Whacko-Peiko is right / The Uncredible Hallq honours Goosing

Leonard "Whacko-Peiko" Peikoff is not always a raving lunatic. Sometimes he's right. This is one of those times.

Historically, people have always celebrated the winter solstice as the time when the days begin to lengthen, indicating the earth's return to life. Ancient Romans feasted and reveled during the festival of Saturnalia. Early Christians condemned these Roman celebrations -- they were waiting for the end of the world and had only scorn for earthly pleasures. By the fourth century, the pagans were worshipping the god of the sun on December 25, and the Christians came to a decision: if you can't stop 'em, join 'em. They claimed (contrary to known fact) that the date was Jesus' birthday, and usurped the solstice holiday for their Church...

(...)

Of course, the Puritans denounced Santa as the Anti-Christ, because he pushed Jesus to the background. Furthermore, Santa implicitly rejected the whole Christian ethics. He did not denounce the rich and demand that they give everything to the poor; on the contrary, he gave gifts to rich and poor children alike. Nor is Santa a champion of Christian mercy or unconditional love. On the contrary, he is for justice -- Santa gives only to good children, not to bad ones.

All the best customs of Christmas, from carols to trees to spectacular decorations, have their root in pagan ideas and practices. These customs were greatly amplified by American culture, as the product of reason, science, business, worldliness, and egoism, i.e., the pursuit of happiness.

We're definitely on the same page on that, Whacko-Peiko. We're on the good side of the War Against Christmas, despite some idiot atheists' attempt to fight against their own holiday.


The Uncredible Hallq has written an entry honouring Goosing the Antithesis' submission to Carnival of the Vanities #168 :

My pick: an entry on free will Goosing the Antithesis. His general conclusion is one with some issues, but I'll write about that later. For now, read it, there's some good points in there.

Some issues eh ? Everyone's a critic ! But seriously, thank you The Uncredible Hallq. (I seem to be getting a lot of recognition lately ! Good sign !)