Xmas, meh. To each their own. I don't get bent out of shape about anyones route to joy or how they describe or celebrate it. I have my beliefs and traditions just as everyone does. Me, I pity the Jahova's Whitnesses, they get shit for celebrations and gatherings, poor bastards. Christmas as we all know was originally some shenanigans cooked up to end up smack dab in the middle of the current Pagan holiday of the time in a misguided attempt to smother it and bring Christianity to the forefront, this goes without argument. I can rail against the approach religion has taken in the name of Christ for a week, but suffice for now this is as far as I'm going in that direction. The idea of using the holiday to celebrate the birth of Christ and as a time of reflection on the past, present and future in the presence of loved ones where gifts are exchanged and a fallicy of a jolly old fat man in red is the benifactor of such gifts in the eyes of the small children. A fantasy time filled with lights, festivities, feasts and a sense of good tiding for all is shared, or at least this is the intent I have surmised in my half century on this rock. We need distractions like this to help us get through our lives and provide memories to carry with us throughout life to share with others. Granted, some of us are less likely to see it this way for whatever reasons they have and I assure you the pressure to perform is on when it comes to the giving part. Personally feeling that pressure myself this year but ultimately it's up to the recipient or intended recipent to accept the gift as such and not as an expected payment of sorts. Well, maybe not payment but an expectation and one of quantity. Perhaps this is a carryover of the fat man in a red suit previlent in our upbringing where the expectations of massive piles of wrapped boxes under the tree is commonplace amoungst the affluent. Bit of a ramble but I guess what I'm getting at is it's supposed to be for those who wish to celibrate it, be they whatever stripe they chose. Interesting how so many religions are competeing for this timeframe overlapping each other in a tangled web. Has it been commercialized? You bet, but that started two thousand years ago with the church and my personal favorite stockpile of riches and antiquties, The Vatican. They have amassed quite the collection. But me, I'd be happy with a card, maybe a pair of Chucks and the blessing of my family as enough and consider myself blessed. You guys can fuss about the rest. :santa_tongue: Yep, it's for them. When I was a kid I saw it as goods for good behaviours throughout the year on one hand and on the other as things given with the love of the giver seeking to bring a bit of joy into my life. I still remember that eight track Masterworks "portable" hingedinthemiddle player that weighed like forty pounds I got one year. Most of the kids are grown around here, the next crop will be grandkids and offspring from the nieces and nephews. Nothing like the joy of a kid getting something they reallyreallyreally wanted to make the day great. :santa_ok:
Total agreement, with the personal addendum that I don't cotton to anybody bashing or twisting anybody else's chosen celebration. I'm not going to wish anybody a happy FestivX or a Merry KwanzX or a Happy Xukkah. Were atheist groups howling and litigating to get public menorahs removed, I'd show them the middle finger with all the zest I show 'em for trying to do the same with nativities. If somebody doesn't celebrate the holiday, well and good. Everyone is free to abstain from others' traditions and celebrate their own. But leave other peoples' the hell alone and let them enjoy.
Christmas is a great friggin' day. I enjoy the Canadian Boxing Day as well (might as well have a second day to pick up all the mess). But really, to me it's Amazon Home Delivery month. Used to like the mall when I was a kid, but now, I'm old and grouchy and you are in my fucking parking spot, grandma.
It's one thing to be completely ignorant of history, but the fact that it's been explained to him and he's still ranting about it shows a lot.
Nope, because road signs should feature road sign shorthand. Holidays are not road signs, and there's plenty of room to write out the actual names. Unless you're setting up road signs with things like "MRRY XMS" and "HPPY HLLWN" and "HPPY NU YR" on them, and then the Freedom From Religion Foundation will sue you for being an American.
Nah, I want the social engineering rolled back. Since that's not going to happen, I'm pointing it out.
Since the abbreviation of Christ as "X" dates back to roughly the time of Jesus himself, I guess it'd be rolled back to some pre-Christian decade.
I really don't care how you celebrate this part of the year, so long as it's attached to your actual belief that is celebrated this time of year. What upsets me is the atheists' attempt to rob ONLY Christianity of their celebratory habits. It's hypocritical in most situations, because many times these are the same assholes screaming about "THEY STOLE IT FROM TEH PAGANS!!!1" And now they're trying to make Christmas a secular holiday? Not any other holiday that takes place around this same time, just Christmas. Just leave each other the hell alone, I don't understand why that's so damn difficult. If someone says Happy Hanukkah to me, I return the greeting. Kwanzaa, same thing. So on and so forth. Just let people be. Stop raving like a lunatic when someone says, "Merry Christmas." Those twisted idiots deserve every ulcer, every hemorrhoid, every heart attack they cause themselves.
In what sense is Christmas "Christian" anyway? Santa Claus, turkey, Christmas trees, mince pies and splurging on presents have nothing to do with the birth of Jesus, which itself was a total fabrication in any event.
John Castle probably also believes that Jesus was born on December 25th, that his first name really was "Jesus," and that his last name was "Christ."
It's just an abbreviation, and since it actually represents "Christ", you can't exactly whine about "Christ in Christmas" either. Your argument is baseless and invalid. Just move on already.
