Posted on 12/24/2021 1:31:15 PM PST by rey
Or so we believed.
As a child growing up in the Westboro Baptist Church—you may have known us as the “God Hates Fags” protestors—I never much minded my family’s ideological separatism. The church was my world: my grandfather founded it, my mother was its spokesperson, and everyone I loved was deeply committed to its vision. In practice this meant that from the age of five, my holiday season consisted primarily of a series of protests on cold winter evenings. My extended family and I would hold signs condemning Christmas idolatry, planting ourselves on sidewalks outside of Christmas concerts, church services, and performances of The Nutcracker.
I always searched out pockets of light so that my sign could be seen even on the darkest nights: in the glow of the concert hall’s marquee, or near the lighted displays of snowflakes and wreaths, or under the domes of the downtown lamp posts. From my perch I would join my family’s spirited chorus, belting out vulgar parodies of popular Christmas tunes to the young families scurrying past in their peacoats and fancy shoes. Our version of Santa Claus Is Coming to Town was inspired by the Catholics: Don’t leave your kids / With that red fright! / Just like the priests / He’ll rape ‘em at night! / Santa Claus will take you to hell.
Instead of adorning our house with colorful lights and reading A Christmas Carol, my ten siblings and I would gather in our living room while my mother read to us of the holiday’s history: Christmas was rooted in pagan celebrations of the winter solstice, repurposed by early Christians hoping to rehabilitate the festivals of heathens who were surely burning in a fiery Hell. With origins like these, my family demanded, what good was there to…..
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I was wondering about that bunch of mouth breathing, knuckle dragging reprobates the other day.....
What a bunch of frickin weirdos.
Many Calvinists have long been uneasy about Christmas. Oliver. Cromwell banned it in England and it didn’t become a holiday in Presbyterian Scotland until the 1950s.
It’s not only Westboro Baptist that holds this position. There are some ultra-reformed churches that hold to that as well. I was listening to one of the pastors of this ilk the other day and he explicitly stated that if you celebrate Christmas, you are sinning and if your church celebrates Christmas, that is even a greater sin.
Who’s posting crap like this?
Rev, thank you for posting this.
Me. If you read it there is redemption at about 3/4 mark until the end.
Even if there wasn’t, I found it interesting. The picture of the kids protesting Christmas are bizarre. It’s hard to imagine doing that, other than a comedy skit, but there it is. I find it interesting there are people like this.
Well actually, that is true.
Praise God, we have a Savior, who is Christ, the Lord!
Instead of adorning our house with colorful lights and reading A Christmas Carol, my ten siblings and I would gather in our living room while my mother read to us of the holiday’s history: Christmas was rooted in pagan celebrations of the winter solstice, repurposed by early Christians hoping to rehabilitate the festivals of heathens who were surely burning in a fiery Hell.
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Sounds like a real fun household.
I pity them. They have no love for fellow human beings. All they have is hatred.
I believe it was Charles Dickens and his A CHRISTMAS TALE (1843) story that got people interested in the celebration again.
Lots of people still celebrated it before that.
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