Here's to hating the Holiday season.

[Captain O]

The "Holiday" season is already arriving on store shelves and All Hallows Eve has yet to arrive! Let me explain the reason(s) for my dread.

I don't bother with All Hallows Eve because:

a) It is a demon-based pagan rite. I don't want that in my home or presence. (I worship a living God).

b) It is a conduit for Satan to influence the world and our lives. No thanks.

Thanksgiving is fine, but my entire family is dead, and Thanksgiving is about family. I have no desire to be reminded of this. (No living children either, so save the sentimental speeches for those that want to hear them). I prefer to enjoy my day quietly, none of the football bullsauce (not a sports fan, I have always hated them).

Christmas is a pagan rite as well:

a) The trees are a form of Pagan worship. (I know Martin Luther began the advent of today's Christmas Tree, but it's an expense I cannot afford). I won't waste money on something that i will discard six days into the coming year. What a waste!

b) the Pope moved the celebration of Christ's birth near the Winter Solstice to eclipse the celebration/worship of both the Greek and Roman gods.

c) I celebrate the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ and his rising from the dead. This, to me is of far greater significance.

d) the crass commercialism that really gained a foothold in the Post WW2 period  (1945-present). 70 years of pure, unadulterated and meaningless avarice.

c) Again, no family (or friends) with whom to spend time.

There's no point in engaging in any social involvement, and have no desire, or motovation to begin.

Rant off.

[Intercooler]

   It's all in what you make it! My Brother isn't realigous at all (Agnostic) and celebrates everything. You could (if you desire) volunteer at Holidays to Soldiers, elderly, etc... even with/without family. The Holidays can be a depressing time for many without such things.

[Captain O]

   It's all in what you make it! My Brother isn't realigous at all (Agnostic) and celebrates everything. You could (if you desire) volunteer at Holidays to Soldiers, elderly, etc... even with/without family. The Holidays can be a depressing time for many without such things.

This is likely why he celebrates everything. He has bought into the sappy sentimentalism that consitutes "Christmas" and anually goes into debt that he can probably ill afford

I just love how people rail against commercialism, then delve right into it. What nonsense!

"It's all in what you make it". Is quite correct, because man (and society) make it up as they go along. This is profoundly evidenced by your brother, the self-professed 'Agnostic' conducts his life during this time of year. It's a "what makes me feel good about myself and feigns caring for others" approach to sharing their lives with the world. Not only is it cheap, but it is also both disingenuous and empty. It only applies during the "holiday season" when everyone expects it. The remainder of the year is lived quite differently, isn't it?

I choose to ignore all the commecialist trappings. anyone that is a Biblical student will tell you that Christ's birth isn't important; it's his death burial and ressurrection that count.

Thte world will continue to engage in what they view as socially and morally  expedient. They always have and likely always will. 

[The_Shadow]

Well the celebration of the birth of Christ is the reason for the season...everything else out there including Christmas is a commercialised attempt to have you spend your money.

We don't do the Halloween stuff, although as a kid we used to trick or treat for candy...some people decorate more for Halloween than any other holiday and Mardi Gras is another event down here that people get all worked up with.

I must be getting old and just set in my ways! 

[tommac919]

WOW Captain....

Lighten up or look out.   Someone may think with all your thoughts and guns may not mix well.   

[Captain O]

WOW Captain....

Lighten up or look out.   Someone may think with all your thoughts and guns may not mix well.   

Unfortunately, reality doesn't sit well with most people. The commercialist trappings have become so firmly ensconced in our culture that disagreeing with what has become "culturally acceptable" for the past 70 years seems foolish. What is foolish is blind acceptance of what the rest of our spendthrift culture does. If you truly want to worship the Christ, do it in secret, so that only you and the Almighty know what's taking place. (Read the Scripture about the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing).This is where the difference is truly made. Make your philanthropic efforts count. Keep it between you and God.

The rest of the world doesn't need to know and frankly, may go hang.

[sqlbullet]

I am really sorry that this time if year is so tough for you.  It has to be hard to have so many reminders of your loss.

I find your take on Halloween curious though.  In fact, of the holidays we celebrate in the US, Halloween stands alone as the only holiday for which a case can be made of true Christian roots.  There is debate among scholars as to whether it was celtic pagans or celtic christians who first started the observance.  The fact that there is debate makes the holiday unique, as all others are clearly pagan in origin, adopted by Christianity.

Halloween literally is a contraction of All Hallows Eve, as you point out. It was the first day of allhallowtide, a three day festival including all hallows eve on Oct. 31, all hallows day (all saints day) on Nov. 1 and all souls day on Nov.2.  Historically these days bore more resemblance to the modern holiday of Memorial day than they do to modern halloween.

The ghoulish aspects of halloween are as a result of expanding the original idea of intercessory prayers for those souls condemned to purgatory or recently deceased who had not yet reached heaven. This mingled with the tradition of wearing a disguise to ward off those souls who lingered to exact vengeance.  The modern Jack-O-Latern similarly was a marriage of the tradition of setting lights to guide lost souls home with the belief that some souls lingered to do mischief or worse.  The result is a combination, a light set in a scary apparition, to guide those with pure intent, while warding off those with ill-will.

Certainly in modern times the holiday has been co-opted by outlandish displays of decadence and immorality.  I have my slutty 10mm owner costume all ready to go.  (Kidding, I am going as the Arrow this year.)  But I think Buffy had it right...demons lay low on Halloween.

[Captain O]

It may seem hard, but it is a fact of life. Death is a natural part of life (of course) but everything is circumstantial. I want no pity. I do, however, hold bitterness toward the Church. Mature single people are viewed as either:

a) Workhorses for the church (to give their life purpose) or,

b) Someone to visit out of pity to salve their concience at special times of the year. (Then remain forgotten until it serves their agenda).

No single man (or woman, for that matter) want's to be viewed as a "charity case" or an object of pity. In our culture, it happens all the time. Both death and divorce take their toll on people, and our culture worships at the feet of youth. It has since the dawn of the industrial revolution. Mature people are seen as "useless" and worn out". They are also viewed as "decrepit' or every one of them is suffering from Alzheimer's disease and serve no social purpose.

If mature people have a family they have a built in support group. If not, they tend to be viewed as "outcasts" or shuffled off to a "senior center" so they remain occupied and don't interfere with the younger, more dynamic members of society.

"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain"!

Like it or not, that's our social structure.

[redbaron007]

I'm sorry you view life so destitute.   

One gets out of life what one puts in it.

What time in history should we revert back to that would help you enjoy life?

[Captain O]

I'm sorry you view life so destitute.   

One gets out of life what one puts in it.

What time in history should we revert back to that would help you enjoy life?

Gotta love those cheap, trite bromides!

Got any dead children? I have buried four of them. Let me tell you that was a joy. Then I buried a wife. I have no idea where one adult child lives. The other (one I never had the pleasure of seeing, and believe me it IS a pleasure), turned out to be a criminal. There are some things you just don't miss.

I didn't "crawl into a bottle" like my older brother had. (He's gone, thanks to his habit). I didn't stick a needle into my arm, nor did I abuse drugs. (There's a "dead end" if I ever saw one).

After a while, something inside you simply dies. You can't revive it, nor can you explain it. It is just dead. No happiness, no joy. Anything pertaining to family no longer holds any meaning. It is just gone. Memories linger on, they're just a sweet, sad, old song. Sometimes you have to bury things and move on.

There's no real need for observation. In this respect, I am a bit different from the rest of society. Not good, nor bad, just different. i see no advantage of paying attention to "phantom pains". That's what happens when you feel pain in a limb or other appendage you have lost. It feels as if it is still there and affording nothing more than discomfort. this is what the holidays for provide me, a reminder of things lost.

I don't need any reminders.