[nitpick]The number of wise guys is not given…only that there were gifts of gold, incense, & myrrh.[/nitpick]
And while I’m at it, the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil was not an apple…and get off my lawn!
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And there were more than two of a lot of animals on the ark! Why? So Noah’s family could eat the others and still be left with two!
(I’ve had Christians swear to me that they ate a vegetarian diet on the ark. 
)
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Were the lions vegetarians? Were there enough extra zebras and such to feed Noah and the lions?
Well - it might have been…
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No, and yes.
They only had two of each kind, per the Bible. It’s just that they ate the pairs of dinosaurs…
[Breadmaker]
IT WAS A RAI-SIN!!
[/Bm]
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I understand that several vegans were consumed on that trip . . .
Well the Bible does specify 7 of the clean animals… people just forget that part.
And… that’s a theory on the extinction of dinosaurs that I’d not heard before 
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Your wrong!
(Is this supposed to have red font?)
the excitement for the holidays sort of ends after New Years. January 2 - 5 are cold and dark and gloomy, and any lingering decorations are outdated.
Disagree.
Just because other people skip Advent and start celebrating Christmas early doesn’t mean that I need to stop celebrating Christmas early.
There are two stories, that contradict each other, that are interwoven to make one text. One story says two of each animal, and the other specifies 7 pairs of each kosher animal.
…and I’m hip deep in year end valuation, so I don’t have any extra effort to spare on celebrating or admiring decorations.
All the more reason to keep decorations up imo.
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I agree. I think the reason every northern culture has a midwinter holiday that features lights is because it’s cold and dark and gloomy. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Jews are lighting a rack of candles on the new moon closest to the winter solstice. And yes, i sincerely doubt the accuracy of the non-biblical story (book of Maccabees, not accepted by the scholars into the Jewish bible) that supports that, especially the magic oil lantern and the precise date. I think it’s about people wanting lights when it’s dark.
That’s not a contradiction, in my opinion.
2 of everything, but 7 of the kosher animals seems perfectly clear to me. 
Except that’s not what the text says. Parts of the text say “two of each” and other parts say, “except for the kosher ones”.
No, not a huge biblical contradiction. But the text contradicts itself. Maybe your translation cleans that up. I dunno. I’ve read both Jewish and Christian scholarly translations that clearly include a contradiction.
To be fair, I don’t think the early Christmas celebrations featured lights. That came later. Most people seem to think that Martin Luther started the tradition in the 16th century, although I don’t think that’s universally agreed on. (Do Catholics have a different story? I know they’re pretty anti- anything to do with Luther, but they put lights on their trees. I’ve been to a lot of masses for Protestant, but that’s never come up before.) Still, it was probably sometime around there, which was over a thousand years after Christmas celebrations began, around the 4th century.
I’m sure that the dark & gloominess was a big part of the reason that someone was inspired to put candles on trees & get others to do the same though.
But it’s still a contrast from Hanukkah where the lights/candles are literally the reason for the celebration.
Well, that whole nailing stuff to the front door thing.