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Discussion » Questions » Religion and Spirituality » No disrespect intended, but what's up with Christianity and hokey holiday characters like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny?
Stu Spelling Bee

No disrespect intended, but what's up with Christianity and hokey holiday characters like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny?

Posted - April 12, 2020
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Responses


  • 5391

    Indeed it was,millions of years ago, before mankind  was present on the earth. Even at that, there was still plenty of land surface above water, and as far as anyone can determine, there always has been. Sad that this is the only item you can even come close to disputing though.
    Study a geology textbook, learn about plate tectonics, and rest on pontificating on topics you don’t yet understand 

    You would be well-served to decide whether you are a Biblical literalist or not, as it appears you flit from literalism to interpretation, as convenient. Neither approach lends your claims any more substance, but it would make you seem less confused about them. 

    This post was edited by Don Barzini at April 15, 2020 8:49 AM MDT
      April 15, 2020 6:02 AM MDT
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  • 2657
    "tjis is the only thing you can even come close to disputing though" Who said that? You assume alot, you looksmarter that way and I know that is very very very important to you as you often post how smart you are and how dumb anyone that believes differently than you are. Do you really expect me to go through and respond to all of the 400+ accusations in your shotgun mud slinging against the Bible?
    Get real Don. You're smarter than that.
      April 15, 2020 6:09 AM MDT
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  • 5391

    Here’s hoping you are too. 

      April 15, 2020 6:13 AM MDT
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  • 7280
    More hopes dashed, I assume.
      April 25, 2020 12:55 PM MDT
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  • 13277
      April 16, 2020 6:25 PM MDT
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  • 7280
    Got to give you credit for posting that---excellent
      April 25, 2020 12:51 PM MDT
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  • 34296
    Jesus (Yeshua) would never disapprove of someone advocating for reading the Bible with understanding. 
      April 25, 2020 3:14 PM MDT
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  • 13395
    Does a supernatural spirit even exist? Why would a spirit have any need to create anything material -the earth,  universe,  life existence? 
      April 15, 2020 7:57 AM MDT
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  • 2657
    Absolutely! I wouldn't call it a need, but a loving thing to do. He is not a non-personal entity without feelings. Here are a few of my favorite verses that show some of His love for us and how what we do affects him:


    (1 John 4:10) The love is in this respect, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a propitiatory sacrifice for our sins.
    (1 John 4:19) We love, because he first loved us.

    (Proverbs 27:11) Be wise, my son, and make my heart rejoice, So that I can make a reply to him who taunts me.
    (Psalm 78:40-41) How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness
    And made him feel hurt in the desert!
    41 Again and again they put God to the test,
    And they grieved the Holy One of Israel.

    (Jeremiah 29:11) “‘For I well know the thoughts that I am thinking toward you,’ declares Jehovah, ‘thoughts of peace, and not of calamity, to give you a future and a hope.

    (Isaiah 48:17, 18) This is what Jehovah says, your Repurchaser, the Holy One of Israel: “I, Jehovah, am your God, The One teaching you to benefit yourself, The One guiding you in the way you should walk. 18 If only you would pay attention to my commandments! Then your peace would become just like a river And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
      April 15, 2020 8:30 AM MDT
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  • 13395
    The 'Spiritual Thing' is something man created rather than a spirit having created  anything at all.
      April 15, 2020 8:45 AM MDT
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  • 2657
    Sorry you feel that way. I suppose one could just eat, drink and be merry with that outlook.
    Survival of the fittest has a sad history.
      April 15, 2020 11:40 AM MDT
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  • 13395
    Belief in a  supernatural god  has been around for a long time. 
      April 15, 2020 12:50 PM MDT
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  • 359
    No.. God actually caused them to write what He wanted written..
      April 16, 2020 6:57 AM MDT
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  • 13395
    Ok but does God want people to believe in the supernatural story of creation or that he parted the Red Sea which is more than 2500 feet deep..?
      April 16, 2020 7:48 AM MDT
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  • 359
    Yes he wants us to believe He created the universe and parted the read sea.. Of course i doubt He parted it at it's deepest point.. But that is a side issue.. If one believes that God created the universe then parting a sea is as nothing to a God who was capable of creating a universe..

    People either believe that God exists or they don't.. If one believes that God exists then One would have no trouble believing that a God could perform all these things..  But if one cannot believe or consider the possibility that God exists even the most basic of miracles recorded in the Bible become impossible happenings..   For a God parting a sea would be child's play..
      April 18, 2020 6:16 AM MDT
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  • 4624
    From what I've gathered from different sects of Christians, the commercialised characters like Santa and the Easter Bunny have little or nothing to do with their faith. The most devout deliberately don't engage with those myths within their families. They won't let their kids sit on Santa's knee in the shopping mall to declare their secret wishes for gifts. No chocolate eggs from the Bunny appear mysteriously on their kids' pillows when they wake on Easter Sunday.
    I'm sure you know the origins. 
    The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back hundreds of years to a monk named St. Nicholas. It is believed that Nicholas was born sometime around 280 A.D. in Patara, near Myra in modern-day Turkey. ... Over the course of many years, Nicholas's popularity spread and he became known as the protector of children and sailors.
    According to some sources, the Easter Bunny first arrived in America in the 1700s with German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania and transported their tradition  of an egg-laying hare called “Osterhase” or “Oschter Haws.” Their children made nests in which this creature could lay its colored eggs.
    America, being the foremost capitalist country in the world, manages to turn almost anything into a commercial proposition.
    I'd be grateful that the spin-masters haven't thought to commercialise the afikoman that the man of the house hides for the kids to find before the Pesach.
      April 28, 2020 3:55 PM MDT
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  • 2657
    Quote: "I'd be grateful that the spin-masters haven't thought to commercialise the afikoman that the man of the house hides for the kids to find before the Pesach."
    What is that?
      April 28, 2020 3:58 PM MDT
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  • 34296
    https://www.learnreligions.com/definition-of-afikomen-2076535
      April 30, 2020 6:56 AM MDT
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  • 13277
    Actually, the kid who finds the Afikoman usually gets a small cash prize.
      April 28, 2020 4:04 PM MDT
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  • 2657
    Don't you consider the personal creator God of the Hebrew scriptures to be hokey too?


    The Pagan holiday stuff is just part of the foretold apostasy.

    (2 Peter 2:1-3) However, there also came to be false prophets among the people, as there will also be false teachers among YOU. These very ones will quietly bring in destructive sects and will disown even the owner that bought them, bringing speedy destruction upon themselves. 2 Furthermore, many will follow their acts of loose conduct, and on account of these the way of the truth will be spoken of abusively. 3 Also, with covetousness they will exploit YOU with counterfeit words. But as for them, the judgment from of old is not moving slowly, and the destruction of them is not slumbering.
    (1 Timothy 4:1-3) However, the inspired utterance says definitely that in later periods of time some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to misleading inspired utterances and teachings of demons, 2 by the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, marked in their conscience as with a branding iron; 3 forbidding to marry, commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be partaken of with thanksgiving by those who have faith and accurately know the truth.
    (2 Timothy 4:3-4) For there will be a period of time when they will not put up with the healthful teaching, but, in accord with their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves to have their ears tickled; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, whereas they will be turned aside to false stories.


      April 13, 2020 12:30 PM MDT
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  • 13277
    No. I believe all of it, including the so-called creator, was invented by people to explain how everything came about. Nothing miraculous, mystical, or supernatural about it.
      April 13, 2020 1:35 PM MDT
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  • 2657
    Life coming from non life once upon a time and now having all the diversity we see seems a bit mystical and hokey to me. You seem to come off as if that just happens all of the time with "Nothing miraculous, mystical, or supernatural about it."
      April 14, 2020 8:21 PM MDT
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  • 5391

    To you. 

    I don’t understand it, therefore magic. Compelling argument. Fooled millions of illiterate and semi-literate peasants for centuries, or at least those not forced to comply at pain of death. 

      April 15, 2020 4:16 AM MDT
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  • 2657
    Are you really saying that you don't understand something? That's a new one from you. You really believe things that you don't understand are magic or are you being sarcastic? Hmmm...
      April 15, 2020 5:32 AM MDT
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  • 5391

    Way to misread a comment. But then, it seems you have a long history of interpreting texts fallaciously. 
    It was a positional analysis of your statement. You say it’s mystical and hokey TO YOU, so what you essentially said was what I posted.

    This post was edited by Don Barzini at April 15, 2020 11:47 AM MDT
      April 15, 2020 5:54 AM MDT
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