Did you know the State of Massachusetts outlawed Christmas in 1659?

[Old and In the Way]

Guess they figured out how Christians would subvert the idea of Religious Freedom.

[marym625]

1. But just for gay Christians

[Old and In the Way]

2. Don't tell Bill O'Reilly!

Those Puitans/Pilgrams sure were leftist radicals!

[marym625]

5. weren't they though!

[66 dmhlt]

24. Nah - for EVERYONE ... because the BIBLE is against Christmas:

Jeremiah 10:3-4 (KJV)

3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.

4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+10%3A3-4&version=KJV

[still_one]

3. Is that what Bill O was talking about the war on Christmas?

[Old and In the Way]

4. I guess so....he hated the Pilgrams and Puritans!

I read this in a bathroom on I-95 South in a state serviced reststop. I assume it to be true. Could there be people trying to subvert the FoxNews interpretation of our history? Ask BillO...he might have been there.

[jberryhill]

18. You read this in a highway roadside bathroom?

Presumably it was put there for the edification of US Senators passing through.

[marym625]

6. He was there, don't ya know!

[still_one]

8. I have no doubt he was their during the witch trials

[marym625]

10. Too bad they didn't realize he was one of them

[Warren DeMontague]

7. Thanks, Obama.

[Old and In the Way]

11. Yep, nailed it again Mr. DeMontague!

Or can I call you Frank? Cuz you always speak the truth and you go very well with Sauerkraut?

[Warren DeMontague]

22. I'm about 50% frank

50% beans.

[eShirl]

9. with a time machine?

[DavidDvorkin]

12. There was no State of Massachusetts in 1659.

[Old and In the Way]

13. tell that to the State who put this in the State relief/information center.

But I sill look for the appropriate source, so you won't feel outraged, Bill.

[Old and In the Way]

14. http://massmoments.org/moment.cfm?mid=369

Yep, it happened....

[jberryhill]

17. The point being there was no "State of Massachusetts" at that time

It was a colony.

Yes, they had such a law.

No, they were not a "state".

[Old and In the Way]

19. Honest to God, that is what appears in the rest area just below I-95 South.

You are obviously correct, there was no State in 1659, and Mass. was a colony. Next time I stop in I will fix this eggregious error. But damn, those colonists had their shit together when it came to colonist-sanctioned religious events. Next time I go there, I will take a pic and publish this on DU.

[jberryhill]

20. I look forward to your pictures from a highway restroom

With great anticipation.

[jberryhill]

21. You seem not to know the purpose

This was not some measure intended to avoid the public exercise of Christianity. It was intended to enforce the view of the Puritan sect.

The celebration of Christmas was something Catholics and other undesirables did.

It is the same reason why it used to be common, and still is in relation to alcohol in many places, to ban commercial activity on Sundays.

It was not some kind of progressive religious neutrality law. It was intended to enforce a particular Christian sect's point of view. The celebration of Christmas as some type of occasion for general merrymaking and good cheer has not always been a broadly held practice among various Christian groups. The Puritans frowned on it, and wanted to stop OTHER people from celebrating it.

Here, read this:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_in_Puritan_New_England

[Igel]

27. Yes, indeed.

It's where the obnoxious at opposite ends meet.

I've known atheists who rather wanted to ban public celebrations of Xmas. It's what the Puritans and some puritanical atheists have in common. One must avoid offending their delicate sensibilities.

Fortunately, both groups tend to be marginalized. Sadly, one can do no better than to use the word "tend."

[markpkessinger]

30. Absolutely correct . . .

. . . It was a theocracy in action!

[yeoman6987]

15. Bah humbug

[jberryhill]

16. The Massachusetts Bay Colony, you mean

And, yes, the Puritans disapproved of Christmas as a festival.

[LiberalFighter]

25. I was looking for the correct term used for that time period. You got it!!

[struggle4progress]

23. "Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy."

H. L. Mencken

[pinto]

26. Ha! Good one, Mencken.

+1

[yellowcanine]

28. Christmas celebrations have long been problematic for Christians.

The current things we associate with Christmas - decorations, trees, gift giving, etc. were essentially adopted from pagan traditions and dressed up in religious tradition by the Catholic Church to try to keep people focused on church activities celebrating the birth of Christ. Many reformers objected to the way the Catholics incorporated pagan traditions. Even today, some groups do not have Christmas trees and Christmas parties, teaching kids about Santa Claus, etc. Even the "Merry Christmas" greeting was and is objectionable for many conservative Christian groups as it implies parties and drinking. And with all of the commercialization, it is clearly no longer mainly a religious holiday.

[markpkessinger]

29. Yes, but let's be clear about WHY they did so . . .

. . . This was a bunch of Puritans who believed that celebrations of Christmas were heretical and contrary to Scripture. This was no outbreak of zeal for religious freedom and tolerance: it was a fully theocratic government enforcing its beliefs on society.

[CTyankee]

31. thank you. You are absolutely correct.

Every time I drive by these damn churches in New Haven I am reminded of Jonathan Edwards speech "sinners in the hands of an angry God..." and I get all agitated again...

[Yupster]

32. And now you done reminded me of John Edwards

and I got all angry again.

[CTyankee]

33. there's a bunch of Puritans buried underneath the Green in New Haven...

sounds kinda creepy but it's very historic. The Green is nice in the summer. There are lots of concerts held there and of course political rallies and demonstrations of all sorts.