Magdalenbrother
December 22nd 2004, 04:02 AM
The Christmas craze has set in in Peking. Red-capped, white-bearded Karl Marxes and yellow-starred fir trees looking like factory chimneys are trying very hard to give a "merry" air to the huge concrete labor camp that is to host the O.G. in 2008. I wonder how many Chinese suspect that the omnipresent kitsch is related to a savior born two millenia ago in Palestine: the whole iconography is completely alien to Christianity, unless one, with a big Dongfeng truckload of goodwill, be willing to see in the bulb-laden factory chimneys so many stylized crosses, and in the plump and cheerful Karl/Klaus, an updated version of the otherwise perpetually bilious heavenly Father.
Although I am by no means an enthusiastic supporter of the Christian religion, this is a phenomenon which does not make me happy. Who realizes that the fir tree and the old man are in fact very ancient symbols of Teutonic mythology and folklore? Even for the few nostalgic souls who know, the pagan atmosphere is absent: the ancients gods and their barbaric glamor are dead, and mindless, barbarous consumerism has replaced the self-conscious cult of the stern Messiah from Galilea. The Christmas decorations are but triggers planted by clever merchants to send people on buying sprees. All in all, I prefer Christianity to Anglo-Saxon materialism.
But supposing that people could somehow remember what Christmas is all about, there would still be many questions to ask and to answer. To begin with, Jesus was never born on the 25th of December. The date coincides in fact with the winter solstice and is as such a pagan festival of the rebirth of the sun god. In very ancient times, people, being completely ignorant of the Newtonian "laws of nature", didn't take the return of the sun for granted and there was great rejoicing when they were told that the sun had finally beaten the forces of darkness. That was certainly something very tangible to rejoice in.
For a long time after the new religion had been launched into the world, the birth of Christ was not considered a major occasion for "merriment". To this day, the Greek Orthodox seem to consider the festival of the baptism of Christ in the Jordan by John, which they call the "Epiphany", as a more important memorial: they celebrate the spiritual birth of Jesus. This is obviously a relic of ancient Palestinian Christianity, of Ebionism, of the theologically "poverty-stricken" times when Christians still had a dynamic and realistic view of Jesus the man. Once the dogma of the Incarnation had been proclaimed and the subsequent re-interpretation of the virgin birth narratives had been effected, it was only natural that the carnal birth of Jesus should have displaced his baptism and his resurrection. Besides, for the masses, the apparition of the flesh of the Lord as a rosy baby in a manger was an event much more tangible and easy to grasp than the elusive wonders of Epiphany and Easter. Interestingly enough, in the Orthodox icon of the Nativity, the Virgin Mary does not even care to look at the newborn child. She, explain the Orthodox to their bemused Catholic and Protestant "brothers" condescendingly, is contemplating the Savior in her heart. One wonders if He wasn't there (in her heart, I mean), from the beginning, which would make the whole perspective on the Nativity non temporal and therefore essentially pagan... But let is stop trying to re-invent Christianity: the religion of Jesus Christ has nothing to do with paganism or its New Age avatars!
What I really find objectionable about Christmas, whether in its Christian or pseudo-pagan version, is its abominably specist character. By "specist character" I mean the fact that this supposedly joyous occasion gives rise to the wholesale slaughter of innumerable, truly innocent animals. This, in my opinion, is the real "massacre of the Innocents". Sweet Francesco Bernardone (otherwise called "St Francis of Assisi" by Roman Catholics) tried to remedy this outrageous lack of concern for our humble brothers by prescribing his disciples to give a double ration of food to (surviving) cattle and other animals on Christmas, but to my knowledge even the Poverello never tried to refrain the Christian masses from the consumption of great quantities of meat on the day of the Nativity. I believe that if animals have a soul and can pray, they must beg their heavenly father to convince the Christians to re-interpet the Gospels so that they may come to see Jesus as a strict vegetarian, like his mentor John and his Oriental predecessor Sakyamuni (but quite unlike his prime interpreter Paul of Tarsus), an exegetical feat not half as difficult as that of transforming an unassuming, ultra-orthodox Jewish exorcist and healer into the dying and resurrecting deity of pagan mystery-cults.
But is there really anything we should be merry for next Saturday? Let us consider the state of the world around us: has the birth of Jesus really changed anything? Has mankind become better? Not at all. But sharp-witted Christians will reply that they didn't expect things to get better after Christ's Incarnation, Resurrection and Ascension in the first place. In fact, what they are expecting is a worsening of the situation. Let forests be razed to the ground and oceans and rivers become sewers; let adulterers, homosexuals and other sexual deviants multiply like mice; let wars break out all over the planet and people die right and left; let plagues and earthquakes take care of overpopulation; let injustice and corruption in the state thrive like worms in the carcass of a dead buffle! All this is ultimately an occasion for hope and rejoicing: wow, the day of the Lord is coming at last!
What will come is total destruction, and insects will become the dominant race on earth. Or some other species capable to adapt to a completely desertified, highly radio-active environment. Then, after millions of years, humanoids from outer space may repeople the earth. Let us hope that there will be enough hydrogen left in our star for God to incarnate again in that new mankind...
But enough pessimistic science-fiction. In my mind, environmental destruction, political corruption and poverty are not fatalities. We could have a better world and thus postpone indefinitely the God-engineered Parousia Judeo-Christians are hoping for. If we had a thousand Chavez-like people to govern the planet instead of the bunch of psychopaths, archidiots and criminals who are now in charge, we would have a man-engineered parousia on earth. It is feasible. But this won't probably happen. Christians are fundamentally hostile to the prosperity of the human city, something Pagan observers were quick to notice in Antiquity and revolted them. Or better said, they don't care. "Only God can solve our problems" is their position. They have despaired of Man.
The savior of yesterday has failed us. He-reconstructed by his deluded disciples?-may even be responsible for many of our present woes because of his exalted unearthly promises. But the miracle of a human birth which really changes the world for the better is still possible. Let us pray for, or better still, let us be the child that "delivers us promptly from the hands of those of hate us", the man who "puts down the mighty from their thrones and sends away the rich empty-handed".
Thank you Zacharias, thank you Mary for your inspired words. May we not let you down again.
Although I am by no means an enthusiastic supporter of the Christian religion, this is a phenomenon which does not make me happy. Who realizes that the fir tree and the old man are in fact very ancient symbols of Teutonic mythology and folklore? Even for the few nostalgic souls who know, the pagan atmosphere is absent: the ancients gods and their barbaric glamor are dead, and mindless, barbarous consumerism has replaced the self-conscious cult of the stern Messiah from Galilea. The Christmas decorations are but triggers planted by clever merchants to send people on buying sprees. All in all, I prefer Christianity to Anglo-Saxon materialism.
But supposing that people could somehow remember what Christmas is all about, there would still be many questions to ask and to answer. To begin with, Jesus was never born on the 25th of December. The date coincides in fact with the winter solstice and is as such a pagan festival of the rebirth of the sun god. In very ancient times, people, being completely ignorant of the Newtonian "laws of nature", didn't take the return of the sun for granted and there was great rejoicing when they were told that the sun had finally beaten the forces of darkness. That was certainly something very tangible to rejoice in.
For a long time after the new religion had been launched into the world, the birth of Christ was not considered a major occasion for "merriment". To this day, the Greek Orthodox seem to consider the festival of the baptism of Christ in the Jordan by John, which they call the "Epiphany", as a more important memorial: they celebrate the spiritual birth of Jesus. This is obviously a relic of ancient Palestinian Christianity, of Ebionism, of the theologically "poverty-stricken" times when Christians still had a dynamic and realistic view of Jesus the man. Once the dogma of the Incarnation had been proclaimed and the subsequent re-interpretation of the virgin birth narratives had been effected, it was only natural that the carnal birth of Jesus should have displaced his baptism and his resurrection. Besides, for the masses, the apparition of the flesh of the Lord as a rosy baby in a manger was an event much more tangible and easy to grasp than the elusive wonders of Epiphany and Easter. Interestingly enough, in the Orthodox icon of the Nativity, the Virgin Mary does not even care to look at the newborn child. She, explain the Orthodox to their bemused Catholic and Protestant "brothers" condescendingly, is contemplating the Savior in her heart. One wonders if He wasn't there (in her heart, I mean), from the beginning, which would make the whole perspective on the Nativity non temporal and therefore essentially pagan... But let is stop trying to re-invent Christianity: the religion of Jesus Christ has nothing to do with paganism or its New Age avatars!
What I really find objectionable about Christmas, whether in its Christian or pseudo-pagan version, is its abominably specist character. By "specist character" I mean the fact that this supposedly joyous occasion gives rise to the wholesale slaughter of innumerable, truly innocent animals. This, in my opinion, is the real "massacre of the Innocents". Sweet Francesco Bernardone (otherwise called "St Francis of Assisi" by Roman Catholics) tried to remedy this outrageous lack of concern for our humble brothers by prescribing his disciples to give a double ration of food to (surviving) cattle and other animals on Christmas, but to my knowledge even the Poverello never tried to refrain the Christian masses from the consumption of great quantities of meat on the day of the Nativity. I believe that if animals have a soul and can pray, they must beg their heavenly father to convince the Christians to re-interpet the Gospels so that they may come to see Jesus as a strict vegetarian, like his mentor John and his Oriental predecessor Sakyamuni (but quite unlike his prime interpreter Paul of Tarsus), an exegetical feat not half as difficult as that of transforming an unassuming, ultra-orthodox Jewish exorcist and healer into the dying and resurrecting deity of pagan mystery-cults.
But is there really anything we should be merry for next Saturday? Let us consider the state of the world around us: has the birth of Jesus really changed anything? Has mankind become better? Not at all. But sharp-witted Christians will reply that they didn't expect things to get better after Christ's Incarnation, Resurrection and Ascension in the first place. In fact, what they are expecting is a worsening of the situation. Let forests be razed to the ground and oceans and rivers become sewers; let adulterers, homosexuals and other sexual deviants multiply like mice; let wars break out all over the planet and people die right and left; let plagues and earthquakes take care of overpopulation; let injustice and corruption in the state thrive like worms in the carcass of a dead buffle! All this is ultimately an occasion for hope and rejoicing: wow, the day of the Lord is coming at last!
What will come is total destruction, and insects will become the dominant race on earth. Or some other species capable to adapt to a completely desertified, highly radio-active environment. Then, after millions of years, humanoids from outer space may repeople the earth. Let us hope that there will be enough hydrogen left in our star for God to incarnate again in that new mankind...
But enough pessimistic science-fiction. In my mind, environmental destruction, political corruption and poverty are not fatalities. We could have a better world and thus postpone indefinitely the God-engineered Parousia Judeo-Christians are hoping for. If we had a thousand Chavez-like people to govern the planet instead of the bunch of psychopaths, archidiots and criminals who are now in charge, we would have a man-engineered parousia on earth. It is feasible. But this won't probably happen. Christians are fundamentally hostile to the prosperity of the human city, something Pagan observers were quick to notice in Antiquity and revolted them. Or better said, they don't care. "Only God can solve our problems" is their position. They have despaired of Man.
The savior of yesterday has failed us. He-reconstructed by his deluded disciples?-may even be responsible for many of our present woes because of his exalted unearthly promises. But the miracle of a human birth which really changes the world for the better is still possible. Let us pray for, or better still, let us be the child that "delivers us promptly from the hands of those of hate us", the man who "puts down the mighty from their thrones and sends away the rich empty-handed".
Thank you Zacharias, thank you Mary for your inspired words. May we not let you down again.