Posted on 12/06/2014 3:02:16 PM PST by PROCON
Christmas has been about excess since Jesus was in the manger. So why stop now?
The sanctimonious, the puritans of all stripes, and the killjoys in general raise the issue annually.
Knock it off. Christmas has been commercialized since year one of the “Current Era.”
Blame it on the Three Kings. They started the gift-giving right in the manger. Casper, Melchior, and Balthazar “presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.”
And that’s the way it’s been ever since. In Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, when Scrooge has been visited by Marley’s ghost and undergoes a magnificent change of heart, does Scrooge go to church? Or does he go shopping?
Same with the Three Kings and their gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They had to go to the bazaar -- as the mall was then called -- and buy them.
The Medieval legend of the “Gifts of the Magi” says Melchior was from Persia and a Zoroastrian, Casper was from India so presumably an adherent of Hinduism, and Balthazar was from Ethiopia and not only black but Jewish. As was Jesus himself, of course. And, although the subject hadn’t come up yet, Muslims consider Jesus – Isa – to be a prophet of Islam. Christmas is for everybody.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedailybeast.com ...
And here I thought P. J. O’Rourke was dead. My bad.
There is no mention of three kings in the Bible, only “wise men from the east.” There were three kinds of gifts mentioned, but there may have been six astronomers who gave various combinations of those three types of gifts. The important thing is the Gift that God gave the world at the Nativity, and that is what Christians celebrate.
You do realize that P.J. O’Rourke is a satirist?
depending on the type of business, the day itself can be the most profitable day of the year to operate.
Definitely must find a way to "share" besides FR...it's hilarious at the same time as it's SO insightful...
I wonder if the Daily Beast realizes the true import and intent of this little Christmas article?! LOL!
“I wonder if the Daily Beast realizes the true import and intent of this little Christmas article?! LOL!”
I was thinking similar thoughts. Published of all places at the Daily Beast.
That made me laugh. Thanks!
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