[MD] subject/object: pragmatism

[Arlo Bensinger]

[Platt]
The fear mongers of secularism strike again. By all means, let's get 
rid of Christmas.

[Arlo]
I'm sorry, kindly tell me where I said this? I've reread my post 
several times, and for the life of me I just can't find it.

Personally, I find the time of year perfect to enlighten people as to 
the monomythical origins of the Jesus-myth, in that there is a 
world-historical allegory that places the birth of the "son/sun", the 
birth of light, at the Winter Solstice. In fact, its not so much that 
the Jesus-myth derived much from the Mithraic tradition, including 
the birth of its "light-bringer", as that the aspect of these myths 
appear frequently across cultures and time.

A nice summary to of the monomythical alignment of the Jesus-myth is 
summarized below (from a website).

"Mithras, oddly enough, has the same birthdate as Jesus, but some 600 
years earlier! Not only that, but he was also born of a virgin, with 
a few shepherds present. Mithras, a traveling teacher and master, had 
12 disciples as he performed miracles. Just like Jesus, Mithras was 
buried in a tomb, died, and after three days was resurrected and rose 
again! (It must be the way gods did things back then.).

Before Mithras there was Krishna in India, circa 1200 BC. Krishna was 
born of the Virgin Mother Devaki after being visited by spirits to 
announce the impending birth of an immaculately conceived child who 
is God's Sun and the "son of God." His birth was attended by wise 
men, as well as shepherds. Krishna was presented at birth with 
frankincense, myrrh, and gold.

Thousands of years before Krishna, Mithras, and Jesus is the sun god 
Horus. Horus goes back to Egypt circa 3000 BC. Horus was born of the 
virgin Isis-Meri on December 25 in a cave/manger with his birth being 
announced by a star in the East and attended by three wise men. In 
the catacombs at Rome are pictures of the baby Horus being held by 
the virgin mother Isis. Horus taught in the temple when he was a 
child. He was baptized when he was 30 years old by "Anup the 
Baptizer." Horus performed miracles and raised a man named 
El-Azar-us, from the dead. Not only did Horus walk on water, he was 
also crucified, buried in a tomb, and then resurrected."

So when someone says to me "Jesus is the reason for the season", I 
always reply "nay, the season is the reason for Jesus". Although I 
find most cover their ears and go "la-la-la" when confronted with the 
historical realities of their myth, I also tend to point out that 
nearly all our "beloved Christmas traditions" stem not from 
"Christianity", but from the pagan traditions of Germanic and Norse 
Europe. From the Yule Log to the Christmas Tree all the way to dear 
ol' Santa (Odin, by the way).

In fact, there is a great scene our city halls should display... 
three mangers, one with Jesus, one with Mithras, and one with Horus, 
a sign above them saying "We can gain insight into the human 
condition by these myths and the symbolism and stories they create", 
and another sign that says "as you enact the old pagan traditions and 
rituals of Europe in your celebration of this monomyth, please drink 
your Nog responsibly". A truly enlightened people may construct such 
a display, but my guess is that would offend the Noble and Righteous 
"Religious Traditionalists".