I am always highly amused when....
Ok folks, now how many times do we have to slowly and carefully explain that MOST of Christianity's rituals come directly from Paganism? We say it, they don't believe it, and now, oh boy....some are finally taking notice. Heh. What do ya do? You just can't educate some.
Pagan Christianity:
by Jason Pitzl-Waters
George Barna, head of the conservative Christian polling organization The Barna Group, has co-authored a new book that takes a deeper look at traditional Christian practices. The result, "Pagan Christianity", seems almost like a fun-house mirror reflection of the rhetoric you can hear from many modern Pagans. Barna, a Catholic turned conservative evangelical, and advocate for the "house church" movement, sees paganism everywhere in the modern Christian church structure. Did Christian leaders borrow/steal/sanctify elements from ancient pagan culture, philosophy, and religion? Of course they did. Few argue otherwise. Christianity leapt into the cultural and religious vacuum created within the Roman Empire when Constantine, and subsequent emperors, gradually removed the traditional/pagan faiths from power. It is only natural that the assumption of that much power and prestige would alter a previously persecuted minority faith in an overwhelmingly pagan world.
"Pagan Christianity makes an unsettling proposal: Most of what present-day Christians do in church each Sunday is rooted not in the New Testament, but in pagan culture and rituals developed long after the death of the apostles. Authors Frank Viola and George Barna support their thesis with compelling historical evidence and extensive footnotes that document the origins of our modern Christian church practices."