I only have 86 FB friends, but 90%+ are active in the church, the rest being exmos. If you like the sound of crickets you too can make an occasional post like this, lol.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/75719722@N04/6910823465/in/photostream

I hadn't heard of those connections before. If true, holy cow! It makes a lot of sense. Don't expect your TBM FB friends to suddenly be converted. It might add to somebody's cog-dis though. At least you're not afraid to post stuff like this. Good job.

Yes, a fun poke in the ol' cog dis is all I'm after with stuff like this, with the long-shot chance of planting a little seed or pulling a pinkie out of the dam of belief.

I enjoyed zeitgeist - it's interesting.... as long as you dont take it as 'gospel'.

Here are some of the claims, which I find interesting:

1) The sun passes through the contellation known as "Crux" or "cross" at the end of December, giving rise to the concept of God dying on a cross.

2) December 22 is the Winter Solstice, where the sun is at its furthest point south. Three days later, on December 25, the sun moves far enough north to be the first perceptible change to the naked eye. This gave rise to the concept of God rising again the third day after dying on the cross.

3) Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, is the star that signified the birth of Jesus, and aligns with the three stars of Orion's Belt, which were called the "Three Kings" in ancient times. These 4 stars point a straight line to the point where the sun rises on December 25th. This gave rise to the star and kings story about how to locate where God was born.

4) The sun passes through the constellation Virgo, or "Virgin," in August and September, the time of harvest. This passing ends on September 22, the equinox. After Virgo the days begin to have more dark than light. Virgo was also referred to the "house of bread" according to its conjunction with harvest time, and this literally translated to "Bethlehem." This gave rise to the concept of God coming from a Virgin in a place called Bethlehem.

5) The days begin to have more light than dark on the Spring equinox, or Easter. This gave rise to the idea of celebrating God's victory over death on Easter.

6) The sun passes through the twelve constellations throughout the year, which gave rise to the twelve disciples that accompany God on his journey.

7) Jesus is only the most recent of a string of Gods to have these same characteristics.

And yet, mormonism generally believes that Christianity was tainted by Paganism, and not that it came from it entirely.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/20/2012 02:51PM by kimball.

I found the stuff about the different ages of the earth interesting as well. That Jesus' birth ushered in the age of Pisces (with the famous 2 fish), and that there is a scripture mentioning his age ending with the dawning of the age of aquarius (sing the song in your head if you feel so inclined, lol). And the stuff about Moses and the ages as well. So jam-packed with fascinating material. Funny how everything in the world makes sense when you look at it outside the distorting lens of religion.