The REAL Meaning of Christmas - NOT!
This time of year, there's a lot of argument about the "real" meaning of Christmas. And other times of year, there are arguments about other festivals and about the "real" meaning of symbols, such as the rainbow. It tends to boil down to two main arguments:
- the earliest meaning is the original, it got in first, so that is the only legitimate meaning.
- the latest meaning is what it evolved into, that's what it means now, how dare you tell me it can't mean what it means.
It is just as legitimate (or illegitimate) for the LBGT crowd to co-opt the rainbow as their symbol, as it was for the Celtic Christians to co-opt the Triquetra Celtic knot as the symbol of the Holy Trinity. You can't have it both ways. Either the earlier meaning is the only legitimate one, or the later meaning is the only legitimate one -- if one uses the oldness/newness of the meaning as the argument for its legitimacy. People who declare that Christmas is "really a Pagan holiday" (and that the Triquetra symbol "really" is about the Threefold Goddess) can't then turn around and try to argue that, somehow, the "oldness" argument doesn't apply to the symbolism of the rainbow as a promise of God to Noah after the Flood, since Noah predates the LGBT movement by, er, thousands of years. But they still want to have it both ways.
Of course, what they really want is to control the discourse in their favour.
So, please, none of these silly arguments about what a symbol or festival "really" means. All you can be really sure of is what it means to YOU.
There is no "real" meaning. There is ALL the meanings. Pick one. Pick several!
I'm not saying that symbols are meaningless or arbitrary. Far from it! That would be like saying that art or poetry are meaningless or arbitrary in their meaning. Nor am I saying that the meanings of symbols shouldn't be discussed. But let us use these discussions to enlighten each other, not quarrel with each other. Peace.
Note:
A shorter version of this post was posted as a thread on twitter... and even though he doesn't follow the one person who retweeted the thread (I checked just now) the thread was picked up by a rabid atheist who wrote a book about how evil Christianity is, and he, and consequently some of his followers, started arguing with me and mocking me about Noah. I was first annoyed, then amused, but now it's getting me down.
I wonder if he has a bot that trawls for terms like "Noah"? Wouldn't surprise me. "Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears." (Proverbs 26:17)
Moral of the story: always check the profile of a hostile tweeter first before replying. That may enable you to back away slowly, instead of getting into a brawl.
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