<p>God has a plan for me? Since his plan for the vast majority of people worldwide is for them to live angst-ridden, opportunity-less lives complete with starvation, excuse me if I don't appreciate his "plans."</p>
<p>Christmas didn't come from the Pagan holiday, they just happened to fall near each other in time. Scholars figured out that it must have been "about" December 25th that Jesus was born, so they decided to celebrate it then (as per Luke 1:46-2:38). They decided this I think during the 3rd century. </p>
<p>Sure, pagan elements stepped in over the years like mistletoe and a yule log or whatever, but the holiday is not based upon sol invictus. Esther 9:18-32 says that we may "invent" new holidays for the glory of God and this is in keeping with this text. I mean we celebrate God every day, but Christmas is just a little more special because it's the equivalent of Jesus' birthday, something that we celebrate for all people.</p>
<p>dudes and dudettes. chillax. This post serves only as an inspirational message. Take what you need from it...don't be offended or argue about religon (lame), the poster even made a disclaimer about that. lol. I'm personally an atheist, but I'm whatever about it. Right now, I need all the encouragement I can get, and I know once I get deferred/rejected, I will appreciate this post even more.</p>
<p>Helping to put this thread back on track, perhaps . . . One of my son's friends was/is the most enduringly popular kid from his high school class, despite being an average student, not much of an athlete, and overweight for all but the last year of high school. My son describes him as "the most authentic person I know." Well, this guy really wanted to go to American Univ. and applied ED, but was turned down. He then turned his attention to Northeastern and a few other big city colleges, throwing in an application at UC Boulder because he recalled he had liked it on his very first college visit. Well, none of the other schools accepted him but Boulder did. It's actually a very good school, and he couldn't be happier, though he was feeling pretty low for awhile during the college app process. I have no doubt this guy will be a wonderfully successful adult.</p>
<p>LOL you guys should go look at penns version of this thread.... it reached 250+ posts in 3 hours</p>
<p>pyar- </p>
<p>As the OP of that thread, that was awesome ;)</p>
<p>You guys realize that the debate about God or "god" or "thing" has been going on for a while and that the things we say here on this board isn't remotely profound, right? If Aristotle, modern theoretical physicists, and many more geniuses from the past can't find a definite answer, then I think it implies that arguing about it without much philosophical or religious education on an online message board isn't very wise (it might offend people or people might present the wrong facts).</p>
<p>Anyway, I just think people who attack what other people believe are retarded - they, out of immature agnst, can not accept the fact that other people are happier. I would use other words to describe these people but I want this post to stay online.</p>
<p>What is wrong with a little intellectual discussion? </p>
<p>So what if we don't come to the ultimate conclusion on the CC Boards? Discussion can open perspective. It seems close-minded to say, because we can't figure it out, why question it?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Christmas didn't come from the Pagan holiday, they just happened to fall near each other in time. Scholars figured out that it must have been "about" December 25th that Jesus was born
[/quote]
are you serious?? jesus was born around august or september...... you're like WAY off...</p>
<p>Okay, sorry, open discussion is great, but when I read your post it just seemed a little bit like it was trying to shoot down Christianity and advertise atheism. I just think if the OP finds happiness in this then more power to him. Maybe I misread or misinterpreted your post.</p>
<p>I'd like to add that I BELIEVE atheists give themselves even more credit than theists. In a sense it is a religion of the self. Theists: hats off to a greater being. Atheists: hats down to everyone else except oneself (materialism, Darwinism, survival. If not these then why live?).</p>
<p>So, just out of curiosity, did you mean you are agnostic xc?</p>
<p>to start, I would say I believe very much in to each their own. As long as one's actions aren't hurting another, I don't have an issue with it.
I believe that being Christian is great - it gives a support group of like minded people, provides guidelines for living a moral life, and brings comfort to the question of death. </p>
<p>My own cynicism stems from the amount of destruction created in the word of jesus/god/allah/whatever. Personally, I do believe something greater than ourselves exists, but I don't think it exists in the fashion we imagine it. </p>
<p>Not a person, or a thing, just a force. The minute details that pull sub-atomic particles together, the force that triggered the big bang. I do believe their is an intangible connection between all of us.</p>