since when is christmass a religions event?

[Vault101]

alright this is somthing that bugs me,

aparently...if your not christian...you dont celebrate christmas? is this an american beliife or somthing?

anyway let me exaplain

now I dont actually know if chrstmases origins were christian Im a VERY sure it actually wansnt, I know baby jesus didnt have his birthday on the 25th of decenmber..and I think christians "stole" the date to compete with another festival

but that aside....

as far as Im concerned christmas thease days generally has nothing to do with religion..no really, my family is not religous....most of Australia is not religous and we (and I imagine alot of Australia) celebrate christmas.....(aside from going to mass of coase)

you know what christmas is? its a comercial holiday, its the itme of year when kids get presesnts, and its the itme of yeah adults stress out, put up with family or eat/drink themelfs into oblvion (or all three)

last time I checked jesus hardly had anything to do with it aside from the nativity plays we somtimes has...thats it, mostly it was about santa

 

[l3o2828]

Well, Christmas as a give a present to someone day is entirely comercial.

But christmas as a celebration of of Jesus as a figure of christianity has been going since the 4th century.
And yes, lately only the hardcore christians remember the meaning of christmas in a truly pure way.

 

[ChupathingyX]

Yes, Christmas is in fact a Christian holiday to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Ever wondered why it's called "Christmas"?

Giving presents to each other is just something that has developed over time.

 

[infohippie]

Christmas, under a variety of names, has been a religious event for at least four thousand years, probably longer. Christianity is a relative newcomer to the whole midwinter feast/celebration idea.

 

[Capt. Crankypants]

I think that I'm like a lot of other people on here, who don't care for Christmas in a religious way, but I still enjoy it. You don't have to hate the holiday because of how commercialised it is, or because of the religious side, you can, like me, just enjoy the time of year, especially in Australia, where the Summer fucking rocks, and you can have a great time at the beach or have a BBQ out by the pool in the backyard. Just have fun over the Christmas time in your own way, or, what is sometimes even better is, if you don't care for it at all, just work over Christmas-Eve/Christmas-Day/Boxing-Day, and earn yourself a huge pile of money.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Don't even try to argue that one. The kind of angry suborn people who argue that over Christmas aren't ever going to change their minds. I suppose everyone has the right to their own business but I always though that rather then demanding that the world follow your own personal views all the time shouldn't we be learning to accept the world and then enjoy our own unobstructed views in private while contributing to a more diverse pool in public?

Also, why is everyone offended by Christmas because it has Christan origins while nobody is offended by the Pegan origins of Halloween... well except some groups of Christians.

 

[Thaluikhain]

There are moves to bring it "back" to Christianity, people saying that you shouldn't call it Xmas because the a cross shaped letter couldn't have anything to do with Jesus etc

But, eh, it's a public holiday whatever your beliefs are. Except for police, every year they tell us that this year there will be more police on duty than ever.

 

[jonyboy13]

CHRISTMASS WAS CREATED BY OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST!
/Sarcasm

Christmas, under a variety of names, has been a religious event for at least four thousand years, probably longer. Christianity is a relative newcomer to the whole midwinter feast/celebration idea.

There we go.
It was even moved to fit it.

 

[Noala]

I thought it was a Pagan event, the solstice or something or other.
Not too clear on details could be wrong.

 

[Zen Toombs]

Ever wondered why it's called "Christmas"?

Pretty much this.

last time I checked jesus hardly had anything to do with it aside from the nativity plays we somtimes has...thats it, mostly it was about santa

Also, Santa is St. Nicholas, a Catholic Bishop. Just throwing that out there.

So while Christmas is often used as a secular holiday, it has a religious basis.[sup]1[/sup]

[sup]1[/sup] Yes, Christmas was stolen from the pagan Yule celebration, I know. That is still a religious basis.

 

[Angerwing]

While Christmas, name-wise, is very overtly Christian, only pedantic anuses would call an Atheist/Agnostic out for following the cultural practice. It has moved beyond religious worship, generally, and consists of a few little traditions and an embracing of the family dynamic. It's a great way to wrap up a year, and it's an excuse for people to get lots of nice new things which they wouldn't get normally. It's also really good for the economy.

The name is just a vestige of a mostly obselete religious practice.

 

[Shadowstar38]

The holiday that takes place in December was a pagan holiday. Christians, because they hate anything pagan related, turned it into their thing. It carries a certain symbol for us, but Christmas itself isnt religious.

 

[Papadam]

I am not a christian but celebrate christmas.

Because I am from Sweden and we celebrated christmas (Jul) long before the christians came here. Its not a christian event, the christians just needed to come up with something to replace the heathen festivities.

 

[kitsunefather]

The midwinter celebration was common in almost all pagan cultures, but the notion of what Christmas is comes basically from the conversion of Rome from polytheism to monotheism. They already participated in a festival in midwinter honoring a divine birth, so they redefined it as a celebration of the birth of Christ during the conversion.

As to the Christmas Tree, several northern European countries made offerings to the trees in order to ensure their rebirth come spring, and as Christianity expanded it adopted many local pagan rituals and symbols in order to more easily assimilate non-christian cultures.

 

[Drummie666]

Christmas may have begun as a christian holiday, but has been modernised into a secular, consumerist holiday. And I think we all prefer it that way.
PS, I'm an atheist and you are damn right I celebrate christmas. Christmas is fucking awesome!

 

[Giant Space Hamster]

As far as I know the original Christmas was in mid-January but got moved to December in the 19th century. You can find some Thomas Hardy referencing "new Christmas" and "old Christmas". Also I believe that the Christmas tree's where a German tradition where they would have a small pine tree on the table but in the Victorian period King George the nth (A German monarch who married queen Vic, don't quite know what his title was) brought a humongous tree to Buckingham. many people tried imitating the king (especially the rich). Then america started copying this as-well (they where still under the English monarch at the time) and that leads up to now.

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

Yes, Christmas is in fact a Christian holiday to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Ever wondered why it's called "Christmas"?

Giving presents to each other is just something that has developed over time.

Jesus was born on the census in the bible right? We checked the ancient records. Cencus's were in spring. And in fact the consus didnt ocur in 0AD, it was 5 AD or 8 BC every 13 years. Christmas is on the day it is because when christians came to england and europe they wanted to replace our filthy pagan ways with christianity. They built churches over the standing stones, pretty much every one, so when pagans went to worship a church was there instead. Then christmas was moved riiiiight next to the equinox just so they could steal it and tell the pagans they were celebrating christmas instead. It worked.

I think jesus was a real guy. I think jesus was an awesome guy in fact, one of the best men to ever live. I dont think he was born ANYWHERE NEAR the time we say he was.

 

[Ruedyn]

Christmas is fucking awesome!

Only to those who can afford it. Last year one of my nephews said "fuck you" because I didn't get him some game.

OT: yes it was a christian holiday. Now it's a comercialistic tradition.