Holidays, observances, and conflicts at Christmas time:Part 1 of 4Celebrations by, and friction among, various |
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The major loss of membership by mainline and liberal Christian denominations
in recent decades, compensated by a rise in attendance at conservative
congregations; |
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The influx of immigrants who follow non-Christian religions, like
Buddhism, Hinduism, and
Islam; |
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The rise of Agnosticism,
Atheism, Humanism, freethinking, and secularism; |
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The increasing membership in new religions, like
New Age, Wicca, etc. |
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A return by many Native Americans to the Aboriginal faiths of their ancestors. |
America is clearly becoming more religiously diverse. Canada, Europe and some other countries are following the same trend.
The potential for conflict:
Reflecting this increase in religious diversity, there are now many religious celebrations widely observed during the month of December in North America. Many are related to the day when the winter solstice occurs. This varies each year between DEC-20 and 22. This date has the shortest daytime and longest nighttime of the day, in the Northern Hemisphere.
Some religions, like Islam, use a lunar calendar which is not synchronized with the secular Gregorian calendar. Their celebrations occur about 12 days earlier each year in the Gregorian calendar.
A list of celebrations:
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Bodhi Day by Buddhists. This
recalls the date when Buddha attained enlightenment. (DEC-08). |
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Christmas by
Christians.
The ancient Christians took over Saturnalia, an ancient Roman Pagan
seven day festival of Saturn which started on DEC-17 and used it to commemorate the birth of Yeshua of
Nazareth (Jesus Christ). Internal evidence in the Bible indicates that he was born in the Fall between 4 and 7 BCE. |
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The Day of the Return of the Wandering Goddesshas also been
observed by followers of Kemetic Orthodoxy, the religion of ancient Egypt,
since about 4500 BCE This celebrates the return of the
Goddess Hathor to her father Ra and the healing of their relationship. It is
synchronized to the Winter Solstice |
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Hanukkah (a.k.a. Chanukah, Festival of Lights, & Festival of
Rededication) by Jews. It is an eight day
holiday that begins on the 25th day of Kislev which can occur in very late
November or during December. Rabbi Allen Maller has donated an essay for this web site titled "Why Hanukah is for Muslim Jews." |
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Id al-Fitr by Muslims for a few
years before 2006. Between 2006 and 2008, it was Eid al-Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice
or Day of Sacrifice. During 2009 and 2010, it was Ashura, the Day of Remembrance. In 2015, Sunni Muslims observe the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad on the 12th day of the Islamic month of Rabi' al-awwal Milad un Nabi in 570 CE. Shi'a Muslims observe it on the 17th of that month. This translates to DEC-24 or JAN-04 according to TimeAndDate.com. |
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Winter Solstice is celebrated by some Native Americans and Aboriginals
in the rest of the world. |
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Many
Atheists, at least in North America, have begun to
celebrate the
Winter Solstice. |
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Saturnalia by Nova Romans (a.k.a. Romana). 1,2These are
Neopagans
who worship the ancient Gods of Rome and who celebrate the ancient Roman holy
days. |
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Yule by Wiccans and some other Pagans. |
Sponsored link:
This month also includes a number of cultural celebrations. Three are:
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Festivus, a celebration "for the rest of us".
It is as a simple, rather humorous family alternative to Christmas with a
minimum of commercialization. |
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Kwanzaa (a.k.a.
Kwanzaa, Quansa) is a week-long, inter-faith celebration -- a cultural
holiday celebrating African-American heritage. |
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Omisoka is a very popular end-of-year celebration in Japan. |
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Shabe-Yalda, an Iranian inter-faith celebration in honor of the sun's rebirth. |
More information on religious and secular celebrations.
This topic is continued in the next essay
References used:
- "Frequently Asked Questions On Hellenic Neopaganism (Greco-Roman Neopaganism)," The Stele, at: http://www.cs.utk.edu/~mclennan/
- "Saturnalia Practices of Nova Romans," Nova Romans, at: http://www.novaroma.org/
- David Porter, "Same old song at Christmas: Do carols discriminate?," Associated Press, 2004-DEC-18, at: http://kyw.com/
- "Study finds number of Protestants is falling," Houston Chronicle, 2004-JUL-21. Posted on the Free Republic bulletin board at: http://www.freerepublic.com/
- E.J. Dionne Jr., "Peace on Earth? Not with this season's Christmas wars," Washington Post, 2004-NOV-21, at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ We were only able to quote portions of his article due to copyright restrictions. The full article is well worth reading.
- "Daily Devotions," Kemet.org, at: http://daily.kemet.org/
- Found on the Religious Tolerance facebook page during 2015-DEC. Source unknown.
- Drawn using a free image from DreamsTime.com.
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Copyright © 2004 to 2015 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Originally posted: 2004-DEC-04
Latest update: 2015-DEC-07
Author: B.A. Robinson