My Blue Dress

[talon]

This article led me along some interesting research concerning one reason why some groups of Christians may feel themselves to be persecuted when no such thing is happening: http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/09/14/tf.stop.criticizing.myself/index.html?hpt=Sbin

I think those groups of Christians are indulging in a serious bout of Cognitive Distortions - whereby the believe everything is about them. To quote from the article, "say someone doesn't like the salad you made for them. It doesn't mean they don't like you. Just because you feel rejected doesn't mean you are.". In the case of the persecuted-feeling Christians, because they feel persecuted, they believe they are despite all evidence to the contrary.

Take this truly asinine and made up "war on Christmas" - whole swathes of Christians have bought into cognitive distortion that because other religions also have holy days near their own holy day of Christmas that those religions are trying to steal their holy day. It doesn't matter that no religion can steal another's holy day. Not even the Christians managed to steal the holy days of other religions when they overlaid the pre-existing celebrations with their own. If Christians truly knew their own history, they would see this clearly. Read almost any tome on Christian history and apologetics and you'll see the documentation of the Christian church very deliberately taking over local festivals and celebrations to their Deities by overlaying their own celebrations - but even centuries later, people still remember [1] what the original celebration was about. So long as Christians continue to celebrate the reasons for their holy days, it doesn't matter what anyone else does on those days.

Saying other people can't celebrate, say, the rebirth of Mithras on December 25th [2] just because they chose that date for the birth of Jesus is like saying my sister can't celebrate her birthday on September 11th just because that date now belongs to the 9/11 attacks in the US.

There are only 365 [3] days in a year. There are far more than 365 people in the world. Multiple events will happen and have happened on the exact same date, and therefore there are a great many celebrations, remembrances, and holy events that will share the same dates all around the world - and even all over the US, if we limit it to just one country. No single person or religion has the exclusive right to a date.

Why should it matter so much to Christians that other people have different celebrations - or none at all, which really seems to anger them the most - on or near a Christian holy day? No one is closing down the churches on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day except Christians [4] and no one is stopping Christians from celebrating their various holy days, let alone Christmas.

What happens liturgically and ritually inside their churches belongs entirely to them - that's what their religion is about, right?

What happens outside of the churches may be informed by what happens inside, but isn't controlled by what happens inside the churches. This is because outside of the church, there are other people, other religions, and people with no religious affiliations or adherence, and those people? They have the right to celebrate what and how they want - outside of the churches. If they want Santa and his elves, or Frau Berchta and her animal entourage, or Frosty the Snowman, or whatever, it shouldn't cause any alarms about their religion being lessened. Those who aren't Christian (in the US) don't care what Christians do religiously inside their churches and aren't going to make any effort to alter that. Those who are Christian can adhere to their traditions - or create new ones. Non-Christians don't care and don't want to get involved in Christian theology, celebrations, rituals, etc.

It is a serious cognitive distortion for Christians to say all inclusive greeting like "Happy Holidays!" or "Season's Greetings!" are disrespectful of Christmas because they don't specifically reference Christmas and only Christmas. People are not saying, "Enjoy every winter holiday except Christmas" when they say, "Happy Holidays!" because Christmas is included, not excluded.

It is a serious cognitive distortion for Christians in America to perceive themselves to be personally persecuted because Christians in other countries are persecuted.

It is a serious cognitive distortion for Christians to believe non-Christians are trying to "take over America" when they hold a nearly exclusive grip on politicians and political thought.

This group (or maybe it's several groups) of Christians distort the truth and turn compliments into insults, they twist what they hear to give it the most negative spin they can, and they then go through life a constant victim.

I don't have a cure for them. There is a cure, though, for cognitive distortion. They have to want to be cured and that means they have to admit they have a problem.

Not everything they think is true. Not everything they are told by authority figures is true. Not everything they say is true.

As this article said, " It had never been about positive or negative thinking. It was simply about noticing the lies and exaggerations you tell yourself on a regular basis and acknowledging them as just that, lies and exaggerations." And then, it's easier to hear the truth [5] when your mind isn't filled with exaggerations, twists, and lies.

Perhaps this is why I have so little patience with people who visit my blog and try to tell me I mean something totally different from what I said, that seek out the absolute most negative connotations, or don't like "my blue dress".

[1] vaguely, but they do remember
[2] pay no attention to the trivial fact this preceded the birth of Jesus
[3] excluding leap year
[4] I was surprised, the year this so-called "war" started, to read that a great many churches closed on Christmas Day - it was a Sunday, too - so the clergy and staff could spend time with their families.
[5] or at least something closer to the truth.

Comments

[nephir]

Another fabulous post!