Once again we are at that time of the year when the spiritual roots of human experience can be usefully reexamined. This year the real meaning of the season has special relevance given the trechery of the nominal "Christians" who are using religion as a way of lashing out at and restricting the rights of others. Notice that each time they single some group out it is a group that has demonstrated that they are capable of honoring values that these bigots falsely claim as their own. The need for the Church to move the historical birth of Christ to try to overshadow the celebrations of the solstice that preceeded "Christmas" for tens of centuries was probably the most flagrant and prophetic attempt to erase the truth that the so called "Christian" values are really the values that humankind has evolved over those centuries. If that is the case, then how could all the claims of Christianity be anything but their joining an existing large body of people who had come to adopt these values? Let us continue beneath the break and examine this further.
What is so basic about the solstice and its history is its way of linking spritual inclinations to the basic science of the planet system. No one knows how very far back theis link has been exploited because recorded history started long afterward. Here is a bit of what Wikipidea has to say about the celebrations that accompany the solstice: Solstice Celebrations
Solstice celebrations
The term solstice can also be used in a wider sense, as the date (day) that such a passage happens. The solstices, together with the equinoxes, are connected with the seasons. In some languages they are considered to start or separate the seasons; in others they are considered to be centre points (in English, in the Northern hemisphere, for example, the period around the June solstice is known as midsummer, and Midsummer's Day is 24 June, about three days after the solstice itself). Similarly 25 December is the start of the Christmas celebration, which was a pagan festival in pre-Christian times, and is the day the Sun begins to return to the northern hemisphere.
Many cultures celebrate various combinations of the winter and summer solstices, the equinoxes, and the midpoints between them, leading to various holidays arising around these events. For the December solstice, Christmas is the most popular holiday to have arisen. In addition, Yalda, Saturnalia, Karachun, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Yule (see winter solstice for more) are also celebrated around this time. For the June solstice, Catholic and Nordic Protestant cultures celebrate the feast of St. John from June 23 to June 24 (see St. John's Eve, Ivan Kupala Day, Midsummer), while Neopagans observe Midsummer. For the vernal (spring) equinox, several spring-time festivals are celebrated, such as the observance in Judaism of Passover. The autumnal equinox has also given rise to various holidays, such as the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. At the midpoints between these four solar events, cross-quarter days are celebrated.
In many cultures the solstices and equinoxes traditionally determine the midpoint of the seasons, which can be seen in the celebrations called midsummer and midwinter. Along this vein, the Japanese celebrate the start of each season with an occurrence known as Setsubun. The cumulative cooling and warming that result from the tilt of the planet become most pronounced after the solstices.
In the Hindu calendar, two sidereal solstices are named Uttarayana and Dakshinayana. The former occurs around January 14 each year, while the latter occurs around July 14 each year. These mark the movement of the Sun along a sidereally fixed zodiac
Is it not time to stop defending and to go on the offensive in all this? In what way has Christianity earned the right to claim dominance over the spiritual lives of anyone who does not willingly subscribe to their practices? The people who have some explaining to do are just those, the ones who willingly subscribe to these practices. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that they are intwining themselves in a web of contradictions that defies any claim to decent human values. Yet they speak to us as if they have some sort of authority on these matters. How can we allow this to go on?
I propose that we use this year's solstice to reflect on the meaning of human spirituality, its relationship to the planet that gives us a home, and the universal rights to practice relationships among ourselves that reflect the deep spiritual nature our species has developed over all this time. In the forefront of these reflections has to be an open confrontation with any group claiming to have exclusive rights to define these things. Such a claim has to be challenged for what it is, a device to do the very opposite from that which it pretends to honor and protect.
The matter can not be reduced to "issues". There is a holistic network of ideas here that must be used in harmony with each other. It is time to call for a reframing of the question. Let us celebrate this year's solstice in the most meaningful way possible. Let us dedicate ourselves to setting the matter straight once and for all. Let us ask anyone who wants to claim a right to have a voice in such matters to show us what they practice before they start preaching.
Finally, the issue of Church and State needs to be settled with regard to the so called "institution of marriage". Clearly there is no real legal status of church marriage. The legal meaning of marriage, as far as the state is concerned, has to do with a contract as defined by the laws of the state. What any religion has to say about this is irrelevant. Every time a religious spokesman addresses the issue they have to be reminded that they have stepped over a very impoertant constitutional line unless what they say has meaning only in the context of their religion. Once they enter the public debate their status as religious spokespersons is null and void. They now must speak only as citizens with the same moral standing as citizens outside their religious sect.
So as we celebrate I say to you all:Io Saturnalia!