I don’t actually have a lot to debunk about St. Patrick Day. More like just giving up tidbits of information. Feast Day March 17 is the official feast day for St. Patrick. Theoretically, it’s the date of his death. In truth, we have no idea when he died, nor, toContinue Reading
Today’s post was inspired by a doctor’s visit when, in the waiting room, one patient abruptly informed another patient that Friday the 13th superstitions were based on the execution of the Templars. He also insisted most people don’t know that. Hasn’t everyone heard that story? Maybe it’s just a historyContinue Reading
For a long time, I often abbreviated Christianity and Christmas to Xtianity and Xmas in class for no better reason than it was quicker. Then, one day, I had a student complain the spelling was anti-Christian. This student had been a semester-long pain in the ass (accusing me of workingContinue Reading
The TV show Cosmos has managed to not offend me for several weeks, and this last episode certainly didn’t offend, it merely annoyed. In its introduction to our understanding of the stars, host Neil deGrasse Tyson discusses a variety of myths surrounding constellations, particularly about the Pleiades. Among the ancientContinue Reading
Back when I worked for About.com, I made a blog post debunking some of the common myths about Easter’s connection with pagan beliefs. It gained, by far, the most comments of any post, and every year the post must show up in search engines, because I always got a newContinue Reading
Oh, Valentine’s Day, how you don’t make any sense. Valentine’s Day comes from the Catholic Feast of St. Valentine, but even that holiday is problematic. There are at least three early saints with that name, and it’s not clear which one Feb. 14 was meant to celebrate. The Orthodox ChurchContinue Reading
Three times a year – Easter, Halloween, and Christmas – I find myself assaulted by claims of how Christian practices and beliefs were entirely cobbled together from pagan sources. There are filters I put on certain searches in order to limit my annoyance, but I still run into them. First,Continue Reading