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发帖数: 6791 | 1 1889, by Robert G. Ingersoll
My family and I regard Christmas as a holiday -- that is to say, a day of
rest and pleasure -- a day to get acquainted with each other, a day to
recall old memories, and for the cultivation of social amenities. The
festival now called Christmas is far older than Christianity. It was known
and celebrated for thousands of years before the establishment of what is
known as our religion. It is a relic of sun-worship. It is the day on which
the sun triumphs over the hosts of darkness, and thousands of years before
the New Testament was written, thousands of years before the republic of
Rome existed, before one stone of Athens was laid, before the Pharaohs ruled
in Egypt, before the religion of Brahma, before Sanskrit was spoken, men
and women crawled out of their caves, pushed the matted hair from their eyes
, and greeted the triumph of the sun over the powers of the night.
There are many relics of this worship -- among which is the shaving of the
priest's head, leaving the spot shaven surrounded by hair, in imitation of
the rays of the sun. There is still another relic -- the ministers of our
day close their eyes in prayer. When men worshiped the sun -- when they
looked at that luminary and implored its assistance -- they shut their eyes
as a matter of necessity. Afterward the priests looking at their idols
glittering with gems, shut their eyes in flattery, pretending that they
could not bear the effulgence of the presence; and to-day, thousands of
years after the old ideas have passed away, the modern parson, without
knowing the origin of the custom, closes his eyes when he prays.
There are many other relics and souvenirs of the dead worship of the sun,
and this festival was adopted by Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and by
Christians. As a matter of fact, Christianity furnished new steam for an old
engine, infused a new spirit into an old religion, and, as a matter of
course, the old festival remained.
For all of our festivals you will find corresponding pagan festivals. For
instance, take the eucharist, the communion, where persons partake of the
body and blood of the Deity. This is an exceedingly old custom. Among the
ancients they ate cakes made of corn, in honor of Ceres and they called
these cakes the flesh of the goddess, and they drank wine in honor of
Bacchus, and called this the blood of their god. And so I could go on giving
the pagan origin of every Christian ceremony and custom. The probability is
that the worship of the sun was once substantially universal, and
consequently the festival of Christ was equally wide spread.
As other religions have been produced, the old customs have been adopted and
continued, so that the result is, this festival of Christmas is almost
world-wide. It is popular because it is a holiday. Overworked people are
glad of days that bring rest and recreation and allow them to meet their
families and their friends. They are glad of days when they give and receive
gifts -- evidences of friendship, of remembrance and love. It is popular
because it is really human, and because it is interwoven with our customs,
habits, literature, and thought.
For my part I am willing to have two or three a year -- the more holidays
the better. Many people have an idea that I am opposed to Sunday. I am
perfectly willing to have two a week. All I insist on is that these days
shall be for the benefit of the people, and that they shall be kept not in a
way to make folks miserable or sad or hungry, but in a way to make people
happy, and to add a little to the joy of life. Of course, I am in favor of
everybody keeping holidays to suit himself, provided he does not interfere
with others, and I am perfectly willing that everybody should go to church
on that day, provided he is willing that I should go somewhere else. -- The
Tribune, New York, December, 1889. |
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