Re: Why not 13 months? (Was La Systeme Metrique)

(phaedrus@I_should_put_my_domain_in_etc_NNTP_INEWS_DOMAIN)
24 Aug 1995 22:47:36 GMT

randy (rburbach@inch.com) wrote:
: In article <41g22o$ao2@hermes.cair.du.edu>, ruhl@phoebe.cair.du.edu
: (Robert A. Uhl) wrote:

:
: > Chriastmas trees were invented by Martin Luther. They caught on with
: > the people, and the Chruch finally decided to stop trying to stop it.
: > Easter eggs also were at one time put down by the Church.
: >
: christmas trees were not invented by luther, that is a lutheran myth
: they had been used for years previously, although i can't vouch for their
: pagan origins, it certainly evokes the pagan "world tree"

Yet this doesn't work, since the >Churches< don't use the tree. The standard
Catholic and Orthodox CHURCH practices don't involve Christmas trees, but
they might use other, non-pagan symbolism like the Star of Bethlehem,
the nativity scene, etc.

: easter itself -- check the etymology

True, but the CHURCH practices and beliefs are all centered around the
death and rebirth of Christ, not on the admittedly pagan symbolism of
eggs, rabbits, etc.

: the eucharist --- i believe this ritual cannablism had zoroastrian origins --

Very possibly. I wasn't going to mention it until I got confirmation, however.
There is a lot of the Christian myth that bears strong similarity to
older myths. I don't know how Mr. Uhl will treat such claims, though.

I don't know offhand any specific CHURCH practices that are pagan in origin,
but I'm also not ceeding Mr. Uhl's point. However, many "Christian" lay
practices and celebrations (Santa Claus, Christmas trees, the Easter Bunny,
Easter eggs, the whole Halloween thing, etc). Probably the best I could
come up with off the top of my hand is how some of the feast days are
celebrated. Since I am not Catholic or Orthodox, I don't know how the
feast days are celebrated.

[My ex-Catholic SO suspects that the Saint system is a polytheistic holdover.
Given that there were several Saints who were directly lifted from existing
Pagan deities, It holds some credence to me.]

: randy