In the midst of the ominous omicron spread, as well as ominous judicial and political developments, it’s more important than ever for the Freedom From Religion Foundation, its membership and freethinkers to work for reason to prevail.
As FFRF principal founder Anne Nicol Gaylor noted in her Winter Solstice statement years ago, in challenging nativity scenes in governmental buildings, “At this Season of the Winter Solstice, May Reason Prevail. There are no gods, no angels, no devils, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”
But despite religion’s unfortunate hold on our society, including the destructive role true believers have played in fighting rational mitigation of the Covid-19 pandemic, there is still much to celebrate. The end of the year in the Northern Hemisphere is the time to hunker down, gather with family and friends as safely as possible, feast, exchange gifts and well wishes, and usher in the natural New Year, as our pagan ancestors have done for millennia.
FFRF Co-President Dan Barker once took a page from Christian appropriation of pagan celebrations and rewrote the words of a Christmas carol to explain the real reason for the Winter Solstice season. (By the way, the words are running as a full-page ad on Dec. 25 in the Wisconsin State Journal, in FFRF’s hometown of Madison, Wis.):
Solstice Tribute
By Dan Barker
May be sung to “O Little Town of Bethlehem”
O, shining star of solstice time, your radiant hours are few:
You turn and strike the New Year’s chime —
We owe our lives to you.
These darkest days of winter, we miss your warming rays;
But every year this hemisphere returns to brighter days.
In olden days the human face has feared your warmth would die.
The evergreen is ever seen as hope we will survive.
O, ancient drums stop beating, and superstitions fall!
It’s time for Reason’s Greetings, for peace, goodwill to all.
We at the Freedom From Religion Foundation send our very best wishes for a restorative Winter Solstice break and a bright New Year. FFRF’s Forward 2021 Awardee Gloria Steinem noted at FFRF’s recent convention why she is a “hope-a-holic.” As she explained, hope is the first step toward action. Hopelessness gets us nowhere. So please take time at the end of the astronomical year to let your wells fill up again, so that in 2022 we can work even harder for reason to prevail, knowing that there can be no true peace on earth and goodwill toward all until our government and social policies are free from religion.
