since when is christmass a religions event?
- Thread starter Vault101
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As a matter of fact, what Christmas theoretically celebrates isn't even true; Jesus was born in the spring sometime (and he was probably around two by the time the wise men got there). You see, once upon a time Christians knew that you attract more people with honey than with vinegar*, and knew the value of buddying up to folks. So when the pagans were talking about their upcoming solstice feast, the Christians said "well fancy that! We have one coming up too! Why not get together and make the feast all the bigger?" Then they just kind of insinuated the religion into it, and before too long the pagan parts were out.lithium.jelly said:
*Yeah, I know, but it turns out you actually attract more flies with vinegar.
Of course "Christmas" is a religious holiday. Its right there in the name. Is it a unique holiday? Of course not. Mankind has held celebrations at the winter solstice for millennia, prior to the birth of christ. Much as christianity supplanted/subverted previous dominant solstice traditions with christmas, modern secularism is supplanting Christmas with X-mas. X-mas is the celebration of family and friendship through gift giving and communion with one another, and also protecting oneself from Robot-Santa.
Well those people must be filled with herp de derp.thaluikhain said:
From wiki: "X" comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word Χριστός, translated as "Christ"
For the same reason that when someone screws something up and they say "Fuck me" they aren't literally requesting for someone to have sex with them. Its a colloquialism. Vulgarity is in intent, not the words themselves. Thats why I am so irritated by people who say 'o dang' or 'shoot.' Your still saying 'damn it' and 'shit.' Just because the words you said vibrate on a slightly different frequency in my ears, doesn't make them less vulgar. Your still swearing, just in a profoundly stupid way.meepop said:
If i actually meant the words literally i would say 'O your god.' But I don't, so I use the culturally normal expletive.
edit: I love futurama. Its so topical!
It also has the convenient symbolism of being the default variable in mathematics. Thus indicating a 'mass' (observance) of a variable principle/personhood.aprildog18 said:
Don't really care about the religious importance of the holiday and just think it is a good excuse for family to get together, eat good food, share presents and just hang out a bit.
Not everything needs to be so complicated.
Not everything needs to be so complicated.
Thank you!Arkynomicon said:
Speaking as a christian. I don't understand what all the fuss is about. Yes CHRISTmas. The celebration is designed to celebrate the birth of Christ but, it was a holiday combined with the winter solstice festival. Christian celebrate the birth of Christ, non-Christians celebrate family and gift giving.
I would just appreciate it if atheists could respect the celebration of the birth of Christ. I've never heard a christian say that non-Christians shouldn't be celebrating Christmas but, if they do, that is WRONG and they should be ashamed.
I am aware I'm a n00b
Happy Christmas!!!
Tl;dr but
1) Of course Christmas is religious, it has the words "Christ" and "Mass" in it!
2) Although, it just so happened to replace existing Pagan festivals that were held around the same time of year.
3) I think it's perfectly possible to be an athiest (or non-christian) and still be "culturally Christian" and celebrate Christmas.
1) Of course Christmas is religious, it has the words "Christ" and "Mass" in it!
2) Although, it just so happened to replace existing Pagan festivals that were held around the same time of year.
3) I think it's perfectly possible to be an athiest (or non-christian) and still be "culturally Christian" and celebrate Christmas.
It was stolen from Pagans (like most Christian holidays).Vault101 said:
It coincides with the celebration of "Yule" and the Winter Solstice.
I find it quite odd that people even consider this a christian holiday anymore seeing as it's all about presents, santa, and spending money...
But yes. Taken from pagans.
I'm not celebrating Christmas, I'm celebrating Aengus-Is-Awesome-Mas. If you can rename a holiday, take all of it's traditions, and then claim it your own then so can I.girzwald said:
All of the arguments similar to yours fall flat when you take that into consideration.
I don't understand what you're trying to say. It's a fact that Christmas was placed on that date to interfere with the Pagan traditions of places Christianity had recently spread to. They wanted to replace Paganism, and so they tried to replace their stuff with Christian stuff and essentially force them into it. They didn't choose the 25th of December (The same date as Yule) because it's the 'happiest day of the year'.Caramel Frappe said:
You get the time off at Christmas, so they don't want to give you more time off. Pretty simple.One Hit Noob said:
Christmas was originally a druid holiday, hence the trees, sort of like how Easter was a pagan holiday (fertility festival, kind of). The Christians pretty much ripped both of the holidays off to make them more religiously acceptable.
Some astronomer actually put the birth of Jesus Christ in April.
Some astronomer actually put the birth of Jesus Christ in April.
I call bullshit....girzwald said:
1. christaina might get annoyed that comercialism had taken christmas over..somthing I can "sort of" understand BUT that does not give them anyway right to dictate how others celebrate christmas (keep in mind secular people arnt going to church, so I see now reason to be offended)
2. now work or responsibility???? what??? do you know how much effort goes into christmas? the cooking, the planning, the buying gifts, the stress? thats the thing alot of adults stress over christmas because its a big fucking deal to organise..and again I actually have no Idea what that quote has to do with religion...you think because your religious (dont know if you are but anyway) you somhow "work" harder for christmas? its that kind of self-rightiousness attotude that has NO real life relevance is what annoys me about some religious types
I am addressing it in full; it's just that you don't need to show the entire quote. I snip quotes all the time and no one ever says anything about it, it's a common internet forum/chat technique that many people do to remove the amount of space that is clogging up a page so that it runs better. I'm not snipping it as a sign of disrespect, just to simply make room.Yopaz said:
Like I said before, about 4 times;
1. I'm not trying to say that only Christians should celebrate Christmas.
2. I was just explaining why some might think it is only theirs due to the name being connected to them.
3. No that isn't all I come up with, there are other reasons which I explained.
4. I'm not even a religious person, so I don't even care. I only came on this thread to make a half-assed comment with a hint of jest. Most people ignored it; some people agreed with it, some people took it too far.
I remember in my high school government class, around Christmas time, I said I was an atheist during a discussion and this gal started asking me questions.
"How do you celebrate Christmas? Why do you celebrate Christmas? Do you celebrate holidays?"
I was thrown for a loop. I seriously didn't think that anyone actually celebrated Christmas for religion's sake.
"How do you celebrate Christmas? Why do you celebrate Christmas? Do you celebrate holidays?"
I was thrown for a loop. I seriously didn't think that anyone actually celebrated Christmas for religion's sake.
Well, then there is also the fact that Christmas is a pretty harmless celebration so I don't know why people flip their shit over it.banegirl said: