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Your perennial reminder that Keven Sorbo is an idiot.

Murdered by Words @feddit.uk

Love and Trees

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Clever Comebacks @feddit.uk

Your perennial reminder that Keven Sorbo is an idiot.

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Oh yes, because xmas trees, Santa and reindeer are heavy themes in the Bible....
- Santa died for our sins
  
  You didn't hear it from me, but word on the street is Jesus faked his death and has been living under the false identity of Santa.
  
  I want that on a t-shirt.
  
  Santa/Sinterklaas is based on a Christian bishop and patron Saint who is attributed with giving gifts in secret.
- To me Xmas is not a religious event. The midnight mass is religious. But the whole bit with Santa, the tree, and the presents. No.
  
  Also Jesus was born during tax season, not the winter solstice.
  
  I did think that, but wasn't sure if the tree was something about birth or the presents were a 3 wise men thing. 90% sure the tree is a pagan thing and every hardcore Christian should abolish it from their home.
- Seriously. Christmas has become ~85% secularized in the US.
  
  Of course it is - its a commercial holiday and they wanna sell to everyone
- I mean technically Santa was a notable party to a major doctrinal synod on the theological nature of the Trinity, not exactly biblical in a literal sense but going down in history for cold clocking an archbishop for arguing that the father is the son's greater since he begat the son IMO qualifies you to be considered a prominent part of the theology of your religion.

Why do Christians buy "Christmas" trees when they're explicitly forbidden?
Jeremiah 10:1-5
1 Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: 2 Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. 3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. 4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. 5 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
If you try googling any of this, you will find a shit ton of christian cope. Reminder, the Christmas tree started as a winter solstice pagan holiday.
- the Christmas tree started as a winter solstice pagan holiday.
  I'd always heard that too, but Religion for breakfast put out a pretty interesting breakdown on why that may likely not be the case.
  
  https://youtu.be/m41KXS-LWsY
  
  Honestly, given that they are using a narrow definition of specifically an evergreen being decorated I don't agree. I'm not sure why we wouldn't include other types of winter holiday trees or bushes like the ones decorated for Saturnalia. There's also a lot of "probably" and supposition in this video.
  
  Interesting.
- I thought the Christmas tree started relatively recently, around the Renaissance.

When people take part in Christmas: "Stop enjoying our holiday!!"
When people don't: "They're waging a war on Christmas!!"
Victimhood is their chosen drug...

As far as I can tell, the traditions that surround Christmas have nothing to do with Christianity. Basically most of the stuff was coopted by Christianity at some point from some other belief or religion.
There's no mention of putting up lights or a tree or giving presents to eachother as part of celebrating Jesus' "birthday" (which all evidence would suggest, was not in December).
So I would ask, what's particularly Christian about Christmas trees, lights and decorations, as well as gift giving at Christmas time? What part of the Bible says that's what you're supposed to do?
Simply put, it's not in the Bible.
So I really have up wonder about anyone who criticises an atheist (or literally any non-Christian) about "celebrating" Christmas, since all the traditional stuff about Christmas has nothing to do with Christianity.
Obvious exception for Christmas mass or whatever religious service is happening the same day as Christmas.... Going to a church is literally the only Christian thing about Christmas that Christians do.... Everything else is simply "tradition" which has no basis in the Bible.
People like Sorbo are over here trying to gate keep celebrating the holidays.
- What to the more on all that. Xmas is basically just late to the picture as the real holiday is already over on Xmas eve.
  The real bit to celebrate regardless of religion, or even, if not especially, the lackthereof, is that this is the day of the return to the sun in the Earth's ellipse of varying distance from such.
- Actually there is a possible Bible reference to the Three Magi who brought gifts to baby Jesus, some Christian traditions refer to this for gift giving instead of Christmas.
  
  The so called "three Wise Men" or whatever. Yep.
  IMO that's a bit of a flimsy argument. Jesus' family got gifts on his birthday, so everyone should participate in unrestricted consumerism because Jesus.
  ..... Almost everyone celebrates their birthday with gift giving. Why then, in this case, does it constitute that everyone should give stuff to their friends/family/etc? "It's someone else's birthday, so I got you a gift!" What? Why?
  The logic is insane.
- And it isn't just the traditions that are borrowed, but the date too. As you said, the 25th of December wasn't Jesus' birthday - but it apparently was the birthday of Sol Invictus. (i.e. the sun.)

Sometimes I wonder what it must feel like to give yourself permission to be permanently offended before attacking other people for what you view as cultural appropriation so then you can claim you are being persecuted when people get pissed off at your entitlement. It is both fascinating and also infuriating.

You mean putting up a Yule tree and trading presents like the Romans did, two traditions stolen by Christianity?
- As others have said, pretty much co-opted from existing traditions https://historyofenglishpodcast.com/2013/05/05/episode-24-germanic-mythology/
  
  Christianity/Catholicism and Pagan traditions basically absorbed each other, even within Christendom power struggles concessions were made to accommodate and consolidate power. Can see this today more obviously in South America where Catholicism and animist indigenous beliefs have blended together, Peloponneseia as well.

Why Sorbo always gotta double down on cringe. Dude needs to get off twitter and smoke some dope.
- A lifetime of eating lead paint chips will do that to a person.
- Looks like I'm happy I literally only know him by Andromeda (not even Hercules), he's great there, and I know nothing else about him

Frankly, Christmas right now has very little to do with actual Christmas.
Besides the well known tidbit that Christmas tree that was adopted by Christians.
The actual Christmas was about having a family dinner (like Thanksgiving) and then waiting until midnight for the birth of Christ.
The Santa Claus originates from Saint Nicholas, who was celebrated on December 5th. The legend was that he secretly was making and bringing toys to orphanage.
The current Santa Claus is just bastardization of Saint Nicholas in order to sell shit. Same thing with St Valentine. It is Christian in the name only at this point.
- Even worse
  Modern red suited Santa was reimagined and heavily commercialized by Coca-Cola and Christmas was appropriated from Sol Invictus. Nobody even knows when Jesus was born.
  Colonization and commercialization at their best.
- That's a very US-centric description though. There have been decades of slowly secularizing Christmas in the US (although I did notice a comeback of religious themed Christmas songs on the radio in the last couple of years).
  In my native country we celebrate Saint Nicholas on December 6th, and we get presents from him in our boots on that morning.
  Christmas is focused on the birth of Christ, not on Santa (who is not considered the same as St Nicholas and there are several legends about the origin of Santa, generally all connected to the birth of Jesus). Christmas dinner is a time for families to get together, similar to Thanksgiving in the US (but not waiting until midnight for the birth of Christ, we don't have Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve, we have it on Christmas Day, celebrating the birth of Christ; Christmas Eve is the last day of fasting before Christmas).
  Also the 25th is just the first of 3 days of Christmas.

yeah if you don't believe in jesus then you can't be part of anything about him. The yule log, santa claus, him being born close to the winter equinix, mistletoe, holly, etc. all good christian things and not something totally anti christ like jew holidays or something. totally not pagan and so biblical. anyway the tree and the gifts are for saturnalia. I didn't really want to get involved in the satanic holiday but xstians don't like athiests doing their thing but the satanists are way cool with it.
- Here in Sweden (and presumably our Nordic neighbours) the gift giving began as a sort of jocular thing.
  We have a specific word used uniquely for Christmas gifts, and it bears no relation to our other words for gifts, like “present” (birthday gift being födelsedagspresent) or gåva.
  A julklapp (Yule clap) began as a rural tradition where youths would sneak around the village and, knock (clap) on the houses and toss in a wrapped bundle, containing a jocular gift, like a straw doll or some firewood. They’d often attach a note with a (usually crude or even mean) rhyme on it, thus you’d do this anonymously and sneaky like.
  This has translated to modern tradition. Some keep the giver of gifts anonymous (my mother did this for some gifts despite it being just us two), and it is still really common to attach a note or a label on the outside with a rhyme on it. The rhyme tends to pertain to what the gift is, but etiquette around rhyming differs. Some prefer to keep the gift a mystery for the person to guess, others include what the gift is in the rhyme.
  Examples: “For when you’re outside and struck by a breeze, wear these that you may avoid to freeze.”
  “Please don’t think me dated or old, but I got you these gloves to keep you from cold.”
  
  Oooh... Kevin would hate this so much.
  
  nice.
- It’s doubtful a single historical figure was the legendary Jesus, but I’d there was, he was about the Age of Pisces, so probably piscean, so March maybe.
  
  I always heard spring because of the time when shepherds were moving their flock or such but that assumes a true tale.

Why do Christians buy a Christmas tree and gifts for their kids? It has nothing to do with the birth of Christ and isn't a Christian tradition.

To be fair, after McClellan's notes about the lack of primary data linking Christmas to non-Christian holidays I would gleefully support divorcing government observances of Chrismas in favor of generic winter or end of year festivities.
Republicans in the US have really soured me to anything Christian, which I now associate with property rights of the rich, authoritarian autocracy and white power movements. (That these might conflict with scripture is irrelevant to the policies lobbied by ministries and pushed by Christian-identifying officials.)
Christmas was on its way out when Charles Dickens wrote his potboiler and changed how we saw and celebrated Christmas in the following century. It might be time to put it to pasture and forge anew new winter traditions that mean something to who we are today.
- Being raised christian really soured me to anything christian. ;-)

Answer - the same reason Christians celebrate Christmas: so I can co-opt someone else's rituals for my own purposes. If they can steal solstice celebrations, I can celebrate Christmas.

I'd ask, do we even know that actually happens?
Then, why did Christians turn Christmas into a commercial spectacle?
Next, what does he think about things like Christmas in Japan where it's celebrated, but more as a cultural tradition of romance, family and friendship than a religious event (which basically is what he's upset about here, when people do that, even though that's also how most ostensible 'christians' act)
- These heathen atheists, not even buying a traditional bucket of KFC for Christmas!
- I don’t celebrate Xmas. I celebrate Sol Invixtus. It’s still got the gift giving, but the parties are way more fun

Like, does he want fewer people participating in Christmas? I don't understand the motivation behind his post.
- Shit stirring is the mating call of the aging, dimwitted d-lister, grasping desperately at hot button issues in a vain attempt to remain relevant

Wouldn't it be great if the sorbo account is a parody account and he's just a harmless luddite in real life, surprised and frustrated to eventually find out someone is using his likeness to say the absolutely dumbest things anyone can say?
- Sadly, he's exactly like what his account paints him as, an out of touch jackass who thinks he's the best thing to ever happen to low budget TV.
  His ego fucked over Andromeda. That show could have been so much more, if they had just cast someone else.
  
  Part of the problem is he's had like 47 strokes. He's literally brain damaged.
  
  I liked early Andromeda and loved season 1 of Earth: Final Conflict. Can't blame Sorbo for EFC going down the shitter after one season, but Rodenberry properties other than Star Trek just can't seem to get any footing.
- I would assume that Lucy Lawless would know. She's gotten into arguments with Sorbo over twitter.
- But that would make TheLiamNissan’s dunks on him less amusing.
  
  Totally agree, but it's easy target practice vs an ideal world where the righteous Hercules who teamed up with xena isn't a total asshole, and I more enjoy the wistful imagined nostalgia of the latter and can shoulder the cognitive dissonance.

Does Kevin acknowledge that he committed blasphemy when he played Hercules?
- Considering the lore where stars are literal living anthropomorphic beings, I'd say Andromeda was pretty blasphemous too. I guess a paycheck trumps Jesus.
  
  Look around you at talibangicals that worship money, and all the worldly pleasures, hoard it and use it to harm, rather than help others.
  
  Just like Christmas! Somebody should tell him.
- Someone doesn't remember how the series ended. Spoilers: it becomes a blatantly xtian show for no reason.
  
  Did it?
  TBF I don't think anyone actually tuned in to watch Hercules or paid much attention. I remember it being something that was on before the show you did actually want to watch, in a time of limited alternatives and channels.
  I have been wondering if I should try to rewatch Xena. I seem to remember that being a better show, although I was a horny teenaged boy in a time before internet pornography, when I last watched it.
- Ofc not; that would take self-awareness.

I would ignore Christmas entirely if I could.
I have family members who are really into it.
And the news always acts like the entire stupid consumer driven economy is riding on it. I actually don't care about that. But I bet if we did all choose to ignore it, they'd complain that we're tanking the economy on purpose. You can't win with trolls.
- If my wife didn't have a Christian family that grew up celebrating it, I would ignore it. I grew up Jewish, we never celebrated it. I was always made to feel like an other as a kid for it. I still don't like it very much, but I go along with it.
  The only Christmas I ever enjoyed was in the UK, where it was just about having a good time. I wish Christmas was like that here in the U.S.
- What's wrong with tanking the economy on purpose? The economy has been designed to be unfair, unjust, and unsustainable, and I avoid contributing to it wherever I can.

Is Christmas a religious holiday? Since when?

Oh, a snarky takedown. Meh. I prefer this:

This may me wonder if this is supposed to be a perennial reminder to watch Xena: Warrior Princess instead of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.

Peanut.
- You get it.

DISAPPOINTED!

Valentin loves me.

The greatest Christmas song EVER! has some thoughts on the subject: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fCNvZqpa-7Q

Why?
It's easier to just go along with the act. The holiday has strayed so far from its original meaning, it may eventually just implode.

I don't!

I have a friend who is a Jehovah's Witness and he wonders why Christians do the same thing.

I prefer the Dresden Files version of Santa, that being a side gig of Odin. TO VALHALLA!

Day 7250 of me begging Christians to understand that Jesus is not the patron deity of capitalism, and that Christianity did not invent winter solstice celebrations.

As someone who used to be facebook friends with this joker, you have to be a special kind of stupid to make McAfee look like the voice of reason in comparison.
- How is McAfee a joker? Just curious.
  
  No, he's actually rather serious. He overplays his importance to sell his book, constantly bragging about how his book "Disproving God" is required reading in University Biology Courses (no it isn't), and just plays way too heavily to the "Dudebro" crowd in general...
  But...... the really shitty part is that he's a supporter of literal god damn eugenics and believes religiosity is a "gene" we need to "breed out of existence" which triggers more than a raised eyebrow on my "Yikes" scale

Euphoric may may

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