Ben's Blog

In the latter half of the 1500s  the Puritans took over much of Europe, urged on by Queen

Elizabeth (the first of course, quite a different woman to the second, renowned for her hedonism)

They did not believe in having fun, not dissimilar to the Taliban today.

The first thing they did was to ban Christmas altogether, claiming, accurately that it did not get a single mention in the Bible. Claiming, correctly again that it was a pagan ritual of indulgence based on the Roman Saturnalia. The Saturnalia was a bachanal of debauchery and depravity where the poorest peasant was made the king for a day and all his foolish decrees were to be obeyed, such as; everyone must remain naked. The slaves were waited on by their masters. Absurdity was the order of the day.

Xmas was banned from 1647 till 1660- anyone found celebrating was fined 5 shillings- a king’s ransom in those days. The baking of minced pies was also banned. Upon the promulgation of these onerous edicts there was rioting in the streets. Blood was spilt. Lives were lost.

In New England (what was to become the United States) Xmas was banned until 1870. In Scotland it was not made a public holiday until 1958 (l kid you not)

A key item of worship in the northern regions is The Yuletide log that once burned brightly all of Xmas day, a custom that has withered here in the antipodes for some unknown reason, whilst in the U.S. it has been contemporized:

There is a Yultide log channel on the television so one can watch it burning all day long.

( Believe me, l have seen it with my own eyes, but l can tell you, it is not a real log. It burns all day without diminishing. Perhaps this is one of the many miracles of Jesus Christ our Saviour?)