There can be little doubt that Johnny Franks is one who embraces a Judeo-Christian worldview. He dislikes the term "Happy Holidays" as a stand-in for "Merry Christmas." In his recent letter he expressed an opinion that the third week of December and the "holidays" many associate with it are special arising from the quaint biblical story of the (virgin) birth of Yeshua ben Nazareth.

Of course, the problem is that there are others, equally within their rights, who consider that story mere myth and legend - one of a long line of legends, some quite similar, which have introduced the central figures for a variety of religions through the centuries. I mean, look 'em up - there's Rome's Saturnalia which didn't yield to Christian influence until 274CE, Greece's Lenaea, Buddhist Rohatsu, the Inca's Inti Raymi, Iran's Shabe-Yalda. Scholarly analysis has established the likelihood that Jesus was born in late summer around 3 or 5 BCE - no one knows exactly when.

Archaeological data indicates that 2,000 years ago, Bethlehem was most likely uninhabited. Except for the many germanic Roman soldiers, there were no auburn-haired, white-skinned, Aryan-looking souls anywhere near Palestine at that time as millions of modern graven images would have you believe. Joseph and his family were likely quite dark-skinned. It's a real surprise to many that modern Iraqis, descended from the Ebonites, are arguably the closest modern relatives to the "original" Christians. Scholarly examination of the historicity of the Solstice season leads one to the realization that, like most of the prominent days in the Christian calendar, Christmas and Epiphany were adapted from already well-established Pagan winter Solstice celebrations. These commemorated the "return of the Sun" giving promise that Mother Nature would awaken and flourish into another bright, warm, productive and life giving summer. Similarly, Easter is celebrated around the Spring Equinox, a time of Pagan rebirth. The Feast of St. John is celebrated around the Summer Solstice. Michaelmas is celebrated around the Fall Equinox. There are many such examples.

Those were the days when people were attuned to the seasons and rightly worshipped the Sun and the Earth as the source of life and all the possessions they would ever have. I suppose insightful Pagans would view modern global climate change and all our many critical environmental ailments as being analogous to Mother Earth having severe dyspepsia as a result of an infestation of human parasites. Modern Christians blithely ignore these crises since their god-man's return would render them meaningless. Sadly, if they are wrong, everyone on Earth is one day likely to get to know Hell up close and personally.

But as the fledgling Christian movement gained traction and was given the political endorsement of the Roman Empire, what better occasion for the late 3rd century scribes to proclaim as the time of their Messiah's birthday? It was already a time of celebration, so the transition was easy. And they really needed to supplant those pesky Pagan beliefs. After Emperor Constantine remolded Jesus' movement from a religion of compassion for the downtrodden to one which suborned conquest and militarism, the global tragedies which would follow in its wake are rarely, if ever, purposely remembered in that light. The Crusades, the Inquisition, the Dark Ages, the Salem witch trials, cultural genocide wrought by missionary-borne diseases on every continent and endless wars of aggression prosecuted by various "armies of God" are just some of its gifts. And likewise we cannot forget the jihadists of radical Islam. I, for one, came to viscerally recoil from the collective face of all "revealed" religions and regard them as the single greatest tragedy to befall humankind. Today's wars, attacks on science and festering poverty in the shadow of mega-churches should be enough to fuel a wave of secularization throughout this country and the world. I think it is already underway and none too soon.

I think 40 years ago Charles Schulz and Linus gave the Jesus legend about as much airtime and prominence as it deserves in Charlie Brown Christmas. The fact that no other beliefs were featured alongside its message at that time just demonstrates how far we have come. Not to what some decry as a morass of "political correctness" but to a welcome validation of the individual freedoms enshrined in our secular Constitution. That's not to say that people who want to adopt the Christmas legend aren't also guaranteed the freedom to do so - they most certainly are. Millions do. I used to too. But they must also make room for those who do not share their fervent beliefs, either because they have adopted a different worldview or have, after critical examination of "revealed" religion, simply decided to throw its faith, illogic and mysticism into the philosophical dustbin. This can be difficult to accept when one has been imbued with beliefs that are authoritarian, patriarchal, exclusivist, even militaristic in their posture and imagery. I would cite Mr. Franks' allusion to the need for "good people to rise up."

Good people? I guess they're the ones whose patronage is solicited by that car dealership with the fish on their signs. I suppose they keep some junkers out back for the rest of us. But I digress.

It is unfortunate that so many folks have let blind faith run roughshod over the golden rule. Many seek to give the mistaken impression that there is only one valid interpretation of the Solstice season which, of course, would be the one interpreted by Linus. One supposes that this arises out of their fear that other beliefs, grounded less in the abandonment of reason and acceptance of what they term faith and miracles, pose a threat in the marketplace of ideas. I would say they are quite correct in this concern. The burgeoning number of Americans who profess no religion at all now hovers around 13 million There is also a dramatic waning of influence of religionism in most of Europe. While Mr. Franks claims you cannot take Christ out of Christmas, I might say with equal confidence that you cannot take the Sun out of Solstice. While he objects to "secularization" of Christmas it's just the other side of the coin where I view Christmas as the religionist hijacking of a whole host of Pagan naturalistic celebrations.

And while we're at it, even Mr. Franks' Sabbath day was originally known as "Sun's Day." In fact, all the days of the week were named after the Sun, Moon, and planets of the solar system and their corresponding mythological gods by our Pagan predecessors. For example, Monday was "the Moon's Day"; Tuesday was "Tiu's Day," the pagan god of war corresponding to the planet Mars; Wednesday was "Wotan's Day," the pagan king of the gods corresponding to the planet Mercury; Thursday was "Thor's Day," the god of thunder corresponding to Jupiter; Friday was "Freya's Day," the goddess of peace corresponding to Venus; and Saturday was "Saturn's Day," the ancient Roman god of time. I recommend reference to the excellent internet websites candlegrove.com and religioustolerance.org for further study on the topic.

To their credit, many people, businesses and governments have adopted a desire to be inclusive and tolerant of all beliefs and have settled upon an approach that allows equal enthusiasm for everyone's concept of the "holidays." This is right and proper and, in my opinion, has taken far too long to become established. It reflects a magnanimous, humanistic approach. Some condemn it as "theologically incorrect" but making that claim simply unmasks intolerance and illustrates how religion can be a divisive and exclusionary influence which hardens hearts and enslaves minds.

So let me wish everyone Happy Solstice! This year, we will proclaim Sol Invicta At 18:30 Universal Time on December 21st.

Imagine there's no heaven; it's easy if you try.
No hell below us, above us only sky.
Imagine all the people living for today ...
Imagine there's no countries; it isn't hard to do.
Nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too.
Imagine all the people living life in peace...
-- John Lennon, Imagine

Bruce Wilkey
bwilkey@bellsouth.net