The Christmas Wars

Not entirely sure what you are trying to say, but I suppose you think that chapter of Jeremiah really does forbid Christmas trees?If so, it's not true. That chapter is referring to the making of idols by the heathen nations by carving them out of wood and decorating them, to worship them as gods. There are other references in the Bible to the making of idols out of wood. It is a mocking of the idea that they are gods to describe them as unable to move or speak, in contrast with the living God of the Jews. Here's a Google Image page of typical carved wooden idols, which is what the Bible is referring to. And a page specifically of Canaanite godsEdited by Faith, : No reason given.Edited by Faith, : No reason given.

fMRI images comparing Xmasheads and others.Story here.

My lack of deep knowledge of fMRI has a question.Looking at the center image for the three sets I see no read at the crown of the Christmas group, no read at the crown of the non-Christmas group yet the is a significant reading at the crown of the image that is supposed to be the "difference" between the other two groups. So, in fMRI world the difference between no reading and no reading is a reading?Say what?

So what if I have a Christmas tree but I sacrifice a goat to it? It's a bit of a gray area.

I dunno--I'm just the cut-and-paste man.But note this:

quote:

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Other limitations of the study include the fact that there could be other reasons for the brain stimulation -- maybe the holiday pictures had more red in them, or maybe there are other differences between the two participant groups that could explain the brain scan discrepancies. But, with a flippancy characteristic of the BMJ holiday issue, the authors have only one thing to say in their defense: stop harshing the holiday vibe.

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"Bringing these issues up... really dampened the festive mood, they write.

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"Therefore we, in the best interest of the readers of course, decided not to ruin the good Christmas cheer for everyone by letting this influence our interpretation of the study."

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Maybe they're pulling our legs. Maybe you need to take another draft of Xmas spirit.But for sure the "difference" images are weird.

No Faith - I just thought it was funny that someone thought it necessary to stop someone else doing something harmless with a tree. Your god is a hoot.

OK I get it now. Of course an atheist wouldn't see a problem with idolatry.

Of course anyone found doing some of this evil tree decoration would go into the everlasting fire and torment of hell - that goes without saying - but would their friends and neighbours be obliged to hasten them there by stoning them to death?

It continues to astonish me how a Brit could have absolutely zero knowledge of the Christianity that made the UK great.

Shouldn't that be 'idol a tree'....?

That's cute but I do have to point out that it isn't the tree that's the idol, it's the god images that were carved out of the wood, as I showed with the Google Image pages.

Speak for yourself. Pagan style tree worship is rife in my household at this time of year.

Sadly it was Christianity that held us back for centuries, milenia even, it took the enlightenment and the scientific revolution to make us an important force in the world.But you didn't answer my question, what happens to tree decorators?

Why should anything happen to tree decorators? Or even idol carvers for that matter?