Ellen Wedum
This is in response to Michael Swickard’s Friday column, “Christmas or not? Let our leaders vote.”
I used to watch my online weather forecast site before and after Dec. 21 to see how the length of the days changed. The 22nd was one second longer, the 23rd was 5 seconds longer, the 24th was 8 seconds longer and December 25th was 10 seconds longer (a total of 24 seconds increase).
It is amazing to me that in Roman times, with no fancy scientific instruments, they were able to measure the increase in the length of the day precisely enough to choose Dec. 25 as date for the Mithraic celebration of “Dies Natalis Invicti Solis,” or the “Birthday of the Unconquered Sun,” based on an increase in the length of the day of less than half a minute.
The Mithraic religion was a strong competitor of Christianity in Rome. In particular, between the weeklong Saturnalia that started Dec. 17 and honored the Roman god of agriculture and the Mithraic celebration on Dec. 25th, the Christians had no presence. Their chief holiday (holy day) was Easter, commemorating the death and celebrating the resurrection of Christ and their expectation of the second coming.
The emperor Constantine the Great was born in approximately 274 AD. The Roman Empire was over 1,000 years old, Jesus had been dead for 241 years and for Christians the expectation of an imminent second coming of Christ was fading. Constantine appears to have been a “closet Christian” who only converted on his deathbed. When he became emperor he initiated the “Christ’s Mass” (not “Christ’s Birthday”) that was celebrated on Dec. 25.
Clearly this was done deliberately in order to conflict with the Mithraic celebration, just as competing television networks schedule their best shows opposite each other. Since Constantine was emperor, it was more politically correct to attend the celebration that he favored.
A date chosen for political reasons
The first mention of Dec. 25 as the birthday of Jesus, the “Son of God,” rather than as the birthday of “the Unconquered Sun” appeared in the Roman calendar in 336 AD (Constantine died in 337 AD). If the Romans had possessed better instruments, the Mithraic celebration, and thus the copycat Christian celebration, would be on Dec. 21, the day of the solstice, or perhaps Dec. 22.
Commonsense and many authorities tell us that it is much more likely that Jesus was born in the spring (lambing time) or the fall (after the harvest) than during the rainy season, when the Wise Men could not see the stars and shepherds were unlikely to be abiding in the field. This reasoning also applies to the Roman census (Luke 2:1-4), which was very unlikely to have occurred in winter, when temperatures often dropped below freezing and roads were in poor condition for traveling to one’s place of birth (Bethlehem, for Joseph).
So we can reasonably conclude that Dec. 25 is a date chosen for political reasons by the emperor Constantine. It was later officially accepted by the Catholic Pope Julius in 349 AD.
Dec. 21, the day we call the solstice, is arguably a more appropriate holy day. Our planet is tilted 23.5 degrees from the perpendicular of the plane of our orbit around the sun, which results in seasonal temperature changes as well the changes in the length of our days. This is a direct manifestation of God’s will.
Happy Solstice
But in 2002 the right-wing Christian fanatics attacked this season of “Peace on Earth, Goodwill Toward Men.” On Dec. 15 of that year the House of Representatives passed a resolution “protecting the symbols and traditions of Christmas” by an overwhelming 401-22 vote.
Rep. JoAnn Davis, R-Va. and the resolution’s sponsor, said the resolution was necessary to counter “political correctness run amok.”
“No one,” she said, “should feel like they have done something wrong by wishing someone a Merry Christmas.” But neither should they be forced to say “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays,” “Happy Hanukah” or “Joyous Kwanzaa,” etc.
I was shopping in Alamogordo on Dec. 21, 2005, and it was obvious that every clerk had been ordered to say “Merry Christmas” rather than “Happy Holidays” at the checkout stands. I replied each time, “Happy Solstice.” That probably would have gotten me fired if I worked there.
I now tend to avoid the stores the week before Dec. 25 as much as I can.
Christians often complain that Christmas has been commercialized. I suggest that this is God’s punishment on them for supporting a copycat celebration invented by a Roman emperor and, more recently, for turning the cross into a symbol of political oppression, particularly of women.
Happy Solstice, y’all.
Wedum is a retired physical chemist and lives outside of Cloudcroft. She has been the Democratic candidate for the House District 59 seat twice and plans to run against incumbent Republican Nora Espinosa again in 2010.