Christmas lights

[Brew 5,404]

Isn't rigid adherence to the tenets of religion the single biggest cause of conflict in the world? Even if we exclude fundamentalists there are still more than enough differences to start a war and has been this way for centuries, Catholic v Protestants - Sunni v Shia and the list just goes on  and on.

The obvious answer would be banning religion but if we did we'd soon find another good reason to kill each other.

 

I will say this though the next big conflict will be driven by politics not religion and it may not be as far away as we think.

[philmayfield 6,115]

Not all Muslims are terrorists but, certainly in this country, all terrorists would seem to be Muslims. I appreciate that way back in the time of the Crusades the Christians committed atrocities but I’m sure their Lord has since forgiven those sins.

[Beekay 5,134]

'Er indoors now getting ideas.

[philmayfield 6,115]

At least that’s not tacky! 

[Brew 5,404]

Height of seat, height of windows, who's driving it a giraffe? Maybe a blowup Santa, I think they can be quite tall unless the pump is turned off....

 

[IAN FINN 807]

You will have to switch from electric to steam Beekay start filling the coal house.

[letsavagoo 961]

Like many English children born and raised here in the uk I was sent to Sunday School, sang a hymns at morning school assembly and was taught to say prayers at night. I would say I was C of E if asked but I am 100% atheist having made that decision years ago. Religion has no place in my life at all. I love hearing Hymns but it’s not often I do. I like church architecture and visit churches quite frequently but would never attend a service. I’m happy to live and let live, enjoy your faith if that floats your boat but it’s all bunkum to me. I don’t mind Christmas but it’s getting together with family, enjoying seeing the happiness of my grandchildren etc. The birth of ‘our saviour’ goes over my head.

 

[letsavagoo 961]

4 hours ago, philmayfield said:

Not all Muslims are terrorists but, certainly in this country, all terrorists would seem to be Muslims. I appreciate that way back in the time of the Crusades the Christians committed atrocities but I’m sure their Lord has since forgiven those sins.

If you’ve got a few hours to spare.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_terrorism

[letsavagoo 961]

7 hours ago, philmayfield said:

The ‘photo doesn’t really do it justice. You’ve got to see it in the flesh. It’s so bad it’s good!

Don’t forget the ‘seasonal’ music playing too. Not too loud but not sure I’d like to be their neighbours.

[philmayfield 6,115]

Back in those days we were indoctrinated with religion in schools and Sunday schools. It was a thing of the age. Many of us started to question the dogma in our teens. I was inveigled at the age of  17, by a god bothering girlfriend, to attend confirmation classes. Our group sat in the vicar's house asking the Lord to have mercy on us 'miserable offenders'. I got up and walked out saying 'you might be a miserable offender Vic but I'm not'. I've always been bolshie. That was the end of religion and that girlfriend for for me!

 

 

 

[philmayfield 6,115]

8 minutes ago, letsavagoo said:

Don’t forget the ‘seasonal’ music playing too. Not too loud but not sure I’d like to be their neighbours.

I know two people who live close by and they're not happy!

[Rob.L 1,088]

1 hour ago, letsavagoo said:

Like many English children born and raised here in the uk I was sent to Sunday School, sang a hymns at morning school assembly and was taught to say prayers at night. I would say I was C of E if asked but I am 100% atheist having made that decision years ago. Religion has no place in my life at all. I love hearing Hymns but it’s not often I do. I like church architecture and visit churches quite frequently but would never attend a service. I’m happy to live and let live, enjoy your faith if that floats your boat but it’s all bunkum to me. I don’t mind Christmas but it’s getting together with family, enjoying seeing the happiness of my grandchildren etc. The birth of ‘our saviour’ goes over my head.

 

Thanks, saves me having to write exactly that, apart from a growing interest in Humanism.

 

(https://humanists.uk/humanism/)

 

As regards diminishing attendance, the last two churches I went to were both packed-out with worshippers. One was the Ukrainian Church at the bottom of Carlton Road, and the other was the Polish church on Sherwood Rise.

[Beekay 5,134]

1 hour ago, IAN FINN said:

You will have to switch from electric to steam Beekay start filling the coal house.

The bath tub is already full Ian.

[denshaw 2,871]

1 hour ago, philmayfield said:

I know two people who live close by and they're not happy!

 

Are they Bashful  and Grumpy?

[MargieH 7,599]

 

@letsavagoo  thanks for the wiki link.  It was very interesting and informative, and confirms much of what I thought….

[Brew 5,404]

1 hour ago, letsavagoo said:

If you’ve got a few hours to spare.

 

It rather reinforces PhilMayfields assertion that the majority of terrorists are Muslim

[MargieH 7,599]

…….Also that the vast majority of the attacks are on other Muslims, whom they believe are not following true Islam!  Terrorist attacks are condemned by peace loving Muslims.

[Brew 5,404]

Terrorism is condemned by every right minded individual, religion should play no part. The reason the main victims are Muslim is due to geography as much as anything, I don't think they are targeted particularly. When a bomb goes off it doesn't choose who to kill it's indiscriminate. It is not sentient or capable of targeting a particular group or sect  it kills everyone in its vicinity regardless and if the majority of the crowd is Muslim, so be it the perpetrators don't care.

[DJ360 6,721]

12 hours ago, catfan said:

Jesus & Christmas aren't allowed in this multicultural country anymore.

Happy holidays.

 

Rubbish.  Nobody is stopping either and many people of other religions also join in.

[DJ360 6,721]

As a slight aside, but with some link to Margie's comment about me 'being a thinker', above.  I went for my first 'pre-op' for knee surgery yesterday morning and on the way back I switched on the car radio to BBC Radio 4.  I heard the familiar voice of Anita Rani welcoming listeners to the programme, but missed what programme it was.  It later transpired it was Woman's Hour.  But, whatever, Anita welcomed her first guest Brené Brown. I'd never heard of her, but she has clearly been around for a while and is very highly regarded.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brené_Brown

 

Brené's piece was basically promoting her latest book 'Atlas of the Heart', which is about emotions..  One emotion she discussed was Nostalgia.. which is why I'm typing this.. but I'll come back to Nostalgia later..

 

A lot was said in a short time, but a few snippets stuck with me: 

 

For e.g., she proposed that we mostly 'dump' assorted emotions into one of three 'buckets'.. viz.. Happy, Sad and Angry. But she goes on to talk about 'emotional granularity', meaning the ability to define emotions more precisely, so that we might for e.g., be sad, through disappointment..so that the actual emotion is disappointment...and so on.

 

As for anger, she describes it as both the 'primary catalyst for change' .. ( "in this World.. if you aren't angry..you aren't paying attention..." ), but also as emotionally costly... which of course relates quite neatly to the old adage, 'don't get mad..get even'.

 

At this point I suppose it's worth saying that her ideas aren't necessarily that original.. but her ways of seeing and describing them, to me, lend a new and valuable slant.

 

So...Nostalgia..  Brown describes it as a 'double edged sword', which has Anita Rani wondering, as she talks of how she loves to reminisce on her childhood, happy events etc. (Don't we all..?)

Brown calls this the reflective side of Nostalgia, but also points to the more problematic side of Nostalgia, which she terms 'rumination' and can come more from anger at perceived loss which she says can be a 'dog whistle' to those of a certain psyche, who look back to an ideal past, which typically never existed.

 

She goes on to tie this into the activities of for e.g., the far right in the US, who she describes as fighting a desperate 'last stand', in a fight for a mythical past. (It is a last stand because they are clinging to old racism old division old structures and attitudes etc.. which actually disappeared decades ago for most people.)  And, like all last stands it is fanatical, illogical and dangerous.

 

Getting rather too political and I'm nowhere near as eloquent as Brené Brown, but I would urge anyone who is prepared to test their own certainty to listen to this short bit of audio.

 

Link to the programe audio: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00127ck

[mary1947 2,079]

• I have just sat here and read all the post 's!!!!  and I'm sorry but I have to have my say!!!!

My Grandad used to say"""

NEVER DISCUSS RELIGION OR POLIiTICIS

 

This World of our's is for all of us 

Why don't you listen to the words of the song written by 

                        JOHN LENNON

              

                             IMAGINE !!!!!!

[catfan 14,793]

9 hours ago, DJ360 said:

 

Rubbish.  Nobody is stopping either and many people of other religions also join in.

Not rubbish at all.

Council's, student unions & many others push for the word Christmas to be dropped because they say Christmas is not inclusive enough.

Here in this city like many other cities we have a Winter Wonderland, no mention of Christmas anymore.

[trogg 2,010]

Winter Wonderland is not some thing new, I can remember visiting places billed as winter wonderland with my sons when they were little, they are both in their 50s now.

[philmayfield 6,115]

This season of the year was a festival long before the Christians adopted it. It now appears to have reverted to the pagan orgy it used to be.

 

[DJ360 6,721]

The like is for reminding us that a festival around the winter solstice, usually around 21/22 Dec does have Pagan origins. Holly and Ivy, being evergreen, are believed to have represented the continuation of life, despite much other stuff appearing 'dead' during the winter.

However, such traditions also existed in many other pre-Christian civilisations, including Roman, and many others.

It is basically about either celebrating, or praying for, the 'return of the light' after the darkest part of the year.  That is also a major element of the Christian approach too, so the two broad traditions are essentially compatible.

That said, I don't think there is much proof that the 'Pagan' (a very broad term, including a lot of differing traditions) , was an orgy.  It was presumably just as sincerely observed as Christmas is.  In other words, I imagine there were those who were devout, and those who were less so. Just as now.

Again, without getting too political, the excesses seen in some nowadays, owe more to modern  comsumerism, than to Pagan tradition.

 

Quote

Many Pagans celebrate the Solstice in ways that their Christian neighbours would find entirely familiar. In fact, some take great delight in attending Midnight Mass or carol services in Church. This becomes less surprising when you realise that Pagans, like Christians, are celebrating the birth of light and hope, sometimes in the form of a divine child. Candles are likely to form a central part of any Solstice ceremony. Often all lights are extinguished, to be relit from a single candle. In Druid ritual, this candle is carried by the youngest person present, in the role of the Mabon. The central idea is to celebrate the return of the light out of the darkness. 

 

Above quote from: https://faithbeliefforum.org/pagan-yule-festivals-jenny-uzzell-druid/