Kirk Cameron is introducing a new way of thinking about Christmas and its many traditions this year with the film "Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas," in theaters on Friday.
In his first release since "Unstoppable," Cameron aims to "put the Christ back in Christmas" this holiday season by attempting to debunk disparaging theories surrounding Christmastime. Furthermore, the actor shares his own ideas on where Christmas traditions originated, including loose Biblical interpretations of the Christmas tree and the nativity scene. It is the actor's hope that Christians are inspired to protect and preserve customary Christmas activities after watching "Saving Christmas."
The "Growing Pains" star dismisses theories that Christmas is derived in the pagan celebration of Winter Solstice in "Saving Christmas," offering viewers a Biblical reference to items such as the Christmas tree instead. Furthermore, the film reveals Cameron's take on Santa Claus, the three wisemen, and why Christmas is celebrated on Dec. 25 each year.
"We don't know this stuff, we kinda drink the Kool-Aid and believe pagans when they tell us they have ownership of these things," Cameron explained to CP.
Clearly Cameron is from the camp that believes that if you tell a lie often enough, it becomes the truth. Which by the way, is kind of like Christianity itself.
The facts are that we do indeed "know this stuff," and the origins of most of the pagan origins of Christmas traditions are well documented.
Speaking of history and facts Cameron might be interested to know that the Puritans who founded this country roundly rejected Christmas and outlawed its celebration.
And they were well aware of its origins as well:
When the Puritans rebelled against King Charles I, inciting the English Revolution, the popular celebration of Christmas was on their hit list. Victorious against the king, in 1647, the Puritan government actually canceled Christmas. Not only were traditional expressions of merriment strictly forbidden, but shops were also ordered to stay open, churches were shut down and ministers arrested for preaching on Christmas Day.
The Puritans who came to America naturally shared these sentiments. As the Massachusetts minister Increase Mather explained in 1687, Christmas was observed on Dec. 25 not because “Christ was born in that Month, but because the Heathens Saturnalia was at that time kept in Rome, and they were willing to have those Pagan Holidays metamorphosed into Christian” ones. So naturally, official suppression of Christmas was foundational to the godly colonies in New England.
Actually Cameron's efforts are part of a coordinated effort by Christians to take ownership of the holiday, which of course makes it less accessible for those of us who do not embrace their faith.
And that is too bad, because Christmas is a great holiday for ALL Americans, and if Cameron, and his fellow Christians, really love it so much they should help to make it something that we all could enjoy without using it to cram their religion down everybody's throats.
By the way once you watch the trailer for this crappy little film it becomes quite apparent that it will not be changing ANYBODY'S mind about the true origins of the holiday.
34, 27, 31
ReplyDeleteThese are the number of comments on non Palin related topics on the blog in past day.
Take that troll and commenters who do not think Palin is important.
We need a good juicy Palin post to liven things up around here.
Can you help us Uncle Gryphen?
Everyone loves a train wreck, a crime scene or a natural disaster, and she qualifies in all categories.
Delete4:40am
DeleteHey man, she's not "front and center" any longer so what's the point in writing about her? Even "Palin posts" get few comments these days. You need to find someone else to hate because it looks like Mrs. Palin is done. It's nice to read and comment on other topics, this blog isn't just a "Palin blog" it is much more.
Well,4:40, hate is probably not an accurate assessment of the response Mrs. Palin triggers in those of sound mind and reasoned discourse. Astonishment is probably closer, bewilderment maybe. This crazy strumpet has managed, through a truly incredible set of circumstances to find herself one of the most famous people on Earth. Think about it. A woman of no accomplishment or intellect, a person of such singular and transparent intent that anyone with any life experience can sniff out quicker than a pig smells truffles has wound up a multi-millionaire. A person with a character so odious that she cannot safely walk the streets of her own hometown without fear of having a turd lobbed at her, who has insulated herself from a free press, Fox doesn't count, and who, for reasons known only to her, appears in mismatched oddball getups with dirty wigs and tits the size of basketballs on Tuesday and no tits at all on Saturday........holy fuck on a bagel, we don't HATE her, how can you hate this dog and pony show? It would be like hating Magilla Gorilla, for chrissakes. We fucking LOVE her, and we want more, more, more.
DeleteWow. I read your take on the preview before I watched. I had several points I really wanted to make but after watching what I just watched... Yeah - blown out of my head.
ReplyDeleteThis is what I'll now say. I object to the idea that no one has been communicating Kirks' point of view on the subject of Christmas. He and his ilk haven't shut up about it since I was a kid.
The message hasn't changed in all those years - how commercialism is taking over, how Christ is no longer in Christmas (do you remember the hoopla about Xmas?). I do wish this sort of folk would read one history book that wasn't written, co-authored, or edited by David Barton.
The holiday, today and in times past, as I've always understood is it is what YOU make of it. If you believe the holiday is about Christ then for the Love of Pete please act like it. My family (a mixture of Pagan, Christian, Agnostic, and Atheist) routinely limits our gifts because some of us are not as fortunate as the others. What we give then becomes from the heart, a representation of all that person means to us.
Hopefully we've been living a life worth living and showing those who care in our lives what they mean to us. Having a day to celebrate that union is special. Plus cookies. I really like Christmas cookies.
The message Kirk sends has been received for a long time. My family rejects it as whiny "I want to be in charge" bully behavior. Really not attractive Kirk.
Connie
PS - His jeans are pornographic. Just saying.... c
ReplyDeleteIf it's strictly a religious holiday, then it shouldn't be a Federal and state holiday. Christians should be free to take the day as a personal or vacation day, and celebrate as they wish.
ReplyDeleteThe rest of us can enjoy Thanksgiving and then New Year's, both secular and enjoyable times to get together with family and friends and make merry.
I can't enjoy Thanksgiving now that the greedy capitalists have taken it over to wring eve more profit from the masses.
DeleteOMG the twitter/instagram exchange between Bush and Clinton is fucking awesome!!
ReplyDeleteGODDAMMIT. WHY THE FUCK CANT EVERYONE ELSE GET ALONG
But for real. I love that those two are bros
Of course they are "bros" they are both part of not only the 1% they are both legacy members of the American Oligarchy, or what I like to refer to as the "Modern American Monarchy". I'm sure they have many inside jokes...
DeleteLegacy members? WHAT? Bush yes - because of his daddy, and his daddy's daddy - Prescott Bush, Wall Street Banker and Senator.
DeleteClinton (Bill or Hilary) Bill, no, nope, nyet - single mom raised, father and stepfather not rich or political.
Hilary - also no, nope, nyet - dad small business owner, mom homemaker - not political.
Lying to people does real harm in the long run. No one who does real research can deny the origins of some aspects of the Christian faith. It is a product of where it started, regardless of the truth of the basic historical facts.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, the movie looks fantastic. "Apocalypse Now"-quality stuff there.
If that maroon wants to save Christmas, he needs to get the money out. The only thing wrecking Christmas is crass commercialism and that includes the swill he is involved in. And I agree with Connie above, Christmas is what you make it.
ReplyDeleteAgree.
DeleteI receently blasted a RWCN friend of a friend on her facebook comments, where she was kvetching about the anxiety of Christmas shopping. I asked her if she is misinterpreting the meaning of the season lol.
No response.
The original reason for the season was to eat as much of the perishable (and soon to be perished) foodstuff and turn it into fat against the comming winter. All the myths came later.
ReplyDeleteAnd a social psychological boost - the days start getting longer and almost every culture (except equatorial ones) celebrate that . Southern hemisphere one on "our" midsummer.
DeleteAvoid? Heck, in my family, those converations ARE the reason fr the season - or at least the celebrations of it.
DeletePerhaps the best take of the "War on XMAS" was mounted by Saint Sarah Palin with her XMAS screed last year. Dan Savage did a breathtakingly honest review of Sara's "Shit stain of a book."
ReplyDeleteHere is a copy and paste of a portion of Dan's review:
I was never a "happy holidays" guy. Christmas was a big deal in my home growing up, and it's a big deal in the home I share with Terry. December is Christmas. I've always wished people "merry Christmas" without really giving it a thought. Ho-ho-ho.
But that's over now.
Sarah Palin and Bill O'Reilly and Fox News and the Family Research Council and the woman who allegedly punched another woman outside Walmart earlier this week for saying "happy holidays" instead of "merry Christmas" managed to break me of the "merry Christmas" habit. I suspect I'm not alone. This constant bitching from the right about "happy holidays"—a perfectly lovely expression that embraces Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Pancha Ganapati, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, Hanukkah, the Epiphany, Saint Nicholas's Day, Hogmanay, Twelfth Night, and Kwanzaa—has made one thing clear. Not that there is now, or ever was, a war on Christmas. But that saying "merry Christmas" is an asshole move. Just as conservatives made patriotism toxic during the Vietnam War by conflating it with blind obedience to authority ("My country, right or wrong!"), modern conservatives have made "merry Christmas" toxic by associating it with Christian fundamentalism, religious intolerance, and the politics of imagined persecution.
Here is the link to the review in it's entirety: http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/good-grief-and-great-tits/Content?oid=18503580
It always frosts my cookies that a certain element of the population won't listen to people who are intelligent, skilled in their chosen field and have valuable information to impart, but will pay attention to an ex-child star who is basically an Xtain tool (and his ex-child star sister, Candace Cameron, is apparently just as irritating as he is). I have to keep telling myself that these are the same noodnicks who take everything the Duck Dicks, the Duggars and Queen Esther say as gospel.
ReplyDelete"It always frosts my cookies" LOL May I borrow that one?? I feel exactly the same way, especially the sister, who hyphenates her name so the world knows she married someone with a last name that's different than hers. Gives her an "out" for "Cameron? Who's Cameron and what are they famous for?"
DeleteHow to Avoid Uncomfortable Conversations About Religion
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-Uncomfortable-Conversations-About-Religion
Amazing, there's a WikiHow on this topic!
DeleteThere is no use trying to get THEM to see how insanely stupid they are! We need to concentrate on making the rest of the people understand the facts so they become a laughing stock. Well, MORE of a laughing stock.
ReplyDeleteThese jackasses have locked themselves into a mind set that is unassailable. There is NO WAY they will ever even CONSIDER facts.
Hell, these people are so stupid that I actually had one of them tell me the government and THE ENTIRE LEGAL PROFESSION was wrong about the accepted interpretation of the 1st amendment BECAUSE ONE OF HER RELATIVES SIGNED THE CONSTITUTION!
When I was able to stop laughing at her, I said, "And That makes YOU an expert? Sure it does. And since my grandfather was a doctor, that makes me an expert on medicine!" I haven't laughed that hard in years!
Geez. what idiots!
You said it!!!
DeleteAs the saying goes, the Stupid! It burns!
M from MD
It's getting hard to be a christian-in-progress these days, we're feeling like we're stuck between a rock and a hard place. Darned if you do and darned if you don't.
ReplyDeleteOne thing the celebration of the traditional westernized Christmas brought, was, besides the religious element, festivity and some joy to those who had to endure a harsh winter ahead. It's a time to rest and try to get re-energized before the long dark cold season of driving on ice-covered highways, colliding into neighboring cars, spinning on slush, snowblowing, shoveliing snow and money to the power gas and oil companies. It's a way to keep sane, and if the pretty boughs and trees and holly and merriment is what is borrowed from other sources, and the Puritans had a problem with it, they'd turn in their graves if they say how the West has appreciated this and cashed in on it plenty. We live in the world, but should't take part in it, which is what the church would teach, doesn't apply in the westernized christian churches' world of excess, entertainment, actors who exploit the message by making money off of it.
I think before Kirk and Sarah and Todd Starnes point any fingers, they need to look at the way their Americanized Christmas traditions have betrayed the message they say they love.
There is a double standard. It's not any form of paganism that is the problem, it's the way they celebrate, turning the birth date of Jesus into a carnival, entertainment, parties, drinking, spending in excess, over-eating, gluttony, opulent and greedy, never having enough. And then they blame it on the poor pagans. Sheesh.
Some people NEED to be a victim. They latch onto anything that enhances their feeling that they are being tormented by "other". Claiming "ownership" of something and inventing a feeling of theft is exactly what a victim personality drools over. The victim personality adores a situation that can NEVER result in their loss of victim-ness. They can wallow in the joy of telling themselves (and everyone else) how terribly wronged they are by "others".
ReplyDeleteHence, the supposed loss of an intangible is ideal. Christmas can't be owned, but whining about it's loss is just a great big joyous wallow in self-pity.
Kirk Cameron doesn't give a $hit about Christmas, Christianity, god, scripture, etc. He does what grifters do. That is, strip idiots of their dollars and laugh all the way to the bank.
Excellent comment. thanks!
DeleteYou know this movie is horrible without even watching the trailer.
ReplyDeleteBesides being a complete moron, Kirk Cameron is a lousy actor.
Happy Holidays!!!
I am a Christian and have celebrated both Jesus' birth and Santa my whole long life. WHY is this such a big deal to these nuts? Give it a REST already?
ReplyDeleteSome suspect that it began as just another ratings/publicity scam engineered by Fox Noise. When you're in the business of selling fear and the persecution of privilege, you have to ensure that your product is flying off the conveyor belt at escape velocity, and you're thus forced to up the ante each year-- louder, bigger, dumber. Coming soon: Sharknado Zombie Extreme vs. White Santa and the Cyborg Reindeer of Liberty... in Outer Space!!!
DeleteI grew up in a Catholic, Jesus-and-Santa (and Snoopy) house, and Christmas was -- and is-- some of the best times of my life. Never an issue until someone gave these jackasses a mountain of money and a soapbox. And now "Happy Holidays" = "Go F#@! Yourself!"
He can try to "christianize" Christmas all he wants but still the basis of the entire christianized Christmas is Gluttony, and last I checked that's one of the 7 deadly sins. Overconsumption of food, overconsumption of goods and gifts, fighting in the aisles over sales items in order to procure more than one needs, this is Christmas and this is Gluttony at its most base. Just another fine example of unsurprising christian hypocrisy. Consume, consume, consume! All for Jesus, yay! After indulging in all that Gluttony why don't you sit your fat ass on the couch and engage in some Sloth?
ReplyDeleteWhy, 9:49 AM, that goes in my all-time top five of responses!
DeleteThe seven deadly sins aren't in the Bible.
DeleteThe come from secular fiction.
But try convincing a rabid Talibangelical like Cameron of that.
They do so embrace their suffering. It makes them feel so holy they want everyone else to enjoy it too.
That's why you'll never see "Smiling Jesus" in their house.
The most basic premise for christians celebrating christmas on December 25 is that it is the birthday of Jesus, when according to the bible itself it is very unlikely that Jesus was born on December 25. This makes the starting point of the holiday, the actual date, incorrect and further proves that the holiday was simply a "christianized" version of earlier pagan winter celebrations. He can try all he wants to spin his version but there is too much evidence to the contrary, including the date of Jesus' birth. This man is just bananas ;-)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ucg.org/doctrinal-beliefs/biblical-evidence-shows-jesus-christ-wasnt-born-dec-25/
I've watched two different documentaries which came to the same conclusion: the 'historical' Christ would have been born in April in the SPRING!! Do you think their heads would go pop if anyone told them? After all, why would the shepherds be in the hills in the winter when they usually head into the warmer valleys?
DeleteM from MD
M from MD
Many, many years ago right after Growing Pains was at it's height. Kirk Cameron would come to my little town fairly often. Apparently his in laws owned a vacation home there. My ex's much younger brothers met him at the local drive in one summer. Let me tell you, this man was the most gracious, sweet person ever. He spent hours with those kids, talking to them, signing autographs, and even played touch football with them. It made their summer. I will never forget that, and will always be thankful to him for it.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, it breaks my heart to see his obvious mental illness on full display and being exploited by those around him. Instead of getting him treatment they use him as their monkey doing tricks. The irony is they are the ones supposedly spouting about their love of God. His illness has cost him just about everything, and it's incredibly sad.
ANd his assholia illness is hereditary, as his sister appears to have it too?
DeleteMental illness is very genetic.
DeleteSomeone allowed Banana Boy to play touch football with kids? What a scathing commentary on where parenthood is headed.
DeleteCameron has a blockaded sense of his own influence.
ReplyDeleteA smaller and smaller minority rember Growing pains. For most of those this film is targeted to, the response is "Kirk who?".
Aside from the laughter since most people are familiar with the origins of all of the major holidays.
Hmm, that should read bloviated. iPhone keeps correcting it.
DeleteBloviated is a good word, however, blockaded seems appropriate too. Sort of a version of blockheaded.
DeleteI'm all for saving christmas. Who doesn't like rampant consumerism wrapped in paper, and watching your jealous family and friends when they realize your pile of gifts is bigger and loaded with extremely expensive stuff? Please, Banana Boy, Save Christmas for us! It's a feat that Jesus Christ himself would probably not want to have anything to do with, but go ahead, make money while saving Christmas. Maybe you'll be able to afford your own blinged out to the max stretch Hummer 3 w/driver to spread some holiday cheer. It's only one day, I'm sure Jesus will forgive you!
ReplyDeleteThen you can go back to the 364 days left and do a sequel, since Sarah felled miserably at her attempt to save christmas, maybe you got half a chance at a "hit".
Did you write Santa your Christmas List yet? You know, backup just in case you're wrong.
Oh Goodie it is that time of the year again. Time for Sarah to put Track to work and drag those boxes of her war on Christmas book out of the hangar. Time to begin fleecing her fans as only a true christian in the spirit of Christmas would.
ReplyDeleteSTOP HATING ON CHRISTIANS ALREADY PEOPLE. CHRISTIANPHOBICS! PROPHECIES PROVE THE BIBLE TO BE TRUE NO MATTER HOW MANY LIES YOU COME UP WITH ABOUT IT.
ReplyDeleteYOUR OPENING LINE ABOUT HAVING MORALITY AND BEING "GOOD" IS STUPID AND POINTLESS. IF MORALITY IS RELATIVE THAT MEANS IF I DECIDED THAT BEING A PEDOPHILE IS OK, THEN ITS OK. ANYONE CAN SAY THEY ARE GOOD AND JUST MAKE UP THIER OWN MORALS. THAT IS WHY YOU MUST BELIEVE GODS RIGHTS AND WRONGS. ONLY HE KNOWS. IF A BUNCH OF PEOPLE SAY ITS GOOD TO KILL JEWS, THEN BY YOUR OWN DEFINITOIN THE NAZIS WERE GOOD. SEE HOW IGNORANT YOUR STATEMENT IS.
ReplyDelete