38,000

Thirty Eight Thousand. That's how many denominations of Christians there are in the world today: thirtyeight thousand (38,000)

I ran across this little factiod as I was looking on Wikipedia for a list of Christian denominations. You can see the wiki article here.

I can't remember why I was looking up that information. I got rather side tracked by that rather large number: thirtyeight thousand. I was expecting somewhere in the neighborhood of thirty to fifty not a number one thousand times larger than that.

And all of this got me to thinking and wondering.

That's 38,000 different interpretations of the same text.

How would one know which is the "right" interpretation?

What happens if one chooses the "wrong" interpretation?

Widening that thought out to encompass all of the religions of the world, how would one know that one's religion was the "right" one?

Is it possible that the reason there are so many different religions in the world is to suit the many different personalities of humans so that the individual follows the doctrine that works the best for them?

And isn't it really ridiculous to argue over which way is "right" and which way is "wrong"?

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays! And so begins the annual whinging about local businesses and governments wishing people "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." I really don't get why this is such a big problem.

Looking back through Christmas cards received over the years the following are traditional Christmas greetings:
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Season's Greetings
Happy Holidays
Peace on Earth, Good will to men
Joy to the World

Very rarely have I received a Christmas card that only wished me a Merry Christmas. Happy New Year is usually included in the greeting. Originally Happy Holidays was a shortened version of "We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year." Now it encompasses all the religious holidays that fall in December.

This is also the season when Christians should be spreading the message of peace on earth, good will to men, and joy to the world. I don't see how demanding that businesses and government institutions only post "Merry Christmas" and ignore the holidays of non-christians is in keeping with that mandate. In fact, it seems rather churlish to me to insist that Happy Holidays which includes everyone be replaced with Merry Christmas which excludes non-christians. It just doesn't seem like a very Christian thing to do to not wish your Jewish friends and neighbors a Happy Hanukkah.

Peace on Earth
Good will towards all humans regardless of what religion they practice