[MrsEmmaPeel]

Christians nowadays generally celebrate the "12 days of Christmas" beginning on December 25

I noticed this little error. The 12 days of Christmas begins on December 26, not December 25. 12th night is January 6. The difference between Western and Orthodox celebration of Christmas is the western calendar underwent a calendar correction, the Orthodox folks did not. (The Russian government in 1918 adopted the reform, but the Orthodox Church did not).

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on or off this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

[Consort]

Russian triband w/Magen David	Birobidjan City

[Alouette]

If there were any Jews left in Birobidjan, my son would have persuaded Putin to send them a Menorah. Or he would have brought them one himself.

[Stavka2]

It now seems that Russia is reverting to aspects of its old time religion, while the West (except for Israel) is growing more secular. Christianity continues to grow, even faster than Islam. But as Pennsylvania State University scholar Philip Jenkins assays in his book The Next Christendom, the center of the Christian faith is already rapidly shifting to new homelands in South America and especially Africa, the continent where Joseph and Mary took the infant Jesus to Egypt to keep him alive.

Not quite: the center simply moved from West to East Europe with support in S. America, Africa and SE Asia. Orthodoxy has stood firm and resolved in it's faith while the Pope has saught a world religion to rule, while loosing his own, and the protestants kept morphing into 40,000 individual flavors...to fit any life style or there lack off.

[Jeremiah Jr]

EXETER
This was a merry message.

KING HENRY V
We hope to make the sender blush at it. Therefore, my lords, omit no happy hour That may give furtherance to our expedition; For we have now no thought in us but France, Save those to God, that run before our business.
Therefore let our proportions for these wars Be soon collected and all things thought upon That may with reasonable swiftness add More feathers to our wings; for, God before, We'll chide this Dauphin at his father's door. Therefore let every man now task his thought, That this fair action may on foot be brought.

Shakespeare
Henry V

[MotorcycleNana]

He is missing one important point. In Russian Orthodox Christian Church there is no christmas tree. Russians use the yolka, the decorated fur tree on New Year's, NOT on Christmas. Their Santa Claus is also on New Year's, Ded Moroz or Grandfather Frost. For Russian Christians, they do not use pagan imagry in their Christmas worship. But the Pagan traditions are popular on New Year's. Maybe our Western Christian Church should adapt that custom? Separate Christmas from paganism? I was born Catholic, but I have to ask? What does the birth of Jesus have to do with christmas trees and flying reindeer??