NationStates Jolt Archive

I'm going to let y'all in on a little secret that I was taught in the Catholic church. Christmas isn't even the day of Jesus' birth. It was just a convenient day to celebrate it because December 25 was Saturnalia, a Roman feast day. And if you were a Christian, you didn't want to not celebrate on that day because you would stick out like a sore thumb and probably get arrested and thrown to the lions or something rather uncomfortable like that. Therefore, Christmas is a fake Holy Day.

;)

i'm not religious so i don't care!

i'm not religious so i don't care!

Okay. That wasn't really the point of the post, but whatever.

*marks Tink down as indifferent*

I know this, but I dont think it matters WHEN precisely Jesus was born. The point is we are celebrating his entry into the world. Saying its important to know when it happened is like saying its important to know when he ordered for a donkey, as we should all go out and get one then. WHEN he arrived is of no concern, its the fact that he did, and that he did what he did. Save us from sin.

Yup ... my favorite quote

"Santa did not die for your sins"

http://www.cafepress.com/landoverbaptist.8412866?zoom=yes#zoom

Saying its important to know when it happened is like saying its important to know when he ordered for a donkey, as we should all go out and get one then.

Surely someone's still got the receipt!

It's even said Christ was born in 7 BC, so why should the date of birth be accurate?

as i said to my son when he was about 6

"people who dont believe in santa, dont get presents from santa"

so SHHHHHHHH or all youll get on 12/25 is COAL!

Surely someone's still got the receipt!
nah, the disciples stole it.

i try to keep it balanced so that my 5 year old gets to have the same fun as her classmates with the whole santy claus thing, but still acknowledge the true meaning of Christmas(whatever the date).

Thats why we bake Jesus a birthday cake on Christmas and sing happy birthday Jesus. If you havent seen a 5 year old little girl sing happy b day to Jesus, well, youre just missing total cuteness :p

We don't celebrate Martin Luther King Jr Day exactly on his birthday. We're celebrating what he has done. The exact day is irrelevant. Likewise, it doesn't matter that December 25 is or isn't Christ's birthday. What matters is Christ was born, and would save us from our sins.

Yup ... my favorite quote

"Santa did not die for your sins"

http://www.cafepress.com/landoverbaptist.8412866?zoom=yes#zoom

Santa lives for mine. I hope he brings me a hooker, a bottle of whiskey, and a round trip ticket to Las Vegas.

Edit: BTW, Hotrodders, how did you get that title?

i try to keep it balanced so that my 5 year old gets to have the same fun as her classmates with the whole santy claus thing, but still acknowledge the true meaning of Christmas(whatever the date).

Thats why we bake Jesus a birthday cake on Christmas and sing happy birthday Jesus. If you havent seen a 5 year old little girl sing happy b day to Jesus, well, youre just missing total cuteness :p

My family celebrates the same way.

Everyone knows that Santa Clause was born on December 25th, what does some mexican guy called Jesus have to do with Christmas? ;)

They're all fake holy days. Nobody has any evidence to support the existance of god.

http://www.illwillpress.com/

Watch the flash and STFU.

What matters is Christ was born, and would save us from our sins.

So seeing as Jesus was so tight with his dad, why did he choose to 'die for our sins' (something I, nor anyone I kow personally asked him to do), instead of trying to use his close relationship to get dad to repeal his repressive lists, thus freeing us from 'sin'?

They're all fake holy days. Nobody has any evidence to support the existance of god.

Please don't start that again.

the main point of christmas now i feel is about the fat old guy and the pretty trees.
btw, if Santa really did exist, studies suggest that after eating all those mince pies and the sherry, then his BMI would measure over 30,000,000. the safe limit for a man is about 38... :D

So seeing as Jesus was so tight with his dad, why did he choose to 'die for our sins' (something I, nor anyone I kow personally asked him to do), instead of trying to use his close relationship to get dad to repeal his repressive lists, thus freeing us from 'sin'?

Please don't start that again either.

Everyone knows that Santa Clause was born on December 25th, what does some mexican guy called Jesus have to do with Christmas? ;)
Mexican guy? :eek: Show some respect, please!

Some historians say he was a Palestine rebel leader (and that he just fitted in the story some scholars were writing because he was 'saved' from the cross by a traitor who worked for the Romans), which is entirely different. It's also said Maria Magdalena was his girlfriend. :D

Note that I personally don't believe those historians...

Please don't start that again.
sorry

Please don't start that again either.

I see your gripe with Drunk Commies.

But at least DT is responding to someone.

I see your gripe with Drunk Commies.

But at least DT is responding to someone.

That's fine, I would just like people to stay on the topic of Christmas, and whether it's a fake holiday or not.

It's even said Christ was born in 7 BC, so why should the date of birth be accurate?

More likely about 3 B.C. but that depends on who's reckoning you like best and most likely somewhere between Sept. and Nov. When it comes to "Christian" holidays, almost none of them have origins in Christianity. Even Sunday as a day of worship has its origin in "sun" worship and or the "divine" authority of the Catholic church.

They aren't all fake holidays. Kwanzaa celebrates Africa and we can find that on a map. Jesus, the Easter Bunny, and Moses though, not so much.

Lets face it, when Christianity became dominant, they wanted to stamp out the local "pagan" religious festivals and practises.

The easiest way to do that it to put your holy days into line with that of the locals.

Moving "the day of birth" to 25/12 was convenient, near the year end and of course smothered the local western european festival days.

Doesn't every body know that!

It is also true of Easter, thats why Easter is always in spring, the re birth of nature after the 'death' of winter was a similar to the life events of Christ, and also was the time of year of a celtic/pagan celebration. It doesn't mean Christmas or Easter is any less special or holy. In fact we get the word Yule from a winter celtic fesitival.

Also, it doesn't matter if you are christian or not. Jesus is one of the most important historical figures of all time, the faith he started has shaped the world. And yes Jesus did exist, the real question is whether or not he was the Son of God and the Messiah. But a man called Jesus was born, started a little club and died by crucifixion. The little club became the largest religion on Earth.

Saying you don’t believe in Jesus is like saying you don’t believe in Napoleon.

That's fine, I would just like people to stay on the topic of Christmas, and whether it's a fake holiday or not.

Understandably, damned hijackers.

Even Sunday as a day of worship has its origin in "sun" worship and or the "divine" authority of the Catholic church.
I think that Sunday being a day of worship has its origin in the tale of the 7 Days in which God created, well, everything. But the name of 'Sunday' still refers to the ancient gods (as do the other names of the days). Of course, I might be wrong...

Are you people idiot?
Of course christmas isn't really Jesus birthday, everyone knows that! But, my deared Texan Hotrodders, it's not located for the roman party, it's for hanukkah! Besides, we dont know when had Jesus born

Almost every holiday is fake then...Do we know the exact date of the first thanksgiving? Do we know George Washington's birthday? What about Abe's? We might, but we don't celebrate them on the actual date.

They're all fake holy days. Nobody has any evidence to support the existance of god.

Give me a good explaination of the creation of the universe.

If you say the big bang, then give me a good explaination of what caused the big bang.

If you manage to do that, then explain what caused the the thing that caused the big bang e.t.c.

But in the end, I think that our Lord is the first cause of pretty much everything. But if you think that they are ALL fake holy days, then am I correct in assuming that you don't get (or accept) Christmas presents/cards or Easter Presents/ cards?

Give me a good explaination of the creation of the universe.

If you say the big bang, then give me a good explaination of what caused the big bang.

If you manage to do that, then explain what caused the the thing that caused the big bang e.t.c.

But in the end, I think that our Lord is the first cause of pretty much everything. But if you think that they are ALL fake holy days, then am I correct in assuming that you don't get (or accept) Christmas presents/cards or Easter Presents/ cards?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Please do not continue this argument with Drunk commies, I beg of you!

Give me a good explaination of the creation of the universe.

If you say the big bang, then give me a good explaination of what caused the big bang.

If you manage to do that, then explain what caused the the thing that caused the big bang e.t.c.

But in the end, I think that our Lord is the first cause of pretty much everything. But if you think that they are ALL fake holy days, then am I correct in assuming that you don't get (or accept) Christmas presents/cards or Easter Presents/ cards?
We can take it outside this thread, but I'm not going to post in this one anymore because I don't want to be a hijacker.

[QUOTE= Even Sunday as a day of worship has its origin in "sun" worship and or the "divine" authority of the Catholic church.[/QUOTE]


I dont see the link there, the sabbath was simply moved to a Sunday by the Church to make it different from the Saturday Jewish Sabbath.

Even Sunday as a day of worship has its origin in "sun" worship and or the "divine" authority of the Catholic church.


I dont see the link there, the sabbath was simply moved to a Sunday by the Church to make it different from the Saturday Jewish Sabbath.

That and the eighth day symbolism.

Kwanzaa isn't a holy day either lets get rid of that to. While were at it lets get rid of Hanukah. Hey! We dont know if Ramadon was really aroound that time either!!! Lets get rid of all holidays because we can't figure out when they really happened...
Besides that why does one always have to bash the Christians?
(PS- Maybe it is because they're right!)

(PPS- Jesus loves you, but I don't...) :sniper: :mp5: :gundge:

as i said to my son when he was about 6

"people who dont believe in santa, dont get presents from santa"

so SHHHHHHHH or all youll get on 12/25 is COAL!

Wow, Santa's a jerk. I bet people who don't believe in Jesus still get Jesus-gifts on the 25th.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Please do not continue this argument with Drunk commies, I beg of you!

As you wish, i just stand strongly by my faith

Besides that why does one always have to bash the Christians?
(PS- Maybe it is because they're right!)

The point of the thread was not to bash Christians, but to offer a counter to those who were bashing Kwanzaa.

(PPS- Jesus loves you) :sniper: :mp5: :gundge:

And that bit is a prime example of why people bash Christians.

As you wish, i just stand strongly by my faith

So do I. It's just that this is not the appropriate thread for that argument.

Feel free to start another thread on that topic. It's only been done a few thousand times before.

Nobody has any evidence to support the existance of god.
As Jesuits would say: 'Is there any evidence to support the theory that god does not exist?' ;)

I learned about this in my history class last year... Nearly all christian (catholic) holidays were meant to replace non-christian holidays. It was all part of a big operation to 'whipe out' other religions and cults and to promote the catholic faith.

This is what happens when you try to put God in a box...
:headbang:
I have my beliefs you have yours. If God is such a big problem for you then find a hole somewhere and stay there until the end of the world.

So do I. It's just that this is not the appropriate thread for that argument.

Feel free to start another thread on that topic. It's only been done a few thousand times before.

nah, doesn't matter, i just wanted to get my point across and wanted to say what i wanted to say. i've done that, so expect no more from me on the subject of god's existance.

This is what happens when you try to put God in a box...
:headbang:
I have my beliefs you have yours. If God is such a big problem for you then find a hole somewhere and stay there until the end of the world.

I think the important question here is how big would the box have to be to fit God into it? I mean, He's probably pretty large.

ETA: To avoid threadjacking, the sentiment of Christmas is more important than the accuracy. I bet a guy like Jesus is cool with us getting the date wrong.

[QUOTE= Even Sunday as a day of worship has its origin in "sun" worship and or the "divine" authority of the Catholic church.


I dont see the link there, the sabbath was simply moved to a Sunday by the Church to make it different from the Saturday Jewish Sabbath.[/QUOTE]

that's not true. you see, in the civilized European languages (spanish, italian, french,etc) the word for Saturday is a derivative from Sabbath. If you don't know, SHUT UP

I think the important question here is how big would the box have to be to fit God into it? I mean, He's probably pretty large.

What makes you think that? Don't get me wrong, you might be right, but he might be small, or human in size.

It's even said Christ was born in 7 BC, so why should the date of birth be accurate?
BC means before Chirst, how could he born before he was himself.
AD means 'anno Domini' probly Latin, tranlates roughly to after brith.
He was born on year 0.

that's not true. you see, in the civilized European languages (spanish, italian, french,etc) the word for Saturday is a derivative from Sabbath. If you don't know, SHUT UP
Nope, Saturday was derived from the Roman god Saturnus (all historians agree on this one).

They're all fake holy days. Nobody has any evidence to support the existance of god.

I beleive in Jesus and there is no evidence to suggest that he doesn't exist either. I beleive that he does exist, that he died for me and everything else.
Christian is not a religion. It is a relationship with God. It is not a race because anyone can become a christian. Jews etc are born Jews. Nobody is born a christian and you can't tell that a person is a christian through looking at them.

Lets get something straight.
1) You cannot prove the existence of God or the non-existence
2) The Evolutionary Argument for the existence of Earth is down the drain so don't use that argument.
3) You cannot prove one religion over another with out scientific unbiased evidence and few religions have that.
4) My final point: Go out read "Evidence That Demands a Verdict" by Josh McDowell and QUIT using the pieces out of the DaVinci Code like it is nonfiction truth.

BC means before Chirst, how could he born before he was himself.
AD means 'anno Domini' probly Latin, tranlates roughly to after brith.
He was born on year 0.

I thought Anno Domini is used to mean "Year of our Lord."

Also, it doesn't matter if you are christian or not. Jesus is one of the most important historical figures of all time, the faith he started has shaped the world. And yes Jesus did exist, the real question is whether or not he was the Son of God and the Messiah. But a man called Jesus was born, started a little club and died by crucifixion. The little club became the largest religion on Earth.

Saying you don’t believe in Jesus is like saying you don’t believe in Napoleon.

You are entirely at liberty to believe all of this about Jesus. But I resent your implication that there is something mentally wrong with those of us who don't share your beliefs.

Clearly, this is not the thread for a debate on this. But people like myself have what we consider to be good reasons for not accepting the common view of Jesus-historicity [my position, if you care, is that the evidence is so scanty we *can never know* whether or not there was a historical Jesus, or if there was, how close his real life was to the stories later told about him], and while I can appreciate that you'd disagree with those reasons, simply dismissing us off-hand is just rude.

BC means before Chirst, how could he born before he was himself.
(...)
He was born on year 0.
I know, but they mixed up the exact year by some small miscalculations made by a monk during the reign of Gregorius VIII and the year 0 itself doesn't exist, the years 1 AD and 1 BC do. The 'year 0' is just the transition between AD and BC.

BC means before Chirst, how could he born before he was himself.
AD means 'anno Domini' probly Latin, tranlates roughly to after brith.
He was born on year 0.

Good point. For all those who say they don't believe, how do they know the date. 2005 means 2005 years after the death of Christ which is the way all yearly time keeping is based upon.

that's not true. you see, in the civilized European languages (spanish, italian, french,etc) the word for Saturday is a derivative from Sabbath. If you don't know, SHUT UP

The reason why christians celebrate the sabbath on a Sunday is because that is when Jesus rose again.

Well, Jesus was probably born in the spring around 3 or 4 BCE if he existed so technically, you're right it's fake in the sense that it isnt the exact date of Christ's birth.

You are entirely at liberty to believe all of this about Jesus. But I resent your implication that there is something mentally wrong with those of us who don't share your beliefs.

Clearly, this is not the thread for a debate on this. But people like myself have what we consider to be good reasons for not accepting the common view of Jesus-historicity [my position, if you care, is that the evidence is so scanty we *can never know* whether or not there was a historical Jesus, or if there was, how close his real life was to the stories later told about him], and while I can appreciate that you'd disagree with those reasons, simply dismissing us off-hand is just rude.

Then when my history teacher starts talking about Homer and Athens and Hammurabi I am not going to pay attention at all because the evidence we have for these people is so scanty that we can never prove they existed.

Good point. For all those who say they don't believe, how do they know the date. 2005 means 2005 years after the death of Christ which is the way all yearly time keeping is based upon.
The christian calendar and the 'year 0' are based on a year established by Pope Gregorius VIII as the year 0. He just said 'that's the year 0', because there were some misunderstandings and because the calender used since Julius Ceasar was inaccurate.

Good point. For all those who say they don't believe, how do they know the date. 2005 means 2005 years after the death of Christ which is the way all yearly time keeping is based upon.

Oh please - calendars change over time. The romans used AUC, which went well into the AD years. The time is just how things are done now, since the Western world is the DOMINANT culture. And Muslims count their years in AH. And the Hebrew calendar is different too.

Then when my history teacher starts talking about Homer and Athens and Hammurabi I am not going to pay attention at all because the evidence we have for these people is so scanty that we can never prove they existed.

For Homer you're dead right, the evidence he existed is very scanty. *Someone* wrote the Iliad and *someone* wrote the Odyssey, but was it a single person or groups of people? Or did the poems develop and grow over time? If the I. and O. are the works of a single hand, did the same person write both? If it was a single poet, was the poet called Homer? If the poet was called Homer, was he really a slave? was he really blind?

None of these questions can be satisfactorily answered: we only have the unsubstantiated legend of Homer. We can never know. All the evidence we would need to know is lost to the sands of time.

For Athens, on the other hand, you can go and see the ruins yourself, and for Hammurabi we have the nice big chunk of rock carved in his own time. That's evidence for you.

Oh, dear! What will it be next? Please don't tell me that the Queen's Birthday isn't the actual Queen's Brithday.

Oh, dear! What will it be next? Please don't tell me that the Queen's Birthday isn't the actual Queen's Brithday.

Well, now that you mention it... ;)

The christian calendar and the 'year 0' are based on a year established by Pope Gregorius VIII as the year 0. He just said 'that's the year 0', because there were some misunderstandings and because the calender used since Julius Ceasar was inaccurate.

okay, point taken but i'm sort of right aren't I? 2005 is 2005 years after death, or am i going loopy?

okay, point taken but i'm sort of right aren't I? 2005 is 2005 years after death, or am i going loopy?

No. The Anno Domini (Lord's Year) calendar was supposed to be based on Jesus' BIRTH not his DEATH. Those who suppose the crucifiction account to be historical usually posit that it took place some time in the 30s AD.

Nope, Saturday was derived from the Roman god Saturnus (all historians agree on this one).
IN ENGLISH, YOU MORON, BUT NOT IN THE LANGUAGES I SAYED (READ BEFORE YOU TALK)

Some people say that the holy holidays actually concur with many of the pagan festivities and celebrations, which allegedly the churches did to help stop the heathen’s ungodly ways.
As a child Father Christmas confused me, and I didn’t know where he was when Jesus was around and I knew he wasn’t one of the disciples.

Then I heard a story about long ago in a cold place with snow, there were villagers starving, because overlords had taken so much of their harvest as rent and tax. Then on the coldest night they had had in a long time they each in turn had heard their doors rattling, as it was cold and night it took them a little longer to get to there. When the doors were opened they each in turn found large lumps of meat and some had foul as well.
For them it was salvation. In the light of day when they spoke to each other of what had happened, one villager said I saw a stranger in a red coat riding off shouting Good cheer to all.
The red coat would have been made of the animals skin, still red as the meat was fresh and the hunter would have worn it fur side in.
A very generous man indeed

IN ENGLISH, YOU MORON, BUT NOT IN THE LANGUAGES I SAYED (READ BEFORE YOU TALK)

Ah. You are referring to something like Sabado and Domingo in Spanish?

2005 means 2005 years after the death of Christ which is the way all yearly time keeping is based upon.
Nope. After He was born. He died on 33 AD

Ah. You are referring to something like Sabado and Domingo in Spanish?
Yes

Oh, dear! What will it be next? Please don't tell me that the Queen's Birthday isn't the actual Queen's Brithday.

HAHAHA!! She has two!! Her REAL birthday and the corination birthday (< i think).

Oh, dear! What will it be next? Please don't tell me that the Queen's Birthday isn't the actual Queen's Brithday.

She has two, ones her "official" birthday and ones the day she was born on ;)

coronation is something else, so much to celebrate
:fluffle:

okay, point taken but i'm sort of right aren't I? 2005 is 2005 years after death, or am i going loopy?
Loopy. It refers to the birth. The calculation was made somewhere in the 5th or 6th century by a monk. He used the lifes of the Popes going back all the way to Peter to determine when Jesus would have been born. He didn't do too bad a job, since he only failed by between 4 or 7 years (based on when the census took place, according to historical sources we have now).

Before that people in Europe counted time by years since the foundation of Rome by Romulus and Remus, an event as mythical as the birth of Jesus. After that the Church changed to years since the birth of Christ (starting with year 1, because the Europeans didn't have the Zero back then) and slowly made everyone else use it.

HAHAHA!! She has two!! Her REAL birthday and the corination birthday (< i think).
What?! And she gets twice the presents!!!

To Iztatepopotla: In fact, interestingly, in all cases I know of where a major world calendar is based on "years since some event", people only started counting that way when the event in question was already many years, if not centuries, in the past.

Birth of Jesus - Muhammad's flight - founding of Rome - creation of the Earth - whatever you please.

Just because something's fake doesn't mean it's loved any less. My bf loves my fake bits.

The pyshical image of Santa (red and white coat, what not) was invented by Coca-Cola, was it not?

In regards to this thread, http://www.illwillpress.com/'s newest video sums up my beliefs on this issue nearly one hundred percent. *Note: IllWillPress contains some pretty rough language.*

The pyshical image of Santa (red and white coat, what not) was invented by Coca-Cola, was it not?

In regards to this thread, http://www.illwillpress.com/'s newest video sums up my beliefs on this issue nearly one hundred percent. *Note: IllWillPress contains some pretty rough language.*

thanks for that needed a laugh v cool. That's my kind of christmas ;)

The pyshical image of Santa (red and white coat, what not) was invented by Coca-Cola, was it not?

I used to think so too, turns out that's just an urban legend.

Info (http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/santa.asp)

I used to think so too, turns out that's just an urban legend.

Info (http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/santa.asp)

Well then. You learn something new everyday. I thank you for the Snopes link....

I think that Sunday being a day of worship has its origin in the tale of the 7 Days in which God created, well, everything. But the name of 'Sunday' still refers to the ancient gods (as do the other names of the days). Of course, I might be wrong...

Actually, Saturday, the 7th day of the week, the Sabbath as observed by Christ and the early Christian church remained the day of worship until Constantine converted to Christianity. The Papacy has since claim that its changing of the Sabbath to Sunday is one of the marks of the "Churches" authority and has actually denegated Protestant denominations that still keep it.

The reason why christians celebrate the sabbath on a Sunday is because that is when Jesus rose again.

Actually, that line of reasoning didn't become popular until more than 500 years after the death and resurrection of Christ and even up though the inquisition there were pockets of Christian, the Waldensians specifically, that kept the Sabbath until the were hunted into extinction. There has since been several protestant denomination that have returned to the Bible Sabbath.

No. The Anno Domini (Lord's Year) calendar was supposed to be based on Jesus' BIRTH not his DEATH. Those who suppose the crucifiction account to be historical usually posit that it took place some time in the 30s AD.

When you figure in the error surrounding the 0 year it actually comes out about 27 and 1/2 A.D. by Biblical chronology.

I'm going to let y'all in on a little secret that I was taught in the Catholic church. Christmas isn't even the day of Jesus' birth. It was just a convenient day to celebrate it because December 25 was Saturnalia, a Roman feast day. And if you were a Christian, you didn't want to not celebrate on that day because you would stick out like a sore thumb and probably get arrested and thrown to the lions or something rather uncomfortable like that. Therefore, Christmas is a fake Holy Day.

;)

*pins award for the most obvious statement of the day*

Yay! It's also the day Mithra was born (he later was resurrected from the dead). Yay for winter solstice cult holidays!

*pins award for the most obvious statement of the day*

Yay! It's also the day Mithra was born (he later was resurrected from the dead). Yay for winter solstice cult holidays!

So, how much have you studied Mithraism? It is very interesting how much of it corrisponds to the symbology of the Biblical book of Rev. Nu?

The pyshical image of Santa (red and white coat, what not) was invented by Coca-Cola, was it not?

In regards to this thread, http://www.illwillpress.com/'s newest video sums up my beliefs on this issue nearly one hundred percent. *Note: IllWillPress contains some pretty rough language.*

Grrr. I hate that no talent hack flash artist!

So, how much have you studied Mithraism? It is very interesting how much of it corrisponds to the symbology of the Biblical book of Rev. Nu?

Never looked into it. I hate cults mythologies.

Never looked into it. I hate cults mythologies.


Fair enough. I certainly don't advocate practicing them. I just learned a little about it when I took a class on understanding the book of Revelation. Understanding what else was going on in the world of religion then helped to understand Rev. If Constantine hadn't converted there might still be a large population of Mithraists today.

*pins award for the most obvious statement of the day*

Yay! It's also the day Mithra was born (he later was resurrected from the dead). Yay for winter solstice cult holidays!

Dude, it was just a counter to a thread about how Kwanzaa is a fake holiday.

Fair enough. I certainly don't advocate practicing them. I just learned a little about it when I took a class on understanding the book of Revelation. Understanding what else was going on in the world of religion then helped to understand Rev. If Constantine hadn't converted there might still be a large population of Mithraists today.

I call em Mithraists behind their back.

When you figure in the error surrounding the 0 year it actually comes out about 27 and 1/2 A.D. by Biblical chronology.

Given that Jesus was supposedly born while Herod was King (GMatthew) and also while Cyrenus was governor of Syria (GLuke), and given that Cyrenus didn't become governor of Syria until Herod was ten years in his grave, it is pretty much impossible to "figure" any one year "by Biblical chronology".

Actually the current BC/AD switch over is a reasonable split-the-diff compromise between the date in GMatthew and the date in GLuke - though of course that wasn't the intention of the monks who did the original calculations.

But in the end, I think that our Lord is the first cause of pretty much everything. But if you think that they are ALL fake holy days, then am I correct in assuming that you don't get (or accept) Christmas presents/cards or Easter Presents/ cards?

I give and accept Solstice and Equinox gifts and cards. The seasons and the changing length in days as well as the effects that has on animals and vegetation are observable phenomena.