he asked me that Christmas Eve in a voice as soft and slurred as a summer breeze.

He already knew what was up because, during 25 years on the city desk, Reck somehow always knew what was up, but he wanted to hear it from the man handling the story.

I told him about the kid dying of leukemia and about the peaches and about how there simply were no fresh peaches, but it still made a good piece. We had art and a hole waiting on page one.

Al listened for a moment and then said, "How long's he got?"

"Not long," I said. "His doctor says maybe a day or two."

There was a long silence and then Al said, "Get the kid his peaches."

"I've called all over," I said. "None of the produce places in the Bay Area have fresh peaches. They're just plain out of season. It's winter."

"Not everywhere. Call Australia."

"Al," I began to argue, "it's after 11 and I have no idea . . . . "

"Call Australia," he said, and then hung up.

If Al said call Australia, I would call Australia.

I don't quite remember whom I telephoned, newspapers maybe and agricultural associations, but I ended up finding fresh peaches and an airline that would fly them to the Bay Area before the end of Christmas day.

There was only one problem. Customs wouldn't clear them. They were an agricultural product and would be hung up at San Francisco International at least for a day, and possibly forever.

Reck called again. He listened to the problem and told me to telephone the Secretary of Agriculture and have him clear the peaches when they arrived.

"It's close to midnight," I argued. "His office is closed."

"Take this number down," Reck said. "It's his home. Tell him I told you to call."

It was axiomatic among the admirers of Al Reck that he knew everyone and everyone knew him, from cops on the street to government leaders in their Georgetown estates. No one knew how Al knew them or why, but he did.

I made the call. The secretary said he'd have the peaches cleared when they arrived and give Al Reck his best.

"All right," Reck said on his third and final call to me, "now arrange for one of our photographers to meet the plane and take the peaches over to the boy's house."

He had been drinking steadily throughout the evening and the slurring had become almost impossible to understand.

By then it was a few minutes past midnight, and just a heartbeat and a half to the final deadline.

"Al," I said, "if I don't start writing this now I'll never get the story in the paper."

I won't forget this moment.

"I didn't say get the story," Reck replied gently. "I said get the kid his peaches."

If there is a flash point in our lives to which we can refer later, moments that shape our attitudes and effect our futures, that was mine.

Alfred Pierce Reck had defined for me the importance of what we do, lifting it beyond newsprint and deadline to a level of humanity that transcends job. He understood not only what we did but what we were supposed to do.

I didn't say get the story. I said get the kid his peaches.

The boy got his peaches and the story made the home edition, and I received a lesson in journalism more important than any I've learned since.

I wanted you to know that this Christmas Day.

Atheistmas

ummagumma.co:


(Source: analyzedatheist, via nonplussedbyreligion-deactivate)

"Let’s pledge ourselves to living out those values by reaching out and lifting up those in our communities who could use a hand up."

Sincere wishes for a truly successful 2014 to you, Mr. President and First Lady.




Full transcript here.

How to Get Away With Murder

Admit it: On Christmas, there is always at least one person you wish you could kill without consequence.

Now, thanks to stand-your-ground laws and the-gun-owner-is-always-innocent policies, it's easy!

First, get a gun and learn how to use it.

Next, invite the person you want dead over to your house. When he/she shows up and knocks on the door, shoot him/her dead.

Then, tell the cops you thought he/she was a burglar and you were just defending yourself. Success!

Think Progress:

A Colorado Springs father fatally shot his teenage step-daughter Monday, saying he thought she was a burglar. Prior to the incident, police received a call about a burglary in progress. But when they got there, they found the 14-year-old with a gunshot wound. She was taken to the hospital and died soon after, according to CBS Denver.

The incident is the latest tragedy involving the use of deadly force to protect the home. And it is one of several incidents in which a parent has killed their own child after they mistook them for a burglar. Last September a Connecticut teacher shot and killed his 15-year-old son after his neighbor called to say she thought she saw a robber in the front yard. Just a few weeks after that, a retired Chicago police officer shot and killed his 48-year-old son after he came in the back door late one night. And an off-duty police officer killed his son last July while the two were on vacation in upstate New York, after he told police he believed him to be an intruder.

Scrooge Pales By Comparison

In case you are still laboring under the delusion that corporations and their executives have an iota of redeeming social value or a sliver of humanity:

From Alternet, via Firedoglake:

At a time of year when we're inclined to show empathy for people less fortunate than ourselves, some of our top business leaders are notable for comments that show their disdain for struggling Americans. Their words may seem too outlandish to have been uttered, or inappropriately humorous, but all the speakers were serious.

SNIP

It's hard to choose the most insensitive and condescending remark from people who seem to lack empathy for the less fortunate. Perhaps hedge fund manager  Andy Kessler, who addressed the issue of why these homeless folks aren't also working. Ignoring the  National Coalition for the Homeless conclusion that homelessness is caused by (1) a shortage of affordable rental housing, and (2) a lack of job opportunities, Kessler suggests they're homeless because someone is feeding, clothing and, in effect, bathing them.
Equally condescending is the Walmart executive who  presumed to speak for his low-wage workers just before Thanksgiving by saying: Walmart associates are really excited to work that day.

Now back to McDonald's, which had these  budget tips for its own low-wage employees: You may want to consider returning some of your unopened purchases that may not seem as appealing as they did. Selling some of your unwanted possessions on eBay or Craigslist could bring in some quick cash...Consider bringing a brown bag lunch and skipping the takeout...You might also consider a temporary part time job to dig out of debt quickly.

But the condescension king has to be  Charles Koch, whose foundation tried to convince half of America that they were rich: If you earn over $34,000 a year, you are one of the wealthiest one percent in the world.

No spectral images of past crimes or future consequences have the power to shame these motherfuckers. 

 They're not afraid of the guillotine or even torches and pitchforks and for good reason: what is the purpose of the NSA spying on everyone every minute of the day and your local cop on the beat turning into a battalion of 'roid-raged Terminators if not to protect the obscenely rich from the middle-class rabble?

The First Teamster

From Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns and Money:

Jeebus-Free Christmas Traditions

From Divine Irony:

confrontingbabble-on:

12 Christmas Traditions Even a Black-hearted Grinch of an Atheist Can Celebrate

by Valerie Tarico

Here are twelve traditions with ancient roots. If they have been adopted and adapted by those who choose this time of year to celebrate the birth of Christianity and so the birth of some of Christendom’s darker angels, don’t let that put you off. They can just as easily be adopted and adapted by those who have moved beyond belief.

1. Celebrating the End of December. All across the Northern Hemisphere our ancestors marked the winter solstice with festivals that acknowledge the cycle of life: death and birth, darkness and light. For cold, lean people it may have seemed like the sun might never reappear. Yet, a few days after solstice the days began to visibly lengthen, promising another spring. Persephone would return from Hades; King Winter would be beaten! Pagan Scandinavia celebrated Yule, the great turning of the wheel of life. The Roman Pope Julius 1 chose December 25 to honor the birthday of Jesus because it already hosted two related festivals of birth: natalis solis invicti (“birth of the unconquered sun”), and the birthday of Mithras, the “Sun of Righteousness.”  Today, mid-winter celebrations in the month of December include the Buddhist Bodhi Day (December 8); Hannukah (December 8); Solstice itself, which has many names; Hindu Pancha Ganapati (December 21-25); Festivus (December 23), Kwanzaa (December 26-January 1), New Years Eve, and of course, Hogmanay.
   
   
2. Candles & Lights
   Since ancient times, man-made lights have symbolized the light of the sun and the promise of brighter days to come. We are told that pagan Romans decorated living trees with fragments of metal and images of the fertility god Bacchus. Twelve candles on a tree honored the sun god. The writings of one early Church father, Tertullian, discuss early Christians who imitated their neighbors by decorating their homes with candles and laurel at the turn of the year. In the North of Europe, Germanic people honored Woden by tying candles to evergreen branches, along with fruit. The Jewish festival of Hanukkah, a time of remembering, is centered on the menorah and is also called the Festival of Lights.
   
   
3. Trees
   For many Pagan peoples of Europe, evergreen trees were symbols of enduring life. Their branches had the power to fend off evil spirits. Druids held ceremonies while gathered around sacred trees. Cutting entire trees and bringing them indoors may have been too destructive, but we know that Pagans brought in evergreen boughs. Because trees are so strongly associated with Pagan celebrations some Christians have opposed them being a part of Christmas festivities. The first record of a decorated Christmas tree dates to 1521, in Germany. At the time, a prominent Lutheran minister protested: “Better that they should look to the true tree of life, Christ.” But the appeal of evergreen branches indoors is so universal that it has since been adopted through much of Christianity and into some homes for the celebration of the Jewish Hanukkah.
   
   
4.  Wreaths
   In Scandinavia, the traditional Yule wreath symbolized the “Wheel of the Year,” which was also honored around the calendar with festivals marking winter and summer solstice and each equinoxes. Some ancient groups believed that the great wheel stopped turning at the point of the winter solstice and so it was taboo to turn a butter churn or wheel on the shortest day of the year. For Germanic people, wreaths decorated with small candles encouraged the return of spring: the circle of the wreath representing the seasons, and the candles representing warmth from the sun. When made of holly and ivy, a wreath was thought to provide protection to any household where it hung on the door.
   
   
5. Santa
   Given his ethnic roots, Santa Claus should be a symbol of multi-culturalism! His familiar form and story have been shaped most recently by 19th Century American and European media and marketers including the Bon Marche Department Store in Liverpool, Disney Studios, and Coca-Cola. They in turn drew on Scandinavian images of elves with red tunics and pointed hats, with sleighs and reindeer. Before that, the Italian/Greek/Spanish/Turkish story of St. Nicholas and the Germanic god Odin appear to have merged to create the Dutch figure, Sinterklaas, who rides through the sky on a white horse. His mischievous black-faced helpers listen at the chimneys to help him figure out whether children have been bad or good.
   
   
6. Mistletoe
   The magical status of Mistletoe goes so far back that it is lost in the mist of history. It played a role in Greek mythology and was likely the Golden Bough in the story of Aeneas. Across pagan Europe it was seen as a sacred symbol of male vitality and fertility. In one Norse story the goddess Frigga extracts a promise from each element and plant that it will not harm her son Balder, the god of the summer sun. But she overlooks the mistletoe, which lives not on the earth nor in the sky, but in between, in the arms of oak trees. The evil god Loki makes an arrow tip out of Mistletoe and gives it to Hoder, the blind god of winter, who kills Balder. For three days the other gods try in vain to restore him to life. Finally Frigga succeeds. Some versions of the story say that her tears turn into the mistletoe’s white berries and that afterwards Frigga kisses anyone who passes beneath a branch on which mistletoe grows.
   
   
7. Holly
   As Christianity spread across Europe, the red berries and spiny leaves of the holly plant became spiritual symbols representing the red blood of Jesus and his crown of thorns. But as with many other holiday favorites, Holly already had special meaning for local people. The familiar Christmas carol, “The Holly and the Ivy” contains vestiges of Celtic tradition in which a males and females were dressed in Holly and Ivy leaves and enacted a dance or ritual representing male and female energy. In the mythology of the British Isles, the Holly King was said to rule over the waning half of the year, from the summer solstice to the winter solstice, whereupon he fought with the Oak King, who ruled the season of planting and growth. In fact, the Holly King may be the Green Knight who Sir Gawain rose to fight at King Arthur’s Christmas feast.
   
   
8. Feasting!
   The Roman feast of Saturnalia lasted from December 17 through the 23. Picture a week-long progressive party in which normal roles are relaxed or reversed. At various times and places, white togas were replaced with colorful Greek garments, slaves dined with or before masters, and debauchery was widespread. But most of all, people ate. They ate at public banquets and private parties. Slaves ate foods normally reserved for the wealthy, and everyone ate well. Saturnalia recreated a mythical past in which bounty was the norm and all were free to indulge. The festival was popular enough that it may well have shaped early Christmas celebrations.
   
   But the reality is that happy humans feast together in virtually every culture and religion on the planet, and feasting is a part of many mid-winter traditions. In some cultures food was offered to the gods to help ease the winter or bring back the sun. But few ancient people could afford to waste large quantities of meat once it had been consecrated, so it was roasted and eaten, with appropriate ritual, storytelling, song and dance. The Saami people of Finland sacrificed white female reindeer for their solstice celebration.  Eastern Slavs celebrated the Feast of the winter mother goddess Rozhnitsa, at which deer shaped cookies were given as gifts and offerings to the goddess included honey bread and cheese .  In Iran, families and friends gather for a solstice celebration called Shabe Chelleh, where traditional foods include dried fruits and nuts.  Meat and ale were staples of the Germanic Yule feast.
   
   
9. Mulled Wine & Cider
   Some folks lament that wine is wasted by heating, but hot spiced wine and cider are long-standing staples of winter feasts. Traditional spices include cinnamon, mace, ginger, cloves, and orange, along with fortifications like black currant syrup and gin. Spiced wine dates back at least to the 1500s, when a version called “Hippocras” (named after Hippocrates) was sold to help heal muscle injuries. By early 1600, King Gustav I of Sweden was drinking a version of mulled wine he called “glodgad vin” known today simply as “glögg,” which means “to glow.” English villagers drank mulled cider while they went caroling or wassailing the apple orchards, where they banged together pots and pans to drive out evil spirits and then poured offerings of cider over tree roots.
   
   
10. Gift Giving
    The tradition of giving gifts at this time of year may owe some to the Roman god Saturn, patron of agriculture and plenty, and to his festival Saturnalia. For agricultural people, mid-winter can be a time of scarcity, and gift-giving during Saturnalia redistributed bounty from those who had excess to those who had little. Like feasting, though, giving gifts during celebrations is a tradition that has roots in many cultures, and perhaps even in biology. Our urge to give gifts is one that fascinates anthropologists, and one that many of us tackle with something between enthusiasm and exasperation. Whatever the roots, and however mixed we ourselves may feel, holiday merchants find the tradition a source of pure seasonal joy.
    
    
11. Hearth Fires
    Nothing says holiday cheer like an image of friends and family around a sparkling fireplace. The tradition of choosing a particularly hard, large log to burn, called the Yule log is a long-enduring English tradition that was adopted from the Germanic peoples of the Continent. British clergyman Robert Herrick wrote in the mid 17th Century that the young men who carried the log into the farmhouse were rewarded with free beer. With big enough fireplaces and dead trees and beer kegs this tradition alone might be enough to cheer some folks all the way through to the New Year.
    
    
12. Last But Not Least, The Number Twelve
    Twelve days of Christmasancient star worship! The number twelve has special significance in Judaism and Christianity. There are the twelve tribes of Israel, and the twelve disciples, and the 12,000 times 12 who, according to the book of Revelation, will make it into Heaven. Does that mean that those who have moved beyond belief should shun the number twelve? Absolutely not! Even the mythic significance of the number twelve has older roots, probably in the same that brought us the twelve signs of the zodiac and twelve months of the year and some parts of the Christmas story itself. Don’t forget the twelve feats of Hercules or the twelve Olympians. And perhaps you didn’t know about the twelve sons of Odin?
    

For as long as history has been recorded, and probably much longer, human culture has been a work in progress. We beg and borrow and mix and match. We live on the creative edge of chaos. Adopt Solstice as your holiday of choice, or Festivus, if you like. Or create your own tradition. But don’t be afraid to claim the Christmas customs that are dear to you, and then shape them as fits, and then hand them down, newly polished, to your children. That is part of what it means to be human.

Valerie Tarico is a psychologist and writer in Seattle, Washington. www.WisdomCommons.org    Awaypoint.Wordpress.com.