BIRTHDAYS: ORIGIN

Are you aware that birthday celebrations have a "pagan" origin? 5000 years ago, birthday celebrations were unknown anywhere on earth.

It all started in Egypt. The earliest mention of a birthday was around 3,000 B.C., and it was mentioned in reference to a pharaoh's birthday. Further study implies that this was not their birth into the world but their “birth” as a god.

This accounts for the reason the early Christians did not celebrate the birthday of Jesus. Birthdays were, at the time, not only unusual but also "pagan."

With the introduction of the celebration of Christmas in the 4th century, Christians began to celebrate their own individual birthdays. Today, birthday celebrations have spread.

The fact remains that there is hardly anything we celebrate or practice today that is not rooted in ancient tradition, or what many call "paganism."

That is why I shake my head in disbelief each time I hear our people talking as if Christians and traditionalists are in a war.

I even hear some of our Christians asking traditionalists to stop using cars, phones, etc. since these products were not produced by our ancient tradition.

If we shall go by this argument, Christians should also stop celebrating birthdays, wearing rings, participating in the Olympic games, using calendars, numbers, etc. because all these have pagan origins. The word "God" has even a pagan origin.

The truth is that arguments like this are only heard in societies where education and society have collapsed. You will never hear such arguments in a functional society. Imagine the branch of the tree quarreling with the roots, or vice versa.

Someone recently asked me to choose my stand, either with the traditionalists or the Christians. I asked him to send me a map with a demarcation of where our Christians and traditionalists live. I have not heard from him till now.

The truth is that we are one. We need each other, irrespective of our belief differences. Life is a continuum. History is a single unit with different epochs. 

That energy we use to fight ourselves over belief differences could be used to find a way to end the child trafficking and prostitution that are ravaging our land. Let's stop dissipating our energy for trivialities. Yes, we can correct each other without fighting.

Any day your society begins to function, you will discover that no one will care again what the other believes. The essence of every religion and tradition in general is to create a world where peace, freedom, security, justice, progress, and brotherhood will reign. 

Remember, without a functional government, none of these can be achieved. Our real enemies, therefore, are those who make the development of a functional political system impossible.

Fada Angelo Chidi Unegbu