New Years Revelations

Happy New Year!

Since my last post, Kristen has moved in to my (oops, 'our') apartment, my (our) roof has suffered reindeer damage, and we have slept through January 1st in a very traditional and respectful manner.

Now that Kristen and I are living together, I can more effectively steal her Christmas presents. So I'm just starting to read her copy of 'The Pagan Christ' by Tom Harpur (Thanks Ken!).

Harpur importantly first clarifies that the word 'pagan' originally means something like 'farmer' or 'peasant' (basically normal folks) and that the negative connotations of witchcraft or other goofiness that we have today are misleading.

The main idea of this book (so far) is that the Christian character Jesus borrows heavily from the Egyptian man-god named Horus (who had been around for a while). Both were born to virgin moms named (roughly) Mary and earthly dads named Joseph, heralded by 3 kings and a star, both referred to as 'the annointed one', baptized by someone who was later beheaded. Both raised someone from the dead named (roughly) Lazarus, etc. Far too many similarities to ignore.

The book is engaging and (so far) very readable. I have heard vague versions of this kind of claim before, but it is fascinating to see it laid out and explained. Unsurprisingly, Christianity is a story that is based on previous stories. Given the literalist wackos in Kansas and their Intelligent Design concept, is it ironic that the story of Christianity itself has actually *evolved* from previous versions?

Here's the part I like: Harpur is a Christian and claims that these findings have STRENGTHENED his faith.

His basic point seems to be this: Christianity is obviously not meant to be taken literally. Once you accept that, you can more effectively understand and celebrate the SPIRIT of the religion.

Let me add ... and once you ditch the literalism, the spirit of Christianity is basically the same as the spirit of most any religion: Do unto others, don't kill anyone, etc.

What a great idea! Let's all accept Jesus as a really nice character who we should try to emulate. Like 'The Dude' from The Big Lebowski, or that guy on Blue's Clues. Just good people who are trying to figure things out.

Merry Dudemas!