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Let’s take this one step at a time. Am I implying that the Judeo-Christian God is frivolous? Yes. Am I implying that he is so frivolous that he would sacrifice his only son just so he could get his hands on some prime holiday real estate? You can bet your ass I am.

Ever noticed that with the New Testament comes a more loving and peaceful God? It’s because he finally had some vacation time.

I wonder if God has ever been on a Caribbean Cruise…

People always be talkin’ about how Christian holidays really aren’t Christian holidays. Looking at the historical record, that is pretty apparent. We have no real information on when Jesus was born though some scholars think it was probably in the Spring or in September. Nearly all of them agree that it was not December 25th. There was a long history of celebrations on the 25th before Christianity arrived on the scene. The Babylonians were known to party hardy, the Romans celebrated Saturnalia, and the Pagans of Northern Europe celebrated Yule. To get non-believers to convert to Christianity, the Christian leadership decided to adopt these times to celebrate various holidays with a more Christian spin. Some of them came about pretty early (the celebration of Jesus’s birth in December started around 350 with Pope Julius I) and others were added later.

This is pretty common knowledge at this point.

One of the interesting things to note about this is that the Christian God would almost certainly not have been cool with all this. One of the primary traits this God possesses is Jealousy (with a capital J). He states, “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God…” and later continues, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” Celebrating the holidays (for all intents and purposes) of Pagan deities seems a bit contradictory to that message. While you may not be explicitly worshiping those particular deities, it is, at the very least, a bit strange to be celebrating their holidays. This is especially true seeing as the Jewish people (the roots of Christianity) had their own holidays specifically for their deity that Christians could have observed as well.

Regardless, the celebrations and rituals many people observe today are rooted in more history than they realize. That’s pretty cool when you think about it.

Let’s not worry about the weird contradictions that can sometimes bring up.

In other news, I saw Scott Pilgrim VS the World and found it strangely entertaining. It’s cool to see a comic artist with an interesting idea finally see some main stream success. I recommend going to check it out before it leaves theaters, it’s definitely one of those films you want to see on a big screen. And if you haven’t already, read the comic.

Also, I’m going to be at the Small Press Expo with William on September 11th and 12th! It will be taking place at the Bethesday North Marriot Hotel & Conference Center in Maryland. If you’re going to be in the area, stop by our table and say hello and I will give you a high five!