Sunday, December 23, 2018

Global Christmas Party

Why is Christmas celebrated in countries with very few Christians?

A couple of years ago, I turned on my TV and there was a show called, "Christmas Around The World".  We do not celebrate Christmas, but I was curious about how people in other places celebrated it differently than America.  So, my wife and I started watching it.

It was not at all what we expected.  Instead of footage of various celebrations in far away lands, it was a single celebration service that featured people of different religions using customs from different holidays to create a globally inclusive celebration of Christmas.  It was some sort of global Christmas party.

We thought about turning it off, but we both felt compelled by the Spirit of Truth (Ruach HaQodesh aka The Holy Spirit aka The Holy Ghost) to watch the entire show.  This is how it went, to the best of my memory.

A man came out and lit a large candle, then went on to explain how this light was to remind people that life is born again every day.  A woman came out next, and talked about how the light of humanity was not in knowing the answers about the meaning of life, but in asking the questions. Then they talked about the miracle of birth and the interconnection of existence.

Then a man dressed in traditional Persian clothing told about Zoroaster's laughter at birth.  Next a woman in traditional clothing of India had a short ceremony involving Indra's Net.  Then a man in ancient Chinese clothing explained how the Sun is reborn every day when it rises.

After that, an American woman in a traditional red and green Christmas dress read some passages out of the Book of Truth (The Bible) about the birth of the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ), and then lit an Advent Wreath.  This was followed by a brief ceremony of erecting and lighting a Christmas tree by a man dressed in traditional German clothing.  Then everyone sang "O Christmas Tree" in English and German.  Finally, a man dressed like a Puritan explained the two hundred year struggle to get Christmas made legal in America, and to get Christmas trees accepted as part of American culture.

Next people dressed in the traditional garb of various places around the world, showed how their cultures added their own local customs to celebrate Christmas, by doing things like decorating mango and banana trees, instead of evergreen trees.

This was followed by a man dressed in Arabian clothing reciting Muslim traditions about the birth of the Man of Truth.  He also performed some sort of short Muslim ceremony.

This was followed by a man in Jewish clothing from Biblical times reading the creation account from the Book of Truth, then a man dressed like an ancient Babylonian reading the creation account found in the Enuma Elish, and finally a woman in Hindu clothing reading the Hindu account of creation.

Next, came a man dressed like a Rabbi came out with a Chanukiah.  He told about how Chanukah was a celebration of the gift of light.  He then briefly told the Chanukah story, followed by some traditional Jewish fables about winter solstice, a few verses of 1 Maccabees, and finally shared some wisdom from the Talmud.

After that, he lit the Shamash (servant) candle and explained how we should all be servants of one another.  Then he used the Shamash to light the other eight candles, one at a time, and explained that each one represented a virtue that all humans should strive to achieve.

Next, a man dressed in a modern American suit came out, and gave a brief sermon extolling people to use their human and natural gifts to better each other and the world.  The man then read a passage from the Carl Seaburg book, "Anthology".

This was followed by displays of Christmas art from various places across the centuries, as well of religious art from a variety of religions.  Many of them featured some image of a mother holding a baby with some sort of light illuminating or coming out of the two.

Finally, the entire cast gathered together to lead the congregation in singing some traditional Christmas carols in various languages, including "Silent Night" in the original German.

Well, it turned out that this "Global Christmas Party" was really the Christmas pageant of a Unitarian Universalist congregation.  However, this Global Christmas Party got me thinking about which countries celebrate Christmas. When I looked into it I found some surprising results.

Only fourteen countries in the world do not allow any celebration of Christmas.  All of them are ran by brutal despots including North Korea. Almost all of them are predominately Muslim countries in Africa or Asia.

Only twenty countries in the world do not observe Christmas as a public holiday, but allow the private celebration of it.  These are mostly countries with small Christian minorities like Israel.

Two countries have a different public holiday that coincides with Christmas, which many people use to celebrate Christmas.

All of the remaining countries in the world, more than 160, observe Christmas including every country in Europe, North America, and South America.  Most celebrate Christmas on December 25th, but a minority celebrate on several other days.

This includes countries like India, which only has five national holidays.  (Each state has additional holidays as well.)  This is despite the fact, that only a little over two percent of the people of India claim to be Christians.

People who claim to be Christians are a clear minority in most of the countries where Christmas is celebrated as a national holiday, including predominately Muslim countries like Nigeria, North Sudan, and Iraq.  Across the world there is truly a Global Christmas Party going on.

So why do all of these countries with very few Christians celebrate Christmas?

Sometimes the obvious answer is the correct answer: Christmas is not a Christian holiday.

Christmas was indeed outlawed by the Pilgrims in 1621 AD and by the Puritans in 1630 AD.  In fact, the only original colony where it was not outlawed was Maryland, which was started by English members of the False Church of Rome.

Christmas continued to be outlawed in the other colonies, until enforcement of the ban was relaxed during the Revolutionary War.  Since the Americans did not observe Christmas for the most part, George Washington had no qualms about mounting an attack on Hessian mercenaries hired by the British on Christmas in 1776 AD.

However, Unitarian Universalists were the first congregations to celebrate Christmas in New England, starting around the time when the American Revolution ended in 1783 AD.  Yet, the Congress of the United States held Christmas in such low regard, that the very first session of Congress began on December 25th, in 1789 AD.

Around 1800 AD, Unitarian Universalists called for public observance of Christmas, because it was not sanctioned by the Book of Truth, and they wished to celebrate a secular holiday.

A Unitarian Universalist minister named Charles Follen, who moved to America from Germany in 1824 AD, erected one of the first Christmas trees in the United States.

By 1840 AD, Unitarian Universalists had convinced many other Americans to start celebrating Christmas.  Laws outlawing its observance began being abolished at this time.

In 1843 AD, Charles Dickens, who was considering becoming a Unitarian Universalist at the time, wrote "A Christmas Carol".   It was used as a tool by the Unitarian Universalists to popularize Christmas in America.

About 1847 AD, a Unitarian Universalist minister named Edmund Sears, wrote the Christmas carol, "It came Upon A Midnight Clear".

In 1856 AD, Christmas became a legal holiday in New England, perhaps the last part of the United States to legalize it, due to the efforts of Unitarian Universalists.

By 1870 AD, Unitarian Universalists had won enough people over to celebrating Christmas, that it was declared a national holiday in the United States.

In 1881 AD, a Unitarian Universalist minister named James Pierpoint, wrote the song "Jingle Bells".

In 1962 AD, a Unitarian Universalist minister named Noel Regney, wrote the Christmas carol, "Do You Hear What I Hear?".

The False Church of Rome invented Christmas in Europe by adapting the customs of the Roman holidays of Sol Invictus and Saturnalia.  Their original twelve day holiday featured the same lawlessness, drunken orgies, and acts of violence as the Roman holidays.  This was the initial reason that Christmas was banned by most of the original colonies.

So, Unitarian Universalists created their own version of Christmas, which they could merge with the Christmas of the False Church of Rome.  Their version of Christmas was a tamer, more family friendly, celebration of Christmas that Americans would find less objectionable.

Unitarian Universalists then called on all "Christians" to join them in celebrating Christmas as an act of Christian Unity.  It was part of their plan to change the American Spirit to another spirit that is very different than the Spirit of Truth.

So, the celebration of Christmas as a national holiday in the United States, along with many of the traditions of it, were largely the creation of Unitarian Universalists.  They were responsible for putting the "Christ" in "Christmas" in America, by adapting the customs of a holiday of the Druids, called "Yule", to fit in with the customs and religion of a predominately Christian nation.

Unitarian Universalists have not just done this in United States, but have been successful in adapting Christmas to fit in with the religions and cultures of many countries throughout the world.  They have been instrumental in first popularizing, and then getting Christmas recognized as a national holiday in countries, that not only have very few Christians, but that even have laws against practicing Christianity!

Unitarian Universalists have been successful in doing this, because they have created another "Jesus", that in no way resembles the Man of Truth.  This other "Jesus" is an "enlightened" human being, no different than how they describe many of the Unitarian Universalist leaders.  They hold him up as example of Unitarian Universalist doctrine in practice.

Most Unitarian Universalists reject the virgin birth of the Man of Truth recorded in the Book of Truth as illogical.   They instead are celebrating "the miracle of birth" in general - which by definition is not a miracle at all.

Unitarian Universalists likewise reject that the Book of Truth is the incorruptible word of the Father of Truth.  In fact, they have created another Gospel that is not like the Good News found in the Renewed Covenant.  They are part of the hidden danger lurking in many congregations.

So, Unitarian Universalists have been able to get Christmas celebrated in countries where Christians face persecution by the government, by making the "Christ" in Christmas in those countries to be the "Jesus" of the dominant religion in those countries.

This has not been hard to do, since almost every religion on earth has created a figure called "Jesus", that fits in with their religion.  Not only do religions created after the Man of Truth rose from the dead, like Islam, have a "Jesus", but religions that existed before the Man of Truth was born, have been retrofitted with a "Jesus" as well, like Hinduism.

This using whatever "Jesus" is favored in each country in the celebration of Christmas in that country, fits in with the Unitarian Universalists goal of creating a more universal religion from Christianity and Islam called "Chrislam".

No wonder that the Unitarian Universalists were celebrating "Christmas Around The World".  This Global Christmas Party is their most wide spread accomplishment.

The Global Christmas Party thrown by the Unitarian Universalists has nothing to do with the Man of Truth.  The Christmas Story that they tell has nothing to do with the story of his birth told in the Gospels.  The time of year when they throw their Global Christmas Party is not even close to when he was born.

The Global Christmas Party thrown by the Unitarian Universalists, encourages Christians to lie to their children each year by invoking the Satan Clause to tell them fabrications about a man, who will bring their children gifts from the North Pole.

The Unitarian Universalists are right that Christmas is not sanctioned in the Book of Truth.  Christmas is built upon one lie after another - from the traditions concerning the birth and childhood of the Man of Truth, which are contrary to the facts laid out in the Book of Truth in so many ways - to the total deception of Santa Claus.  The lies of Christmas come from the Father of Lies (HaShatan aka Satan Aka The Devil) - like all other lies (John 8:44).

The Unitarian Universalists are right that Christmas is secular, meaning it belongs to the world.  For this reason, the Children of Truth (those who obey The Father of Truth because they love Him) should avoid celebrating it, for we are not to love the world and the things belonging to the world, because they did not come from the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) (1 John 2:15-16).

The gifts from the tree that the Children of Truth should be encouraging their children to pursue, are those that the Man of Truth purchased when he hung on a tree at Calvary.

So, like the Mensch who killed Christmas, the Children of Truth should not only refusing to join in the Global Christmas Party, but helping other people in escaping the Christmas Trap.  They should be cleaning up the Christmas mess created the Unitarian Universalists.

Instead, those who follow the Man of Truth, should celebrate the Feast of Dedication, called Chanukah, just like he did (John 10:22-23).

Chanukah is the story behind the story of the birth of the Man of Truth.

The Chanukah story tells about the gift of the Maccabees that made the Good News possible.  It tells about how Matthias the Priest set the pattern of the Faithful Priest, who prepared the people of Israel for the Messiah of Israel.  It tells about how the Maccabees helped spread the Gospel by preparing the Jewish world for the spreading the Gospel to the Gentiles.

The story of Chanukah shows the Children of Truth that resistance is essential, when the pressure is on to conform to the ways of the world.  Chanukah reminds them to be dedicating the Temple by keeping their bodies pure from sexual sin.

The Children of Truth are to keep their temples pure by separating themselves from everything that came from idolatry, like Christmas (2 Corinthians 6:16-18).  They are not to observe the holidays that came from idol worship, like Christmas, like those who do not know the Father of Truth (Galatians 4:8-11).  They are to no longer live like they are in darkness, by celebrating the same holidays as those who live in darkness, like Christmas, but are to do the things that acceptable to the Father of Truth, like celebrating Chanukah (Ephesians 5:8-11).  They are to live differently than other people in every way, including what they celebrate, to show what it means to be called out darkness to live in the marvelous light of the Father of Truth (1 Peter 2:9).

Like the Maccabees, the Children of Truth should be strong and doing exploits, because they know the Father of Truth (Daniel 11:32).  They should be willing to lose their lives in this world to obey the Father of Truth, so they can gain their life in the world to come (Mark 8:35).  They should never stop doing what is right, so they can reap the reward of the righteous (Galatians 6:7-9).  They should continue to fight the good fight of faith in the Father of Truth until they have breathed their last breath (2 Timothy 4:6-8).

So, come out of the Global Christmas Party thrown by the Unitarian Universalists, and come into the House of Truth!

Come into the House of Truth, and start celebrating the Festival of Lights instead, because it's not just a Jewish thing to do so.  Chanukah is for all of the Children of Truth, not just the Jewish ones, because it has always been about the Gentiles.

Come into the House of Truth, and learn to party with the Father of Truth at the Feasts of Truth, which form the Greatest Play Ever!  Join in the celebration of Purim, because you are living to please the King!  

It all begins by making the Man of Truth your boss, because you believe that the Father of Truth raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9).

Come into the House of Truth!





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