Offended by Christmas?

For the record, I know athiests who celebrate Christmas. I also know Muslims and Jews who celebrate it. It's really only a Christian holiday in name these days.

0 Replies

material girl wrote:

Its Christmas, its our time to celebrate.

I for one have no problem with anybody else celebrating their religions, as long as they done tell me I cant celebrate mine!!!

How dare they be offended, if they are they can stop celebrating their religions as Im offended by them!!!

Screw the Jews and Hanukkah! Is that what you are saying? They can celebrate but only behind closed doors because this is OUR holiday season!

Do you see how ridiculous you sound?

Well, Jesus was a Jew, how's that one for ya? So, you might want to consider celebrating Hanukkah instead because after all, Jesus probably did.

0 Replies

material girl wrote:

Its Christmas, its our time to celebrate.

I for one have no problem with anybody else celebrating their religions, as long as they done tell me I cant celebrate mine!!!

How dare they be offended, if they are they can stop celebrating their religions as Im offended by them!!!

Do all other religions offend you, or just the non-Christian ones? There are many braches of Christianity, after all.

0 Replies

Christmas never was a christian holiday. It was originally a day sacred to the very popular Mithraic cult in the Roman empire. The Long Parliament in England in the 17th century sat on December 25th, and commented that it is just another day, and that any references to the birth of the putative Savior were specious, that it's a pagan holiday. The Puritans of Massachusetts not only did not celebrate the day, they preached against it from the pulpit. More hilarious still however, is this page at "exposing satanism dot com."

The Jesus Freak wrote:

The Christmas celebration as we know it today, is clearly pagan in origin, that is it has Satan's prints all over it. When researching it anyone can see it is clearly not a Christian holiday.

You just cannot beat the religious wingnuts for comic relief . . .

0 Replies

Setanta wrote:

Christmas never was a christian holiday. It was originally a day sacred to the very popular Mithraic cult in the Roman empire. The Long Parliament in England in the 17th century sat on December 25th, and commented that it is just another day, and that any references to the birth of the putative Savior were specious, that it's a pagan holiday. The Puritans of Massachusetts not only did not celebrate the day, they preached against it from the pulpit. More hilarious still however, is this page at "exposing satanism dot com."quote]

You're right, it was stolen. No one's denying that. But it has become a Christian holiday through the years. Now it's being viewed as such, that's for darned sure, and that's why this whole debate is raging.

0 Replies

I'd be guessing that xmas in america was never a religious holiday (except within the catholic church) A lot of things xmas is but religious among the protestants it ain't.

0 Replies

i'm not christian, DavidH, and I (along with many others) don't see it as purely christian holiday. it is one that christians and non-christians happen to share. which is actually rather nice when you think about it.

0 Replies

Christmas-
Christian festival celebrated on December 25, commemorating the birth of Jesus.

December 25 had already been identified by Sextus Julius Africanus in AD 221 as the day on which Christmas would be celebrated, and it was celebrated in Rome by AD 336. During the Middle Ages Christmas became extremely popular, and various liturgical celebrations of the holiday were established. The practice of exchanging gifts had begun by the 15th century. The Yule log, cakes, and fir trees derive from German and Celtic customs. Christmas today is regarded as a family festival with gifts brought by Santa Claus (see St. Nicholas). As an increasingly secular festival, it has come to be celebrated by many non-Christians.

Not sure if this will help, but here it is straight from the Encyclopedia Britannica.

0 Replies

dagmaraka wrote:

i'm not christian, DavidH, and I (along with many others) don't see it as purely christian holiday. it is one that christians and non-christians happen to share. which is actually rather nice when you think about it.

I'm not Christian, either, but the fact remains that this has been a traditionally Christian holiday, at least traditionally as defined by my post from the encyclopedia, and that is why this whole thing started.

0 Replies

I say it's a wonderful soltice festival. Ya can't get nekkid and cavort as one does for the summer solstice (at least, not in most of North America), so all the trappings are welcome expressions of immoderate gluttony and hilarity . . .

0 Replies

well, encyclopedias don't own the truth either. what you posted is partial information. in the middle ages, while christmas might have been becoming popular, it was nowhere near widespread. pagan winter solistice rites were hard to uproot, that's why church used them instead of tried to convince people to give them up. but christmas as a christian holiday surely wasn't the usus until recently in history - one or two hundred years back.

plus, am i reading some other definition than you posted? yours says:

Quote:

Christmas today is regarded as a family festival with gifts brought by Santa Claus (see St. Nicholas). As an increasingly secular festival, it has come to be celebrated by many non-Christians.

...so where does the conclusion about it being a traditionally christian holiday come from? neither history nor current practice supports that claim.

0 Replies

i mean.... not to be misread - of course for many people it is christian holiday. and that is jolly fine by me. let's just not generalize is all...

0 Replies

well, y'all just don't understand that the Fir tree is symbolic of jesus birth in a stable, jeeesh man it's symbolic and that's why it's not in the OT, things changed with the NT, including Fir trees, and Elves.

0 Replies

and Scotch Pine as well, it's so obvious to those that will see.

0 Replies

dagmaraka wrote:

but christmas as a christian holiday surely wasn't the usus until recently in history - one or two hundred years back.

...so where does the conclusion about it being a traditionally christian holiday come from? neither history nor current practice supports that claim.

Does one or two hundred years not go back far enough to define tradition? If not, how far back must one reach to call something "traditional"? Yes, there have been pagan rituals around for longer than the Christian version of the celebration. But the Christian one has gained so much steam that it is now the more well known of all the views of the holiday season. Not necessarily the right one, but the more well known.

0 Replies

Friday, December 9, 2005

Legislator irked over 'holiday tree'

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SPOKANE -- A state legislator is unhappy that some seasonal greenery in Olympia has been designated the "Capitol Holiday Kids' Tree."

Gov. Christine Gregoire should declare the 30-foot noble fir in the Legislative Building a Christmas tree and post "Merry Christmas" signs nearby, Rep. John Ahern, R-Spokane, said Wednesday on talk radio, urging listeners to call the Governor's Office.

"We're a Judeo-Christian nation. Of course we should have 'Merry Christmas' on signs there," he said. "Our Constitution guarantees us freedom of religion, not freedom from religion."

The tree is named by the Association of Washington Business, which organizes an annual tree-lighting and gift drive for needy youngsters.

"It's the state's unofficial Christmas tree," association president Donald Brunell said. "It was not set up to be a poster child for talk radio."

The designation dates from about 1990, when some lawmakers objected to calling it a Christmas tree, "so we said OK, to be inclusive for everybody, we'll call it the Capitol Holiday Kids' Tree," Brunell said.

Gregoire is not about to rename the tree, but "she has a Christmas tree in her office and in her home," a spokeswoman said.

Quote:

0 Replies

O, tannenbaum...
Calling on Gov. Christine Gregoire to "get in the Christmas spirit," state Rep. John Ahern is demanding that the 30-foot Noble fir erected in the statehouse rotunda be officially declared a Christmas Tree.

The tree, grown on the slopes of Mt. St. Helens by Weyerhaeuser foresters, was dubbed "The Capitol Holiday Kids' Tree" in a proclamation last week. (In case you missed it, Friday was actually the state's official Capitol Holiday Kids' Tree Day.)

"It's all right to acknowledge that Christmas is coming," Ahern, R-Spokane, said in a press release sent out to reporters this week. Unhappy that "there is no evidence in or around the tree that it is connected to Christmas," Ahern also wants to see a sign posted nearby wishing viewers a merry Christmas.

Ahern, a Spokane Republican, is also calling on residents to phone Gregoire and demand a name change for the tree.

"Let's all get in the Christmas spirit," he said.

But the tree wasn't named by Gregoire, according to spokeswoman Althea Cawley-Murphree. The annual statehouse tree-lighting is organized by the Association of Washington Business, she said. The language in Gregoire's official proclamation -- and hence the tree's name -- were lifted directly from AWB's request, Cawley-Murphree said. Despite Ahern's request, there are no plans to rename the tree.

Gregoire herself is no stranger to Christmas. She attends a Catholic church in Olympia regularly. And she's also no stranger to Christmas trees.

"The governor wanted me to point out that she has a Christmas tree in her office and in her home," Cawley-Murphree said.

Quote:

0 Replies

Bella Dea wrote:

material girl wrote:

Its Christmas, its our time to celebrate.

I for one have no problem with anybody else celebrating their religions, as long as they done tell me I cant celebrate mine!!!

How dare they be offended, if they are they can stop celebrating their religions as Im offended by them!!!

Screw the Jews and Hanukkah! Is that what you are saying? They can celebrate but only behind closed doors because this is OUR holiday season!

Do you see how ridiculous you sound?

Well, Jesus was a Jew, how's that one for ya? So, you might want to consider celebrating Hanukkah instead because after all, Jesus probably did.

ERM,NO!!!!

Thats not what I said at all!!!
What I was trying to say was we all have different religions and we should all celebrate them without anybody saying it offends them.
If someone says my religion offends them and I should not celebrate it by saying happy Christmas to people, or decorating a tree then its only fair to say their religion offends me and they should stop doing whatever it is that they do.

It just seems that Christians are being unfairly treated by other religions because they feel like they have been the unheard/suppressed minority for years.
If its not fair for other religions to be treated badly why is christianity being practically abolished just incase it offends somone??!!

I say celebrate all religions!!!

0 Replies

I say celebrate all religions!!!
Seems fair enough, on the other hand, I say ban all religions.
Another thought, if xmas is a religious holiday doesn't that make it a violation of the constitution to make it a federal holiday?

0 Replies

material girl wrote:

ERM,NO!!!!

Thats not what I said at all!!!
What I was trying to say was we all have different religions and we should all celebrate them without anybody saying it offends them.
If someone says my religion offends them and I should not celebrate it by saying happy Christmas to people, or decorating a tree then its only fair to say their religion offends me and they should stop doing whatever it is that they do.
.....
If its not fair for other religions to be treated badly why is christianity being practically abolished just incase it offends somone??!!

I say celebrate all religions!!!

No one is saying YOU can't say what you want. We are saying that public domains should not be decorated with Christmas/Christian stuff. Decorate your tree and lay out the nativity but keep it off the lawn of the court house.

Why do you people think we are trying to get rid of Christmas or pick on the Christians? Seriously. Get a grip and open your eyes. We are saying that Christmas isn't the only holiday and therefore shouldn't be the only one that is publically displayed.

0 Replies

Offended by Christmas?

Related Topics

Quick Links

My Account

able2know