Since I had children I celebrate Xmas as a festival about giving birth to boys - glad I’m not alone - my house is now filled with postcards of the virgin and child.
My father is some-variety-of-Christian-but-also-somewhat-Agnostic and my mother is Jewish. I was raised in the Reform Judaism tradition - so liberal & lax. I celebrated both Jewish & Christian holidays, but only the religious aspects of Judaism. The Christian religions were more about tradition & the secular of pagan aspects - NOT the religious ones, which I only really came to learn & understand as a teenager! (For me, Christmas was about Santa & Reindeer & Trees with pretty lights; Easter is about Bunnies & Chicks & Newborn Life, Babies & Spring, Chocolate & Easter Egg Hunts! Etc.).
I always found Christian art, symbolism, & stories to be creepy, & they always felt... "off" to me; I'd get queasy & uncomfortable from hearing them, & this feeling was only reinforced - as with your experience - when learning more & more about the atrocities committed in the name of Christianity. As an adult, I *still* can't get past the logical gaps in Christian lore & theology; it just bothers me on so many levels!
I appreciated reading about your fresh perspective of the Mother Mary imagery. I can't relate at all, but I can appreciate what you've shared. Maybe one day, I'll be able to resonate more with those thoughts & feelings... but to me, they still just ooze with religious subtext & dogma. It's hard for me to look at such a religiously charged image in a neutral way, though I can see how being able to do so would be refreshing, if only from innocence of perspective.
At any rate, I enjoyed the read and appreciate your perspective. Thank you for sharing, as I honestly had not even considered -- & could've fathom to come up with -- a secular version of the Mother Mary idols.
Since I had children I celebrate Xmas as a festival about giving birth to boys - glad I’m not alone - my house is now filled with postcards of the virgin and child.
This is such a good piece Thank you. I feel the same way.
Interesting!
My father is some-variety-of-Christian-but-also-somewhat-Agnostic and my mother is Jewish. I was raised in the Reform Judaism tradition - so liberal & lax. I celebrated both Jewish & Christian holidays, but only the religious aspects of Judaism. The Christian religions were more about tradition & the secular of pagan aspects - NOT the religious ones, which I only really came to learn & understand as a teenager! (For me, Christmas was about Santa & Reindeer & Trees with pretty lights; Easter is about Bunnies & Chicks & Newborn Life, Babies & Spring, Chocolate & Easter Egg Hunts! Etc.).
I always found Christian art, symbolism, & stories to be creepy, & they always felt... "off" to me; I'd get queasy & uncomfortable from hearing them, & this feeling was only reinforced - as with your experience - when learning more & more about the atrocities committed in the name of Christianity. As an adult, I *still* can't get past the logical gaps in Christian lore & theology; it just bothers me on so many levels!
I appreciated reading about your fresh perspective of the Mother Mary imagery. I can't relate at all, but I can appreciate what you've shared. Maybe one day, I'll be able to resonate more with those thoughts & feelings... but to me, they still just ooze with religious subtext & dogma. It's hard for me to look at such a religiously charged image in a neutral way, though I can see how being able to do so would be refreshing, if only from innocence of perspective.
At any rate, I enjoyed the read and appreciate your perspective. Thank you for sharing, as I honestly had not even considered -- & could've fathom to come up with -- a secular version of the Mother Mary idols.