Christmas without Ikkle baby Jesus?

[L00b]

So a good reason to leave things as they are then instead of some getting hot under the collar............let them who wants go to church etc go! and them as don't, go to Meadowhall etc!

After all they are both places of worship.

<...>It really is a great time of year for my family.<...>

The point of the thread is getting lost, I fear.

 

In either case (shopping for presents / family getting together), Christmas is just another excuse for the activity, not the point of it. Both can be done at any other time of year just the same.

 

Whereas, as posited in the OP, if the Christian character of the event is getting progressively dropped here, there and everywhere in traditional manifestations of it...then the point is that there is no point in holding the event anymore - because it only exists as an expression of Christian beliefs in the first place!

 

That's not getting "hot under the collar", it's just recognising the hypocrisy of it and refusing to be hypocritical. I'm not a believer, I don't go to Church or mass...but I make sure my kid knows what Christmas actually is and means (even though she's not baptised and we don't practice), and we always make the effort of going to midnight mass, to make friendly with the locals and partake in a bit of Christian spirit for the occasion. And you can't beat proper carols with a proper choir in a proper church

[SnailyBoy]

The point of the thread is getting lost, I fear.

 

In either case (shopping for presents / family getting together), Christmas is just another excuse for the activity, not the point of it. Both can be done at any other time of year just the same.

 

Whereas, as posited in the OP, if the Christian character of the event is getting progressively dropped here, there and everywhere in traditional manifestations of it...then the point is that there is no point in holding the event anymore - because it only exists as an expression of Christian beliefs in the first place!

 

That's not getting "hot under the collar", it's just recognising the hypocrisy of it and refusing to be hypocritical. I'm not a believer, I don't go to Church or mass...but I make sure my kid knows what Christmas actually is and means (even though she's not baptised and we don't practice), and we always make the effort of going to midnight mass, to make friendly with the locals and partake in a bit of Christian spirit for the occasion. And you can't beat proper carols with a proper choir in a proper church

 

So you tell your child the whole history behind 'Christmas' and the festivals that preceeded it, which made it what it is today?

[Oh Carol]

The point of the thread is getting lost, I fear.

 

In either case (shopping for presents / family getting together), Christmas is just another excuse for the activity, not the point of it. Both can be done at any other time of year just the same.

 

Whereas, as posited in the OP, if the Christian character of the event is getting progressively dropped here, there and everywhere in traditional manifestations of it...then the point is that there is no point in holding the event anymore - because it only exists as an expression of Christian beliefs in the first place!

 

That's not getting "hot under the collar", it's just recognising the hypocrisy of it and refusing to be hypocritical. I'm not a believer, I don't go to Church or mass...but I make sure my kid knows what Christmas actually is and means (even though she's not baptised and we don't practice), and we always make the effort of going to midnight mass, to make friendly with the locals and partake in a bit of Christian spirit for the occasion. And you can't beat proper carols with a proper choir in a proper church

Agreed! .......Although"Humble Swains" new CD of local carols comes quite close to it !!!

[charmer]

The point of the thread is getting lost, I fear.

 

In either case (shopping for presents / family getting together), Christmas is just another excuse for the activity, not the point of it. Both can be done at any other time of year just the same.

 

Whereas, as posited in the OP, if the Christian character of the event is getting progressively dropped here, there and everywhere in traditional manifestations of it...then the point is that there is no point in holding the event anymore - because it only exists as an expression of Christian beliefs in the first place!

 

That's not getting "hot under the collar", it's just recognising the hypocrisy of it and refusing to be hypocritical. I'm not a believer, I don't go to Church or mass...but I make sure my kid knows what Christmas actually is and means (even though she's not baptised and we don't practice), and we always make the effort of going to midnight mass, to make friendly with the locals and partake in a bit of Christian spirit for the occasion. And you can't beat proper carols with a proper choir in a proper church

 

There were festivals on the 25th December that predate Christianity. The reason Christmas exists is because celebrating a feast day on the 25th December made it easier for Christianity to supplant traditional religion in conquered lands.

 

Nothing about Christianity is original.

 

I'm glad the religious aspect of Christmas is being done away with. Hopefully fewer and fewer children will grow up believing in this ridiculously stupid myth. We should be too educated as a society for anyone to believe in such a myth.

[Oh Carol]

There were festivals on the 25th December that predate Christianity. The reason Christmas exists is because celebrating a feast day on the 25th December made it easier for Christianity to supplant traditional religion in conquered lands.

 

Nothing about Christianity is original.

 

I'm glad the religious aspect of Christmas is being done away with. Hopefully fewer and fewer children will grow up believing in this ridiculously stupid myth. We should be too educated as a society for anyone to believe in such a myth.

So educated that we as a society still murder, rape, steal, adulterate,envy etc...............all the things that Jesus Christ and no doubt those that went before him and since, tried to turn us from?

[L00b]

So you tell your child the whole history behind 'Christmas' and the festivals that preceeded it, which made it what it is today?

Without reaching universitarian levels of thoroughness and to the levels of comprehension of a smart and inquisitive 10 year old, yes.

 

Along with other celebrations of other religions (Islam, Judaism, Hinduism) on other dates.

 

No atheistic snobbism here, thanks. That's traditionally the preserve of the caviar left intelligentsia, and we try and keep as far away from that ilk as we can

Edited December 2, 2014 by L00b

[The Joker]

Simon Cowell in a manger, being visited by Ant and Dec as the wise men and the Cast of Towie instead of shepherds? Need to think about where the Kardashians fit into it all

 

The horses in the stables, or the sheep in the field. Take yer pick.

[discodown]

I am advocating that the bank holiday be deleted totally so noone, christian and non-christian will benefit from it. If you want to take it as a holiday then you can do so.

Not even Old Robert Cratchitt who works in accounts? Edited December 2, 2014 by discodown

[charmer]

So educated that we as a society still murder, rape, steal, adulterate,envy etc...............all the things that Jesus Christ and no doubt those that went before him and since, tried to turn us from?

 

What has education got to do with those things? Plus Jesus old man was the dirtiest murdering scumbag the world has ever seen. Killed nearly everyone in the world on one occasion. On another he deliberately killed the children of Egypt to punish their parents.

 

Who that has actually read the bible can fail to loathe god?

[discodown]

The point of the thread is getting lost, I fear.

 

In either case (shopping for presents / family getting together), Christmas is just another excuse for the activity, not the point of it. Both can be done at any other time of year just the same.

 

Whereas, as posited in the OP, if the Christian character of the event is getting progressively dropped here, there and everywhere in traditional manifestations of it...then the point is that there is no point in holding the event anymore - because it only exists as an expression of Christian beliefs in the first place!

 

That's not getting "hot under the collar", it's just recognising the hypocrisy of it and refusing to be hypocritical. I'm not a believer, I don't go to Church or mass...but I make sure my kid knows what Christmas actually is and means (even though she's not baptised and we don't practice), and we always make the effort of going to midnight mass, to make friendly with the locals and partake in a bit of Christian spirit for the occasion. And you can't beat proper carols with a proper choir in a proper church

But it doesn't only exist as an expression of christian beliefs. It exists because it was taken over by christians. Its no coincidence there are plenty of other festivals around the solstice. You can mention Mithras but there were other pagan and egyptian gods who had festivals around that time, also Saturnalia and Dionysia were held around that time as well.

 

Lots of religions and societies have festivals of light and feasting and social gathering in the depths of winter its in no way exclusive to christianity. Why should we abandon the idea of us doing it because we abandon the idea of a fairly recent religion that is becoming increasingly redundant to our society?