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I hope Santa, Baby Jesus, the Wise Men or whoever is in charge of your area, brings you many presents.

Thinking about that, please, if you can, give a gift to someone in need, hopefully a toy for a child or a young person who hasn't many. I prefer to do that in person, but it's your choice.

Congratulations to all Ferrari and Kimi fans, you had an exciting year. Thank to all of you for your patience, for your ability to read gargantuan posts and for all the things you've taught me. It has been entertaining, instructional, fun and an honor to share with you this little space of decency and logic in this wild wide world.

I also hope for Steven and Principessa to get back as much as they have put in, and for all of you to rest as much as you can, to sing some carols and to dance a little. Remember the operative words: sing and dance, that's what the "Merry" of "Merry Christmas" is about. That, and some inner thanks for the renewal of life and for a new cycle to start.

So, Merry Christmas, I'll see you after the festivities, the Caribbean is waiting (well, I'm taking my laptop, but it's at the bottom of the luggage).

Enjoy.

Merry Christmas.If your going to drink and drive, take a hip flask & clubs. Go golfing

Merry Christmas guys!!!
Hope u all have a great time, and great presents ...
I'm only christian by name, but i still wonder why do people celebrate christmas by buying each other presents even though it's jesus's birthday lol! anyway, i dont mind it!
MERRY XMAS!!!

Merry Christmas to everyone. I wish each and everyone, and their loved ones and families all the best of this holiday season.

Merry Christmas guys!
Hope you can enjoy the holidays a bit.

If not, please look at this video

[youtube]http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=Zv0_9IGWFvQ[/youtube]

We wish you a Mery X Max ,Mery X Mas , We Wish you are mery X Mas and a Happy New yer

I hope Santa get me Drive In a f1 car which in reality is no going to happen buy would be really happy and overwhelmed if its so . heheheh I am drunk now ... really !

allan wrote:Merry Christmas guys!!!
Hope u all have a great time, and great presents ...
I'm only christian by name, but i still wonder why do people celebrate christmas by buying each other presents even though it's jesus's birthday lol! anyway, i dont mind it!
MERRY XMAS!!!

Thats because the savage capitalism we live in the economy has to move and some of the ones that finance F1 has to make some profit

Sad but true

Actually it's to celebrate the Three Wise men bringing gifts to Christ on his day of birth.

MERRY CHRISTMAS my fellow Earthicans! I hope peace and prosperity for you and yours!

Well, not exactly. December 25th is an old festivity, so old that its origin is lost in the "fog of times". This day has been traditionally, the birth day of deities as different as Mithra, Ishtar, Isis and Saturn. The oldest of these, in western civilization, is the feast of Saturn or Saturnalia, when the Romans used to give little presents, including candles. I quote:

"Time shall not destroy that holy day
so long as the hills of Latium and father Tiber endure
while your city of Rome and the Capitol remain!"
-- Publius Statius --

Mr. Statius did not mention Ferrari, only Latio and Tiber, but I'm sure he would, had he known it...

Mithraism, a religion sincretized (appropriated) by early christians, celebrated in a cave the Eucharisty, using bread, calling Mithra "the Lamb of God" and praying (celebrating "misteries") for his rebirth. Sheperds went to his altar, the Bull was sacrificed, his blood taken. Gifts were given to the God and to friends in arms (many legionaires used to be mithraists). I'm sure you can delve similar tales about deities as old as Isis or Atti.

Fathers of the Christian Church took the idea and converted it, in different ways, depending on the region they lived, in what we know as Christmas or Nativity. Actually, in the beginning of christianity, around 300 DC, the birth of Jesus was celebrated in March (the same day he died) because he, according to tradition, lived a whole number of years.

For example, many people celebrates the day of gifts in January 6th, because in the old Julian (Roman) calendar, this day is December 25th; there is a difference of 11 to 13 days between those two calendars, depending on the epoch. Some orthodox churches celebrate January 7th (calendar reckoning varies). I bet most of the people that celebrates that day (spaniards, slavs) thinking about the Wise Men, instead of doing it in December, did not know that little factoid.

In America, many religions "celebrated" the rebirth of the Sun at similar dates. Mexicans believed that the fire had to be helped to reborn by the concerted effort of the people. All fires were put out near the winter solstice and people had to give offers to the Sun God for him to continue. If the gifts and celebrations were not enough, they risked to be left without the sun...

I can (I will not) go on and on. For those interested, I can recommend Pagan Christs, by Robertson, or, for the more inclined to literature, the book I've recommended many times, The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Campbell.

The deep, basic idea is that this is a time of rebirth and renewal, so, if you want some sunshine next year, you better surrender to capitalism. No gifts, no sun.

Actually, charity is what's behind the gifts: they are not intended primarily for your older friends, but for those who has the less, that is children, widows and dispossesed (according to Saint Agustin). I quote again:

"Without charity, I would be nothing"
-- Julio Cesar de Mello aka Malba Tahan --

Sorry, sorry, I shut up, but, please, don't cease doing good things just because other people tries to thwart its sense. So, if you do it correctly, you apparently do it because "they" tell you, but you can do it because you wish and understand, not because you're told to. My last quote:

"The right way to go easy
is to forget the right way
and to forget that the going is easy"

Oooommmmmmmmm.... [-o<

Well, the beach is waiting, I'm going to run a little and watch the sun rise. I will pray a little for those unbelievers among you. I'm sure Ra will forgive them...

Ciro Pabón wrote:Well, the beach is waiting, I'm going to run a little and watch the sun rise.

You liar! Admit that you're off to draw some stats tables in the sand!

Ciro, you are an open book, thanks for the read men!!!

Here in Argentina people buys anyone anything for 25th december (the red and white coca cola sponsored santa is coming) and thats just a very big bussines.
Then, the January 6th, three wise men usually comes with presentes for the needed (in the charity fashion Ciro mentions) but even like that its a good busines for toys shops.

Personally, I have no religion, roar between Agnostics and Gnostics depending on weather and really don´t like puting name to deities or gods or somethings, just I imagine my own ones, and follow my own rules of what it is correct to do and what not, only based in my common sense.

About charity I´m close to Mr. Nietzsche opinion, charity is for the weak, strong men doesn´t accept those kind of help.
I mean I would help the ones that cant get it, not the ones that can but are too lazy to.

Charity is not for weak but for those who are in need because they've been harmed against their own will. You can easily find yourself in such situation too! Earthquake, fire, car wreck, disease... Would you rather die from cold, hunger or disease quoting Nietzsche than accept charity? Would you let you child die if you for example had no money for some expensive surgery than accept sum raised by some charity organization?

Nietzsche felt no problems, no fear and thought he was untouchable and immortal when he wrote that. That's acceptable as youthful viewpoint when life seams perfect but when you realize what suffering is, how many people suffer, when you loose people close to you than you turn the record and put on a different tune. He didn't feel any of it on his skin and that's why he was so ruthlessly arrogant, soulless and inhumane.

He was possessive and religiously frustrated since he grew up as the son of the priest. He used his personal frustration to define humanity and care and those who require it as weak and pathetic only because he saw the world trough the religion-frustration glasses.

Being humane and caring doesn't emerges from religion but since he was so fanatical about his own frustration he never saw or allowed possibility that being humane and caring is something good and most likely quite opposite to what organized religions did and what he disliked. He saw nothing but what he wanted to see, made a whole philosophy out of it without ever knowing and learning much about things that were left or right from where he was heading.

Nietzsche's philosophy was abused by Nazis but that certainly doesn't mean that he wrote a Love & Romance novels which Nazis turned into Mein Kampf. They just did some Copy-Paste and saved file under new title.