We say "Merry Christmas"
Jesus is the "Reason for the Season"
"It's not the "Holiday Season" it's the "Christmas Season". If you don't believe in Jesus you shouldn't be celebrating."
These are just a few of the things I've seen and heard in the last few weeks that are really starting to hit a nerve. Cory tells me I shouldn't let the opinions of others bother me and I try not to but it does at times.
Why do Christians in particular seem so threatened by other religions?
Why is Happy Holidays so offensive? You live in a country where there are different religions that celebrate in December. It is a time, a season of holidays. <------- See that? It's plural. Does saying Happy Holidays and being respectful of others make you believe in your God less? Does it make you believe in your God less because I don't believe in Jesus and I decorate my house and a tree and give gifts simply because it's a tradition for my family? What bothers me most is it seems okay for Christians to talk about and almost force their religion upon you but not the other way around. Personal Example: I work with a lot of fairly, if not highly, religious Christians who are not afraid to tell the world. Normally it doesn't bother me when they talk about it or send the occasional chain email. I expect people to talk about their religion to some extent as it's part of who they are.
However, most particularly at this time of year, I often get to hear little rants about who has the right to celebrate what and tend to find it insulting and a bit alienating. I've made the mistake of speaking up on occasion be it to the rant or just difference in beliefs and more often than not found myself being a) outright laughed at b) talked down to or c) ganged up on.
I don't understand it. You shouldn't have to defend your family traditions. You shouldn't have to defend your beliefs simply because it's not a belief of the majority.
To think all this started over a simple phrase that got deemed "politically correct". It stands to reason if the general public is so worried about the "Reason for the Season" they should be focusing a little more on that than going on about correct terminology.
It's suppose to be a happy,generous, peaceful time of year. Why would you not want to share that with everyone and instead spread bitterness and resentment?
Do what you love and the rest comes on it's own
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14 comment(s) so far:
I think the thing that bothers those that celebrate Christmas is the holiday name (Christmas) seems to be taken out as to not offend non-believers and other religeous traditions appear to be respected and kept in tact. I just read a blog this morning about the Menorah candles. Nobody is trying to call them Holiday Candles, they ARE Menorah candles and respected yet Christmas trees are being called Holiday trees as to not offend.
I agree, we should all be able to celebrate how we choose and nobody should have to change the name of what they celebrate for any group of people.
What? Holiday trees? That seems silly. Christmas trees are Christmas trees. Even those that aren't religious, myself included, put it up to celebrate with families on Christmas day.
I wonder who they think Christmas tree is offending?
It's an interesting time, the holidays. Everyone seems to want to claim the season for themselves, and shut everyone else out -- the complete opposite of what it's supposed to be all about.
The signs proclaiming "Jesus is the Reason for the Season" are the ones that get me the most. I feel like gently sticking a Post-It note on each one, pointing out that it's actually the Earth spinning on its axis as it goes around the Sun that's "the reason for the season." (And the other three seasons, for that matter.) :)
My faith is not Christian, but many of my traditions have been adopted as part of "Christmas." (The tree mentioned above is a great example.) And I honestly think that's wonderful. If part of my tradition and celebration brings others joy, I'm all for it!
But many people of my faith rant and rave about how the Christians have "stolen" our traditions. It seems as if every faith has its own little group with megaphones shouting, "It's ours! You can't have it! And it's better than yours! So there!"
If I know the faith of the person I'm speaking to, I wish them the appropriate greeting. If I don't know, then I say "Happy Holidays" -- not to exclude anybody or anything (as some Christians seem to interpret the fact that the word "Christmas" doesn't appear), but in order to INCLUDE everybody. Regardless of their faith, my wish for everyone is the same -- I truly wish that the holidays they are celebrating bring them love, joy, and peace.
And isn't that really what it's all about?
This is a very interesting discussion, and the "holiday trees" thing is actually a hoax. There is no movement to call them "holiday trees" that came from a bogus chain letter about the white house.
Jen....Im totally on your side. You go girl...I am keeping my traditions, adding some as I go..But Christmas is Christmas to me...Christmas Tree...Christmas stockings...Good post
Smiles
As a Christian, I have received and seen so many of those stupid chain hoaxes yelling "They're killing your religion and taking Christ out of Christmas! Save it by passing on this letter!" and it just drives me insane - I'm so blasted sick of it! Rowan had a great point above about some others griping about Christians stealing their traditions and such. But a lot of Christians are making themselves look like piffling panicking weaklings and doing a lot of damage to their reputation by spreading erroneous and bogus chain letters. I debunk and do a good deal of ranting about this on my site for Christians Breaking chain fwds, included a very monitor-burning one about the chain letter that tells Christians to mailbomb the ACLU with Christmas cards. Honestly, whoever writes these chain letters has forgotten all about what Christmas and any other holiday should be about, and all they do is try to deminish people's happiness on these holidays. 1. By getting their targeted audience (in this case, Christians at Christmas) worked up into a scared frothing frenzy so they'll spread hoaxes without question. Then that results in anti-Christian backlash, which is particularly embarrassing when Christians have let themselves get set up for it by passing on chain letter lies. I say, celebrate whatever you want and however you like to, and don't feel threatened. As long as people don't actually try to make me stop celebrating, why should I care if someone says "happy holidays"? And I am so sick of this "Jesus is the reason for the season" not for the reason Rowan mentioned, but because it crops up in just about every blasted Christmas chain letter that targets Christians and manipulates them into passing them along. Urgh, stop it already! That phrase, in fact, anything God should never be seen in chain letters in the first place as far as I'm concerned.
http://christiansbreakingchainfwds.ning.com/forum/categories/holidays-1/listForCategory
so funny, i just did an entry on this a couple weeks ago...
http://jodiekim.blogspot.com/2009/12/discovery-19.html
Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. - Frank Herbert
A fanatic is a man who consciously over-compensates a secret doubt.
- Aldous Huxley
Fear is the parent of cruelty.
- James A. Froude
This is the century of fear.
- Albert Camus
There is perhaps nothing so bad and so dangerous in life as fear.
- Jawaharlal Nehru
Fear, true fear, is a savage frenzy. Of all the insanities of which we are capable, it is surely the most cruel.
- Georges Bernanos
How very little can be done under the spirit of fear.
- Florence Nightingale
The most destructive element in the human mind is fear. Fear creates aggressiveness; aggressiveness engenders hostility; hostility engenders fear-a disastrous circle.
- Dorothy Thompson
Neither a man nor a crowd nor a nation can be trusted to act humanely or to think sanely under the influence of a great fear.
- Bertrand Russell
There's nothing I'm afraid of like scared people.
- Robert Frost
The more I traveled the more I realized that fear makes strangers of people who should be friends.
- Shirley MacLaine
I am so with you on all that you have saidxxwell done for saying it. i wrote a similar piece on one of my b logs the other week..and boy did l stir up a hornets nest from a load of religious people who were angry with me for wanting to celebrate Christmas as a family time. i am not a religous person but l am very spiritual and have nothing against any religion. So why cant we all just live in peace?!x merry Christmas to you allxx lynda
Funny you should talk about a hornets nest as I've been checking my comments half fearful of what I might receive today. I've been pleasantly surprised at the viewpoints so far.
Lol I know the feeling. I rarely get comments on my stuff, and like it when they are positive. Any rude flaming ones get shunted to the trash pretty quick. Unless they're just spam or chain letters, then I just smash them to pieces, usually ending up making myself laugh. "I'm a Christian, but don't push me" goes especially for those who try to rain on my Christmas bliss with dumb paranoid chain letters and other political stuff.
I gave away our "Christmas" tree two years ago. I might throw out some lights and a few cards here and there but the tree... well it just doesn't represent us fully. We have a Minorah this year, at my 10 yr old daughter's request. It is tho, like the tree, lacking in that it is but a symbol and still doesn't IDENTIFY us or our feelings about the "holidays". Generosity, peace, family (or not), whatever or however you celebrate doesn't necessarily have to have one single symbol. That's silly to me, and even sillier is being argumentative or militant about which symbol someone chooses, if any! Christians ARE the worst when it comes to this, in my experience, which is why I removed the damned tree in the first place! Our gifts are on the coffee table!
Jennifer, thank you for taking the time to post this. I thoroughly enjoy and appreciate you! xoxo Stacy
It's like I say, so many Christians need to get a grip, nobody's killing Christmas or our religion by simply existing and having some other occasion. Having a stink over other holidays around the same time as Christmas, sheesh, these goons might as well deny their family members who have birthdays the right to celebrate their birthdays too, for fear it takes away from Christmas. I mean, if they're going to get all paranoid about it. I'm a Christian, and I hate chain letters and happyholidayophobia.
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