Take the "Christ" out of "Christmas"!

Oooo! That's a touchy subject, with many sides to the story. Perhaps we should be grateful we can still choose how we want to celebrate Christmas - some countries have little choice in the matter & many would love to have wonderful displays of light & sound to marvel at, but they cannot afford to do so or for political or cultural reasons. How about this: why don't you guys take a vote on it? That way you can see how many people agree with you & you don't end up upsetting everyone. It's fine to want change, but have you done a detailed cost-analysis on such an undertaking? Can your country really afford to change Christmas now? Your argument about the possibility of North America being Muslim seems odd. If I was so against Islam, why would I be in such a country in the first place? If it was a take-over process - which would be impossible as the majority of North Americans are not Muslim - I'd either leave the country, stay in my home & not support it or bring my prayer mat & go mingle with the community! From what I learned in a news interview last night, Muslims don't mind who prays with them. Many Christians argue that Christmas, as we celebrate today, bears little resemblence to the old pagan festival anyway & that Christianity has added many aspects to it that many of us now take for granted. Both sides are more than a little upset that Christmas isn't done how they would like it, but rather than being picky, it would be better to accept that it is a festival that aims to lift the spirits of the general population through a variety of means & has come to mean something special to a lot more people than just Christians alone. Merry Christmas to all! http://www.florinstreet.com/

Let's take the secular greed out of what is a Christian festival all the best urban

hi and I have the opposite complaint we have bent over backwards trying to please the Atheists but its to us Christians Christmas'and its not just because society says this or that, but because we 'do believe in C hrist and God; I also live in the US and am an American and a Christian. so you go celebrate it the way you wish and I will go and celebrate it the way I believe. Atheists 'seem to me to be too easily offended. Why not just respect us as we respect your right to not believe? Why be offended? its one day out of the year after all. Happy Holidays in my 'opinion stinks.And honestly I hate religious discussions as people cannot just compromise they have to insult and degraqde obe'itger even atheists ought not to insult and degrade people who do'believe in God.

One of the things that sets the USA apart from some other countries is that we have the freedom to celebrate the season any way we choose (as long as we're not breaking any laws). We also have the freedom to wish each other whatever compliments of the season we wish and we can play the type of music we choose. We both know that there will always be someone who will be offended by others exercising their freedoms. What can one say but, "Lighten up Francis" (from the movie "Stripes").

I know Christmas is a very important holy day for Christians and to be honest, the holiday itself has been put together by the catholic church - over the years - with a bunch of pagan rituals tied together in that one holiday season. I'm a Messianic Jew and I can understand the pagan tradition. But I'm also looking at it from another angle, that it's one of the most stressful times of the year. I wish they'd just ban the holidays because of the commercialism and mayhem shopping, plus it's very hard on a lot of people financially and emotionally. I just don't even want to hear the word christmas because of bad memories when I was growing up as a kid. If the mainstream Christians want to celebrate Christmas as a holy day, then they should just set aside December 25th as a day to go to church, or observe it on the Sunday closest to dec 25.

Why celebrate it at all? Like you mentioned in your discussion this holiday is not a bible based holiday and has nothing at all to do with Jesus because it's be proven that it was impossible for Jesus to be born around this time of year. You say you like getting together with your family well why wait for a special day to do that? Why not get together a few times throughout the year? Why not surprise each other by getting each other gifts for no other reason then the fact that you love and appreciate each other? To me a gift coming from the heart would have way more meaning then getting a gift from someone just because they are forced by tradition to buy gifts just because they are SUPPOSED to around this time of year.

I'm in the states and I'm not a Christian either. Still I grew up in the Catholic religion at a time when a majority of the people here that celebrated Christmas, were in fact religious. We were taught that it was a celebration of the birth of Christ as well as a family holiday. I don't understand what is so offensive about someone else's religion. We do have Muslims here and in some places tons of them. I forget where it was that they block traffic every single day for their prayer time. The Jewish have Honukaa. I would not be a bit offended by their music or celebration. Actually here in the States, religious displays are not allowed in schools or public places. The music you listed does play but come on...it's traditional Christmas music. There are also many non-religious songs in amongst them. Like I said, I'm not even Christian and none of this stuff offends me and I fail to see why it would anyone. Christmas is a beautiful holiday and means something different for everyone. For me, it would not be worth creating an argument over. What I find offensive is when the Jahova's knock on my door on Christmas morning and interrupt my time with my family. And even at that...not enough to make a huge big deal about it.

I do not understand your problem. Christmas is a traditional time of celebration in the northern hemisphere that predates Christianity and involves many different religions and since it is connected with the seasons and anyone who in the past relied on agriculture to keep themselves and their families alive. So you can celebrate it in any way you wish and so can everyone else. Why not? If the shops find putting up decorations and images and playing carols increase their sales well good luck to them. Why not calm down and enjoy the holiday without trying to spoil other peoples enjoyment

Well Christop,if you are offended about the Christ in Christmas, I wonder why you never thought of removing first the Christ in your very name? Aren't you offended by your very name? Don't you think your name is the very evidence that you can never really remove Christ in your life because you are bearing the name of God you seem to so despise? If you can't remove the Christ in your name, then how can can you even suggest removing Christ from Christmas? Why don't you just remove the Christ in your name instead of thinking of taking out the Christ in Christmas which is highly impossible and can never happen at all? . Why mind about "Silent Night" and "Come All ye Faithful" which talk about Christ and yet you don't seem to mind your name is bearing Christ just the same??? Well man... just like you, the world is confused about what Christmas really is. They believe Christmas is just all about lights, money, gifts, parties, food, fun, decorations and all that satisfy their flesh. Just like you...many people don't know that Christmas is about Jesus who satisfy not the flesh but the soul of men. If you do believe Christmas is just like any other ordinary occasion where you throw parties, gather together, eat, drink, and have all sorts of fun, then I do fully understand why you don't enjoy all the Christmas hymns you hear around. Only a soul that has found full satisfaction in Jesus can ever appreciate these hymns that talks about the Savior. You are like a person who goes to a birthday party to enjoy all the fun but wouldn't want to hear any songs that speak about the birthday celebrator. You want to take advantage of the food and the fun but you never wanna recognize the main reason for such.What does that make of you? December 25 is not exactly the date when Jesus was born,(nobody really know the exact date after all),nevertheless the day when Jesus was born is the noblest event in the history of mankind. So if December 25 which we call Christmas is the chosen date for the celebration of Christ's birth, taking out Christ from the name of this day does not make sense at all and those who wanna take out Christ from this day are not even qualified to partake anything in this holy celebration. The very essence of Christmas is Christ, His coming to earth, His birth which gave mankind the hope for redemption. All the celebrations that people around the world do for Christmas is in vain if they don't really do it for Christ. If they decorate their house, light their Christmas tree, prepare bountiful meal, gather around as family, give gifts, play Christmas carols, etc. yet they don't really do these to celebrate Christ, then they are just like pagans. Taking out Christ from Christmas is a proposal only a fool can ever do. Just as Psalm 14:1 says "The fool has said in his heart there is no God..."

This is a touchy subject. As someone who grew up Catholic in a country where mostly are Christian... i grew up believing in Christmas - all revolves around Christ being born this month and all. But of course as i grew up and learned that its just a facade, made up by the Vatican i believe.. or those in the Catholic circle. I've learned that some "rituals" like putting up a Christmas tree is also pagan way..also the star symbols..but then why do i still put up a tree in my home? put a star on it? put a manger below even though i know Jesus can't be born in this month because it is winter and must be freakin cold for a baby to be born in a manger at this time...but why? well because like you have said, its family time for me. Its part of what i love about Christmas, i get to share it with my children.. maybe later on they will learn about true facts of it..but for now, we love the feeling of Christmas and i will still celebrate it nonetheless.

Well, I'm a Christian and not celebrating Christmas because that is a pagan practice and that practice is not on the bible... As a Church of Christ...we do not practice anything which not base on the bible. That Christmas celebration is not practice of true Christian, they are baseless and not found in the bible. As you said that is a pagan practice which Catholic Church inserted to their doctrine. I respect and appreciate their belief...and hope they can read the bible carefully to understand what Christ mean to be...

Here in my country Singapore we have national holidays for 4 main religions, Christians, Muslims, Hindus and Taoists. I am a Muslims when it is not my time to celebrate, it is perfectly ok for others to celebrate. The non Muslims say Happy Eid to us and we say Merry Christmas to those who are Christians, Happy Chinese new year to Toaists and Happy Deepavali to Hindus. I think for those who dun beleive in God, why not choose Labour Day to hold your gatherings? I think Singapore has the fewest holidays in the world so any holiday is great fun for families to gather.

I totally disagree. My family makes sure we take time out and spend it going over Christ birth and what it means to us. I challenge everyone to take take out this season with your family and celebrate Christ's birth. Forget all the things like, it is proven he could not have been born on that day. We may not know the exact day he was born on, but this is the day that has been chosen to celebrate. So try to celebrate it. I am sadden that it has gotten so commercialized. I may challenge our family to celebrate Christ's birth without presents or any of the commercialism points next year, but to make it a true spiritual experience. That would be cool. And yes, one of the important parts of the christian religion is doing things with your family. Families are an essential part of the gospel of Jesus Christ And to take time out and celebrate his birth with our families is special. Parents need to be sitting down with their children and discussion what Christ birth means to them. Parents need to let the children know how important Christ is in their lifes.

I basically agree with you, Christoph. The term "christmas" as they call it should instead be called "winter equinox" as the celebration just disguises itself to be a Christian festivity but the truth is otherwise. Actually, there is really no Christ from the Christmas as they celebrate it. Even Christ of the Bible and His apostles DID NOT celebrate HIS birth, but pagan rulers at that time did celebrate their birthday. In fact, it was one of these birthday celebrations that John the Baptist was beheaded. The Nativity account of the Bible indicates a season other than winter as it is taught by catholic tradition when it picked December 25 because: 1) a wise and reasonable ruler would not order a national census/registration at such a terrible season; 2) a wise king would not abandon his kingdom and took on a journey along with two other kings without bringing along a legion of soldiers on the way; and 3) wise shepherds would not tend their sheep outside in the cold. Sadly many people were so illogical and unreasonable that they have not thought of these arguments and opted to celebrate something founded on lies.

Yes it is true it is so easy to celebrate Christmas Without Christ. In fact I do . I'm the only Jew in a Christian family. For me it is all about playing Santa's little helper and surprising my family with stuff they want.Not about a Baby Jesus.

Because it's North America and the Christian religion is the predominant religion in these parts? Christmas is whatever we make of it. You can celebrate the birth of Jesus, goodwill towards men, family togetherness, or all of the aforementioned at once. I don't even believe in Jesus and I incorporate his birth into my Christmas celebration. I say we say whatever we want. Instead of soiling ourselves in outrage over semantics, we focus on the meaning instead. Happy Holidays. Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah. Happy Kwanza. Happy Birthday. We should ask ourselves why we get offended over such trivial issues rather than asking what's the proper greeting for this holiday season. What's more important in the end, what you mean, or what you say? Isn't the thought supposed to count for something here?

In the first place you are named Christoph...let's say we take the CHRIST out of your name! so you would be OPH! have a good Mas!

First of all, I'm grateful I live in America. I'm Christian, and I don't quite care how Christmas started, regardless of whether it started out as a pagan ritual or not. I don't care for Christmas as it is because it is such a materialistic holiday at the present time. I could be offended that others celebrate Christmas, whether they do it because they are celebrating the coming of Christ or because of ancient pagan rituals or because they worship the credit card society we've become. However, I don't go looking for things to offend me. I live and let live, and being "offended" is simply not something that happens to a person unless they let it, and also only if they care enough about what other people are doing and for what reasons. I want to live my own life, and I think I should be able to, just like anyone else. Let's say that over time, America turned into a Muslim society. I wouldn't care. Why? Because each and every individual has the right to believe in what they want, so long as America stays true to its forefathers beliefs, the ones that were crucial to creating the substance of this country. As of right now, the majority of Americans have stated they believe in a higher power (regardless of whether or not that is God or Allah or the Great and Powerful Spaghetti Monster is irrelevant). Let's say that paganism is the reason we celebrate on December 25--and I'm all for believing that as well as for Halloween, but I have to admit I haven't researched it--and let's also say that it's the same day a Christian family wants to celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ, regardless of whether that specific day can be "proven"...why shouldn't they be able to? Let's say that for some reason I don't know my birthday, and I were to choose a day of the year that I could remember and celebrate it; if that day was already taken by someone else's birthday, or some other important event, should I be prevented from making that day my own holiday? No...it's America. In thirty years, perhaps Christmas will be known as "God Doesn't Exist Day!" Would that bother me? No. I will still pray and be spiritual in my own home. Why should I care what the holiday is called by the atheist down the street? Why in the world would I take the time and energy to be offended? I have so many better things to do! On a last note...I'm not attacking you. I respect your atheism just as I expect respect for my choice of beliefs, and you have every right to have your beliefs based on nature, nuture, research, opinion, and experiences just as I and every other person on the earth. At the same time, the "politically correct" society we live in needs to grow some (insert explicit anatomy term here). Calling December 25 "Christmas" is only irking you because you let it. I used to avoid celebrating Valentine's Day because it was a Hallmark type holiday, but then I realized I needed to grow up and stop nit-picking things just to make them less fun. You can call Christmas whatever you want, because you can in this beautiful (if teetering on its building blocks) country. I will still call it Christmas, because that's what it has always been to me. As a Christian, I'm thankful for the coming of Christ 365 days a year and feel I don't need an individual day, so regardless of its name, I still won't be celebrating by wasting my retirement money on things people never needed anyway. How does that celebrate anything but retailers? I'll spend time with my family and be thankful that December 25 brings joy to all types of people who call it whatever they'd like to.

You have it backwards when you say "...that's not what the holiday is." That is EXACTLY what it is. The whole purpose of Christmas is to celebrate the coming to earth of the Son of God in the form of an infant. If you don't believe that I really feel sorry for you because you are missing out on a wonderful experience. If you want to get together with your family and exchange gifts, fine. But, that is something you can do on any day of the year.

No, I don’t want to. This is how it works for me. If someone would say to me Happy Chanukah, I might say, oh well, I’m not Jewish but happy to you too. If it was a Chinese holiday, or an Islam holiday or any other holiday that my neighbor was celebrating, I would not be offended and might say nothing and just wish them a peaceful day/evening. The thing is in North America the countries were founded on Christianity and so that is what is to be expected as national holidays. I do realize though the world is under change. I am not fond of all of what commercialization has done to Christmas but then there are so many other forces at work in opposition to Jesus Christ in these times we live in so this is to be expected. Anyway, I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus Underneath the mistletoe last night. She didn't see me creep Down the stairs to have a peek; (I was quiet! ) She thought I was tucked Up in my bedroom fast asleep.(But I wasn't! ) Then, I saw Mommy tickle Santa Claus Underneath his beard so snowy white. Oh, what a laugh it would have been, If Daddy had only seen Mommy kissing Santa Claus last night! Merry Christmas to anyone reading this.