Comments on: Kwanzaa Is for Pagans

By: SCSIwuzzy

SCSIwuzzy — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 16:05:03 +0000

Laurie,
I usally don’t post to thread this old, but:
Mithra was a god worshipped in parts of Europe and the mideast before Christ, and into the ‘formative’ years of Christianity. Mithraism was one of early Judaism’s primary rivals in the monotheistic religion business.
Many smarmy intellectual types like to draw comparisions to Christian faiths and practices to those of Mithraism, esp the symbology of the Lamb (though to Mithrans it was the Bull) and the timing of Christmas (but everyone had a holiday at that time of a year, so theres no great link there).

By: Nobody asked me, but...

Nobody asked me, but... — Sun, 26 Dec 2004 06:30:57 +0000

Notes about Kwanzaa
La Shawn Barber is a new addition to my feed list, and offers quite a revealing history on Kwanzaa.

By: michael

michael — Thu, 23 Dec 2004 19:51:23 +0000

Mark

I think you missed LB’s point. She was not saying (not that I read anyway) that Christians should prevent others from celebrating anyhting. She was, as I read it, saying that Christians (esp black Christians) should not be celebrating something that is basically pagan in it’s form and substance. Most do this out of ignorance of the origin and intent of the celebration, and her intent was to point out both for thinking Christians to understand just what they are buying into when they celebrate Kwanzaa. I don’t think she was saying others shouldn’t be able to celebrate their own traditions or holidays. Hers was a message for Christians, albeit with some good education for all.

By: Donna

Donna — Thu, 23 Dec 2004 16:05:19 +0000

Hi…found you from Jim’s Thinking Right blog while surfing BE. Wonderful article…thanks for posting. Very enlightening!

By: firebird

firebird — Thu, 23 Dec 2004 13:47:33 +0000

Many environmentalists wackos are pagans themselves they have rejected the traditional JUDEO/CHRISTAIN religions and have turned to paganism worship of the earth and the creature upon it and they have gone to try and force their paganism on kids with their rituals they have turned to using the term THE EARTH IS YOUR MOTHER which is a pagan concept its time to end what their doing

By: JaneLovesJesus

JaneLovesJesus — Thu, 23 Dec 2004 08:04:08 +0000

Wow, LaShawn! How informative! It’s shocking that in just a few short years, this pseudo-holiday achieved PARITY with Christmas, at least in terms of the ridiculous amount of attention it gets from the so called ‘mainstream media’ and in our ‘totally sold-out to political correctness’ mis-education system. I always had a vague feeling that it was ‘racist’ to not be on board with Kwanzaa. (vestigages of white-middle-class guilt?) Thank you for making me THINK!

By: LB

LB — Wed, 22 Dec 2004 20:28:12 +0000

Thanks, Mark, but don’t miss the point of my post: the spiritual element, its anti-Christian intentions, etc. Those things are VERY important for Christians. When speaking of spiritual things, we know there are only two kingdoms: one of God and one of Satan. Invoking spirits or some other nonsense is occultic. If they are not praying or appealing to Christ, who’s the only other “spirit” they’re appealing to?

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 22 Dec 2004 20:14:11 +0000

All:

Not wanting to pick nits, but isnt saying that Kwanza is a pagan holiday casting a stone, albeit a small stone but a stone just the same.
Who cares what someone wants to worship, is it not their first amendment right, just because OURS is being impeded by the American Communists Lawyers Union, are we not doing the same thing to whoever wants to celebrate Kwanza?
Whether it was a holiday started in the 60’s or not if someone believes dont they have that right, but we as Christians have the right to chastise them for it because we Dont think its the right way to go, how arrogant of us.

Merry Christmas
Mark

By: Andy

Andy — Wed, 22 Dec 2004 04:09:34 +0000

About time Kwanzaa was deconstructed and dumped in the ashheap of pop history. Ever since I first heard of it, it stuck me as pyschobabble. Especially the Swahili culure vis a vis W African heritage, such as that is/was.

By: nobody important

nobody important — Tue, 21 Dec 2004 21:14:13 +0000

“I wonder why are Christians so tolerant of pagan religions (Kwanzaa, etc.), false gods (Islam, buddhism, etc.) and heretics.”

Just a nit-pick, but the Buddha was not a god (and therefore cannot be a false one). He was a man who attained enlightenment about the cause of human suffering. In his analysis, it is the attachment to material things (greed) that causes conflict and strife leading to suffering.

The misconception is due to the early Christian missionaries thinking that Buddhists were praying to an idol (a statue of the Buddha) and mistook the activity as being prayer to a diety. A subtle and sophisticated philosophy was mischaracterized by an arrogant, ethnocentric and racist colonialism.

This message is not to imply that Buddhism is correct or that Christianity is incorrect, but merely to point out how misunderstood Buddhism is in the West and why.

By: Troy

Troy — Tue, 21 Dec 2004 18:18:43 +0000

Great post La Shawn! I was recently invited to a Kwanzaa celebration at my son’s school. Thanks, but no thanks. I’ll take the zero.

Laurie, funny post…Maybe she meant to say “mothra”…HAHA!

By: michael

michael — Tue, 21 Dec 2004 18:12:31 +0000

Lashawn & Tom M-

No! “Behold, I stand at the door and knock…”

Christ comes to us where we are, as we are, and he will pursue us. But he does not come in until we open the door. That is the only action required, that we open the door and let him in. So, to answer Tom’s original question, no Christ will not come into our heart before we choose. He will come to us and reach for us, but we must make the choice to take His hand. Christ will not force himself on us. That is why God created with free will.

Anyway, great post LB. Thank you for calling to task those of us who would turn a blind eye to such activities among brothers and sisters, and reminding us that sometimes we have to admonish each other with patience & love, followed by unconditional forgiveness for those who repent.

By: Reactuate

Reactuate — Tue, 21 Dec 2004 16:04:39 +0000

Kwanzaa
An interesting article for Christians about Kwanzaa.

Mostly this post is a blog mark. I’ve always thought Kwanzaa was dumb, but I entertained the idea I just didn’t understand it. After reading t…

By: The Great Separation

The Great Separation — Tue, 21 Dec 2004 15:48:47 +0000

Not Rejecting Kwanza Allows Evil to Have it’s Way.
‘Tis the Season. – Being a Christian, I always found the Kwanza celebration to be rather hollow spiritually so I never paid it any mind. Now I know why. La Shawn Barber enlightened me in her posting of an op-ed

By: FL Mom

FL Mom — Tue, 21 Dec 2004 15:15:47 +0000

I typed “mithra” into Google, and the results showed that it’s apparently a Persian god. Didn’t look any further into it. Personally, I think “happy mothra” would be a much funnier greeting.