End Christmas as a Holiday?
POSTED BY: NewOldBrownCoat
UPDATED: Tuesday, December 2, 2025 23:28
VIEWED: 9880
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Quote:
Originally posted by citizen:
Hammer meet nail head.
Must remember that phrase. That one's fun!
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Grand High Poobah of the Mythical Land of Iowa, and Keeper of State Secrets
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Would be fine by me, except I like getting presents. The whole 'birth of Jesus' story, as everyone should know, didn't even occur in December anyway. Most theologians will freely confess that the baby jesus story was forced upon the pagans of Europe by the Catholic Church in order to unify them. Instead of celebrating the return of the SUN, we were now taught to celebrate the Son.
People love a happy ending. So every episode, I will explain once again that I don't like people. And then Mal will shoot someone. Someone we like. And their puppy. - Joss
" They don't like it when you shoot at 'em. I worked that out myself. "
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So I guess your answer is up to the individual. I am not a Christian, but I will send out cards to my friends and I will have a paid holiday from work. I suspect I am not alone in this. If they took the holiday away, I guess I would go into work. You can celebrate on the weekend. Easter is on Sunday. So make Christmas on Sunday. As has been said the 25th is an arbituary date. Since I am not in the civil service it is up to my company to grant us the time off. They don't have to give us the holiday by any law I know. Our owner wants the time off and so we get it as well. I like all the food we get from our suppliers. We really have a feast, at work, from the cookies and fruit they send us.
Traveler
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I think the answer is to just celebrate Festivus, like my history teacher says. 
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"What the world needs now is love, sweet love - it's the only thing that there's just too little of. What the world needs now is love, sweet love. No, not just for some, but for everyone."
http://richlabonte.net/tvvote - Vote Firefly!
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Heck no, Christmas is a holiday that has a little something for everyone, and by it's calender placement, can be shared by just about any belief system, from christianity to atheism and paganism, even straight avarice and consumerism, to pacifism, there's something there to appease ANY belief or philosophy.
Regardless of what one CALLS it, the holiday should remain.
It's not just a celebration of religious and moral bent, it's also a celebration of humanity and hope, something we need these days more than ever.
Peace on Earth and Goodwill to Man, indeed.
-Frem
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Thank you Yinyang. I forgot to set up my aluminum pole. Can not have a proper Festivus without the pole.
Traveler
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Another interesting topic. What an amazing and thoughtful bunch of people inhabit this 'verse.
Not a Christian - do like the idea of a shared holiday and day off work to be with family and consider the essence of the season - whether it's the birth of the Christ-child or return of the sun after the longest night. Don't like the idea of preferrential treatment though. I enjoy mystery - even tho I tend to be somewhat of a cynic (I hate that term but it does apply to some extent).
I don't know if a generic holiday would be the same - altho it would be fairer. Christians having to choose to take a day off work would probably be more of a sacrifice for the less financially well-off - as usual. Many of them work holidays now - doing what needs to be done. So I'm for keeping the holiday - call it whatever you like.
"I carried such a torch!"
Siri
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When I was eight my brother and I used to throw fits about who got the most Kool-Aid in their cup. We were so afraid that the one would get slightly bit more then the other, that my mother would get furious with us. I think back to those days and laugh, because I was eight. I don’t know what to think about the pathetic souls who actually want to get rid of Christmas because they are afraid that Christians might end up with a bit more in their cup then they do. It’s sad when you think about it.
Christmas is an ancient holiday celebrating the Winter Solstice or perhaps just celebrating the winter in general. This was particularly true in Northern Europe. Among Germans it was called Yule. The Romans had several celebrations during winter, one worshiped the God Saturn. Later during the Imperial period, December 25 was the day that was chosen to celebrate the birth of the victorious Sun God, Sol Invictus. By the Time Christianity was in place in Europe, December 25 was already being worshiped, not only as the pre-historical Winter festival, but also as the birth of the Sol Invictus. Christians, like everyone before them, adopted the Winter Festival for their own use, and December 25 became the birth of Christ . . . to Christians. In reality, Christmas is no more a Christian holiday then Halloween. Christ wasn’t really born on December 25. Throughout history there have been, and continue to be, so many different concepts applied to the Winter Festival, from the Germanic nature worship to Roman Sun worship to Christianity, and lots lots more. In the end, however, the only consistent feature is the celebration of winter.
A testament to the tenacity of religious practice, it has survived, so why should we get rid of it now? Because someone thinks that because Christians apply their own meaning to it that they’ve soiled it? Now there’s a pathetic person. Stop bitching about what other people get, take a day off work with the rest of us and enjoy the celebration of winter. If you don’t want to celebrate it as the birth of Christ, god knows there is plenty of non-Christian folklore passed down for centuries and probably even millennia to make Christmas a rich and involving experience for anyone. And if none of that strikes your fancy then do what people have been doing for thousands of years, make up something you do want to celebrate. Or just don’t apply any meaning to it, and take the day off work and sit at home and read a certain Charles Dickens story. You’ll have all the rest of the year to be a self-involved jerk constantly distressing over what everyone else gets, just enjoy this one day!
Nihil est incertius vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum.
Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system.
-- Cicero
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Don't know how it is beyond the US borders, ill-kept thought they may be, but if you cancel Christmas the US economy would collapse.
How many of us Christians would Carpe Diem anyway? My guess is the same number as do now. As was stated the folks from the lower end of the economic food chain often are forced to work holidays now and the rest would welcome a day off no matter what the reason.
Regardless of the religious connection intrinsic to the holiday as we know it now, it is full of cultural traditions that make it the richest of all the holidays. Not everyone celebrates all the different traditions and that's fine. I hate the commercialism, I hate that grown people fight over stuffed toys and "steal" out of other people's shopping carts. That's not the holiday's fault. It's message is universal. Peace. We just muck it up like most everything else we touch.
I know Hindu's who just love it. And not long ago, Neil Diamond, Barbra Streisand and Barry Manilow all made Christmas albums (Neil ended up making two I believe) and White Christmas, the one of the best selling and most often covered songs of all time, was written by Irving Berlin and there are countless other examples. There's magic there. And coming at the end of the year as it does gives us an entire week of holiday cheer as New Year's follows right on its heels.
It's okay to say Merry Christmas to a non-Christian. Why not? I wouldn't be offended by anyone wishing me a Happy Ramadan. 
Don't know the proper wish for Ramadan...I used to be uptight about that; didn't want to offend anyone. Then I realized it was bigger than that. And me? I can still celebrate the birth of the Christ Child, once a year and every day.
"Well, here I am...Does that seem right to you?"
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HummmmBugggg!!!
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