19th December, 05
The roots of the holiday period of Christmas are deeply entwined with Mithraism, paganism and folk lore concerning changing seasons and its present manifestation owes more to the Coca Cola Company than to the imagined birth of a particular god. Although a percentage of Australians attend some kind of church service out of traditional habit, the main emphasis is on the giving and receiving of gifts.
Society needs to learn two lessons from this festive time. The piety expressed by the religious is nothing more than evolutionary produced ‘feeling’ culturally indoctrinated by each generation and the excessive gift giving is a massive environmental waste. The former places humans on an ecologically ravaging pedestal and the latter is either resulting from or supported by that erroneous thinking.
President of the Atheist Foundation of Australia Inc, David Nicholls said: “The enjoyment of the company of others is not necessarily enhanced by forced, excessive and slavish commitment to selected days of the year. Averaging out good will over the whole year is much more preferable for community stability and workability. Celebrating the birth of yet another of the many people produced myths is mentally damaging to individuals and a danger to the future viability of the planet.”
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