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What I will teach my future spawn
2:32 PM Posted In family , politics , religion Edit This 0 Comments »
With Columbus Day recently, I got to thinking about how I was raised, generally by the school in this regard, to blindly follow modern "holidays" without questioning their history.
For example, do we associate St. Patrick's Day with the killing and persecution of Irish Pagans? No, it's an excuse to wear green and drink.'
Do we remember Columbus was an idiot who couldn't navigate his way out of a paper bag and raped and pillaged the "Indians?" No, it's a day for stores to commercialize and us to be annoyed by banks and post offices closing.
Do we remember the Pilgrims coming here to America to escape religious persecution, yet turned out to be hypocrites via forced conversions/banishment and harassment of anyone who didn't hold their same beliefs. No, it's a day to simply be thankful, eat too much, and watch football like good, dumb, patriotic Americans.
This got me to thinking about what I would teach my own children. Do I want to celebrate our holidays, their less-than-pretty histories, and their rampant commercialism? No. And come to think of it, considering we're in the middle of most Thanksgivings religiously and secularly (Sukkot, Mabon, Canadian, etc.) why would I need to celebrate Thanksgiving? We have our own versions of it in three different Pagan holidays, more or less, which focus on family, responsibility, thanksgiving, and all sorts of good qualities that I would want to instill in my children more than simply eating a ton of food and watching football. Granted, I would probably still celebrate it with my parents because it's already factored into most workplaces as well as providing quality grandkid time. But I would say that it's a secular holiday and we celebrate that because my folks are not Pagan, and it wouldn't be fair to ask them to celebrate a holiday they don't believe in. As they got older, I would tell them the actual history of Columbus and the Pilgrims.
Naturally, Christmas would be right out, but would probably celebrate that as a secular holiday with my parents.
New Year's would be right out, as it only promotes tons of drinking and is only marked then because that's supposedly when Jesus was circumcised. As a Pagan family, why would we care? We already have our own New Year's on Samhain (Halloween), which teaches honouring our ancestors and preparing for the coming year.
No Easter, why when we have Imbolc which Easter blatantly plagiarized?
Martin Luther King Jr. Day, would definitely celebrate that and black history. Probably not Valentine's Day because, quite frankly, it's absolutely useless if not offensive.
In other words, I will teach my future children what is important, history, and good values.
For example, do we associate St. Patrick's Day with the killing and persecution of Irish Pagans? No, it's an excuse to wear green and drink.'
Do we remember Columbus was an idiot who couldn't navigate his way out of a paper bag and raped and pillaged the "Indians?" No, it's a day for stores to commercialize and us to be annoyed by banks and post offices closing.
Do we remember the Pilgrims coming here to America to escape religious persecution, yet turned out to be hypocrites via forced conversions/banishment and harassment of anyone who didn't hold their same beliefs. No, it's a day to simply be thankful, eat too much, and watch football like good, dumb, patriotic Americans.
This got me to thinking about what I would teach my own children. Do I want to celebrate our holidays, their less-than-pretty histories, and their rampant commercialism? No. And come to think of it, considering we're in the middle of most Thanksgivings religiously and secularly (Sukkot, Mabon, Canadian, etc.) why would I need to celebrate Thanksgiving? We have our own versions of it in three different Pagan holidays, more or less, which focus on family, responsibility, thanksgiving, and all sorts of good qualities that I would want to instill in my children more than simply eating a ton of food and watching football. Granted, I would probably still celebrate it with my parents because it's already factored into most workplaces as well as providing quality grandkid time. But I would say that it's a secular holiday and we celebrate that because my folks are not Pagan, and it wouldn't be fair to ask them to celebrate a holiday they don't believe in. As they got older, I would tell them the actual history of Columbus and the Pilgrims.
Naturally, Christmas would be right out, but would probably celebrate that as a secular holiday with my parents.
New Year's would be right out, as it only promotes tons of drinking and is only marked then because that's supposedly when Jesus was circumcised. As a Pagan family, why would we care? We already have our own New Year's on Samhain (Halloween), which teaches honouring our ancestors and preparing for the coming year.
No Easter, why when we have Imbolc which Easter blatantly plagiarized?
Martin Luther King Jr. Day, would definitely celebrate that and black history. Probably not Valentine's Day because, quite frankly, it's absolutely useless if not offensive.
In other words, I will teach my future children what is important, history, and good values.
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