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I am religious and believe in free will

71 (27.7%)

I am religious and do not believe in free will

10 (3.9%)

I am not religious and believe in free will

114 (44.5%)

I am not religious and do not believe in free will

61 (23.8%)

Total Members Voted: 251

[Orange Wizard]

I think so. Admittedly I spent most of the time watching that movie asleep, but I sorta remember something like that.

[origamiscienceguy]

And today is the final advent Sunday. So yay! Almost Christmas.

[TD1]

Out of curiosity, do you think Christmas is in itself sacred? As in, that particular day? Some folks I know do.

[origamiscienceguy]

Out of curiosity, do you think Christmas is in itself sacred? As in, that particular day? Some folks I know do.

It is the day we celebrate Jesus' birth, which is a pretty important day for Christians, December 25 is most likely not the day Jesus was actually born. It is more likely to be September/October time frame. You can read more info here if you want. It would really depend on what you define as "sacred" because Jesus' birth itself is very special, but December 25 really isn't anything out of the ordinary.

[Rolan7]

I just found out that tomorrow's the solstice!  I'm going to do a short nature walk in appreciation.  I think the day holds special significance in Wicca?

Or it's just the closest significant date to Christmas, so it's a good excuse to join in the holidays.  Which isn't really a coincidence...  This time of year is special to a lot of diverse groups, and that's cool.

Anyway, I hope everyone finds some happiness this holiday season.

[Frumple]

Yeah, solstice has significance in pretty close to every religion. It's basically why christmas is when it is, ferex, and tends to have varying celebrations the world over. The solstices/equinoxes in general do, really, though winter seems to generally be the biggest one (presumably because it's the one that happens when the people are least likely to have something else to do ).

Bit of a shame it's not going to be colder where I'm at -- tomorrow actually signifies the temperature getting back into the 70s

[Bohandas]

Yeah, solstice has significance in pretty close to every religion. It's basically why christmas is when it is, ferex, and tends to have varying celebrations the world over. The solstices/equinoxes in general do, really, though winter seems to generally be the biggest one (presumably because it's the one that happens when the people are least likely to have something else to do ).

That parenthetical note should be in the past tense. Because of all those isolated ancient cultures finally meeting there's now an excess of things to do.

I just found out that tomorrow's the solstice!  I'm going to do a short nature walk in appreciation.  I think the day holds special significance in Wicca?

Or it's just the closest significant date to Christmas, so it's a good excuse to join in the holidays.  Which isn't really a coincidence...  This time of year is special to a lot of diverse groups, and that's cool.

Anyway, I hope everyone finds some happiness this holiday season.

And the Martian solstice is coming up on January 3rd

EDIT:
http://planetary.org/explore/space-topics/mars/mars-calendar.html
http://www.alpo-astronomy.org/jbeish/General_Info_Mars.htm

[origamiscienceguy]

Merry Christmas(eve) everybody.

[TD1]

Yes! Let's celebrate with some of Bay12's patented blasphemy.

Arianism! Satanism! The trees have souls man!

[Orange Wizard]

If you send me money, I will grant an indulgence for your sins, and permit your Christmas to be merry.

[TD1]

You have to be touched by god to issue indulgences.

And before you ask, no, being touched by the Pope as a nine year old boy doesn't count.

[Bohandas]

You have to be touched by god to issue indulgences.

That's easy enough. Just send thirty dollars to Ivan Stang.

[Graknorke]

Yeah, solstice has significance in pretty close to every religion. It's basically why christmas is when it is, ferex, and tends to have varying celebrations the world over. The solstices/equinoxes in general do, really, though winter seems to generally be the biggest one (presumably because it's the one that happens when the people are least likely to have something else to do ).

I thought it was because it's the one where you're most likely to pop your clogs from starvation or exposure or what-have-you, so coming out of winter is a bit of a relief.

[Rolepgeek]

It's probably all of the above.

Although Solstice isn't really the point where it starts warming up, as far as I know...

Speaking of which.

MERRY YULESTIDE

[Graknorke]

Well it's the point where the days start getting longer. That's an improvement.