@revelette,
revelette wrote:
As just a side note: Christmas is not biblical so it can't really be a "Christian Holiday." The only day we are told to observe is the first day of the week to "break the bread" and "take of the cup" in memory of Jesus's death (not birth) and that is by example in the NT and was something Jesus himself told his disciples to do. You would think if it was important to celebrate his birth, something would be said or shown in the NT about it. So all those getting all twisted up about people taking Christ out of Christmas are confused because you can't take Jesus Christ out of something He was never into in the first place.
This is an interesting point, but I don't think it really matters though whether or not the Bible calls for the birth of Christ to be celebrated by his followers.
If it did, the folks who wish to
take Christ out of Christmas (for lack of a better term) wouldn't defer to Christians and accept public displays that recognize the religious aspect of the holiday.
On the other hand, I don't think Christians need their holy book to tell them they must or should celebrate the birth of their God. If Jesus had prohibited such a celebration, it would be a different story.
Christmas celebrations vary in tradition, even among so-called Christian nations, but we need not think about how the holiday is celebrated outside of our shores. For the most part, any war that is being waged against Christmas, is being fought in America.
Whether it’s a full blown war or a silly skirmish what is at stake is tradition not religion. I don't believe the majority of people who want to keep Christ in Christmas feel this way because doing so assists the evangelical imperative for conversion.
Christmas is a big deal for most Americans, and most Americans are Christians.
Even those who consider Jesus a legendary figure rather than a manifestation of God are comfortable with the Christ story being part of Christmas, and feel that is as integral as Santa Claus to the holiday. I don't believe the first Thanksgiving celebration involved Pilgrims and Indians sharing pork and corn, but I would be irritated if someone insisted on removing that image from the modern version.
I can appreciate that some people feel very strongly about the need to keep church and state separate, and I certainly don't want to see any faith, let alone Christianity, recognized as the official state religion of the US, but a Nativity scene in a town square doesn't recognize or advance a state religion nor does it pose a real threat to the free choice of non-believers.
Most of the battles in this war involve an individual or small group of individuals insisting that a majority alter their traditions. This is never going to sit well with the majority, particularly when they cannot see how the individual is being harmed. More often than not, when I listen to the individual who is protesting Christ in Christmas I hear anger and bitter spite. This may be unfair, but it’s my experience.
And it's not just religious symbols and expressions that are under fire.
Just the other day, a Chase bank in the town in which I live removed a Christmas tree from its lobby because someone complained that it was offensive.
A Christmas tree is offensive?!
On a radio show, the host invited those who felt a Christmas tree was offensive to call in. The first woman who called in was Jewish and moved to the US from Israel. Her problem with Christmas trees had nothing to do with religion. She just though they were garish and distasteful. She recounted that she first entered the country during the Christmas season and she remembers all of the Christmas trees and decorations she found in the airport. She found them excessive and offensive. "If you came to Israel," she told the host, “You would never see such an ostentatious display." She did say, though, that she would not have complained to the bank.
The second caller made a less than memorable argument that a Christmas tree might make someone from a different culture feel uncomfortable, although he would not have complained to the bank.
I don't believe that there is anything like an organized war being waged against Christmas, but there are a lot of petty kooks who are being indulged.
