Sorority suspended for "Indian Party."

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by SigKapSweetie

I disagree. Christmas has, at least in this country, transitioned from a pure religious observance into a mainly secular commercial holiday.

Gotta disagree with you. What you said here regarding the transition to a mainly secular holiday is exactly why many of us for whom it is a religious observance can be very offended at the way it has been secularized. 'Course, we Christians (at least nominal Christians) did it to ourselves.

And don't get me started on seeing the same trend happening with Easter.

I have difficulty getting riled up about this, since Christmas was moved to December in order to coincide with Winter Solstice celebrations anyway. In my understanding, December 25th wasn't originally of special importance to anyone except pagans, and then only when the Solstice happened to fall on that day.

Somewhat of an oversimplification.

Of course, Scripture doesn't say when Jesus was born, although Luke certainly suggests it was in the summer.

But the winter solstice has historically in many cultures been a solemn and special occasion, usually marking the "rebirth" of the sun and the coming of light into a dark world. That's precisely why early Christians in Rome identified it as an appropriate time to replace pagan observances with the celebration of the Incarnation -- the birth of the Son of God and the coming of the "Light of the World" into the world.

And you have to be careful in identifying December 25 specifically, remebering (1) the exact date of the solstice can vary not only from year to year but from place to place, and (2) the calendar has been through a few changes in the last 2000 years. The December 25 observance (Saturnalia in the Roman world) was always a solstice observance.

Originally Posted by Drolefille

Hey, I even looked again, checked the Catholic Encyclopedia and since before the Reformation the Church thought Carnival had gotten out of control but no mention of a specific service as there may be for the Anglicans.

Perhaps not so much a service, but confession. The English name "Shrove Tuesday" (rather than "Fat Tuesday") hearkens back and refers to the pre-Reformation English tradition of going to confession (being shriven) on the Monday and Tuesday prior to Ash Wednesday. So at least etymologically, the English name carries a religious connotation that Mardi Gras or Carnival do not.

And I know you know where the Angican Church comes from , but I note that SWTXBelle referred to her Anglican experience as "high church." I do wonder if she is using "high church" as meaning "Anglo-Catholic" -- sometimes it means Anglo-Catholic and sometimes it doesn't. But one of the particulars of the Anglo-Catholic movement was to seek to return to a pre-Reformation English Christianity/catholicism, sans the pope as Vicar of Christ (primer inter pares as Bishop of Rome, yes; pope, no) and other "Roman abuses," of course. With such a perspective, Shrove Tuesday as a day of religious observance would make sense.

Just saying.