Christmas in Retirement

[Fox]

Why on the Earth-being Religious or NOT(Your business)there is an URGE to ridicule many millions of peoples happiness??
What is wrong with Families gettign together,at leats once a year,to celebrate Christmas and EACH other.

Man ,oh man-can you give it a break?
If You do not believe -no one forces You.
Why all this hatred..........
Plus-what is wrong with Christians anyway?

Why You do not jump all over other major religions?
Never seen that yet....?

The point was actually a fact, a straight up accurate fact and it does not take away from anything.

If you believe in the bible then you would have to realize that Jesus was born in lambing season, that is the only reason the shepherds would be watching their sheep by night. The orientation of the stars that the wise men follows also makes it seem like Jesus had to have been born in the spring time, rather than the at the time of the shortest day of the year.

It is actually very interesting that Christmas is such a melting pot of beliefs and cultures, it is actually special when you think about it. Christmas trees are based on Northern European traditions. The 25th of December is the date that Romans celebrated the sun god. Hanukkah is also celebrated at this time.

All of these things make it very convenient to pick a date that is surrounded by local traditions, an easy way to get others to keep their history while converting.

Heck, the old world Santa was green and although not red now because of Coca-Cola they made a massive cultural impact and built up the image of the jolly elf that we all now see.

Christmas is a melting pot of ideas and cultures, that is not a bad thing.

[MarkB]

The difference is that our society doesn't demand everyone participate in Ramadan, Hanukah, Diwali or the celebrations of other religions. Despite the rapid and long overdue decline in the influence of Christianity, much of western civilization continues to indulge in an annual orgy of rampant spending, gluttony and stupidity to celebrate the birth of baby Jebus.

LOL!!! I'm actually falling off my chair laughing at this ... holy smokes this is hilarious (in a sarcastic kind of way).

YOU actually think the rampant spending has anything to do with the birth of Jesus ... oh my goodness ... that is comedy right there.

Like I said, the sheep look at what man does, and then blames God for it ... it's a complete joke. And THAT statement you just made, proves it ... you blaming the spending on the birth of Jesus ... hahahaha, I'm crying laughing at that one ... pheewww, need to breath ... hahahaha.

On another note ... personally, I don't know of a single person who is complaining about getting a holiday on Christmas ... not one muslim, jewish person, hindu ... not one.
So why you so grumpy about that ... you trying out for a role as the Grinch or Scrooge? LOL.

[MarkB]

The difference is that our society doesn't demand everyone participate in Ramadan, Hanukah, Diwali or the celebrations of other religions. Despite the rapid and long overdue decline in the influence of Christianity, much of western civilization continues to indulge in an annual orgy of rampant spending, gluttony and stupidity to celebrate the birth of baby Jebus.

Oh and another note ... go to Saudi, Iran, Iraq ... and tell me if they don't demand that everyone participate in Ramadan ... or go to India for Diwali.
Anyhow ... it's the Winter Solist ... shouldn't you be celebrating that with Mother Nature, and preparing food under the full moon for a good yield or something, and being less grumpy and crapping over a group of Christians that actually just want peace in this world ... go beat up someone like a criminal.

[MarkB]

The point was actually a fact, a straight up accurate fact and it does not take away from anything.

If you believe in the bible then you would have to realize that Jesus was born in lambing season, that is the only reason the shepherds would be watching their sheep by night. The orientation of the stars that the wise men follows also makes it seem like Jesus had to have been born in the spring time, rather than the at the time of the shortest day of the year.

It is actually very interesting that Christmas is such a melting pot of beliefs and cultures, it is actually special when you think about it. Christmas trees are based on Northern European traditions. The 25th of December is the date that Romans celebrated the sun god. Hanukkah is also celebrated at this time.

All of these things make it very convenient to pick a date that is surrounded by local traditions, an easy way to get others to keep their history while converting.

Heck, the old world Santa was green and although not red now because of Coca-Cola they made a massive cultural impact and built up the image of the jolly elf that we all now see.

Christmas is a melting pot of ideas and cultures, that is not a bad thing.

I don't disagree with most of the above ... we all know that Dec 25th may not be the actual birth date of Christ, but it is the chosen day, and we celebrate it that way.
By the way, gbk wasn't responding to you, but Badenoch's ridiculing of Christian faith.

However, there's parts of what you wrote I would challenge you on ... for instance, the convenience of picking a date like Dec 25th to simply try and sway others to become Christians. You quote Hanukkah, which is a stretch, which is Nov 28 to Dec 6 this year ... go figure. Also, I do find it very strange that the Julian calendar marks the winter solstice on Dec 25th, and not Dec 21st ... clearly, the Aztecs were much more accurate at reading the starts and planetary movements ...

[Badenoch]

LOL!!! I'm actually falling off my chair laughing at this ... holy smokes this is hilarious (in a sarcastic kind of way).

YOU actually think the rampant spending has anything to do with the birth of Jesus ... oh my goodness ... that is comedy right there.

Like I said, the sheep look at what man does, and then blames God for it ... it's a complete joke. And THAT statement you just made, proves it ... you blaming the spending on the birth of Jesus ... hahahaha, I'm crying laughing at that one ... pheewww, need to breath ... hahahaha.

On another note ... personally, I don't know of a single person who is complaining about getting a holiday on Christmas ... not one muslim, jewish person, hindu ... not one.
So why you so grumpy about that ... you trying out for a role as the Grinch or Scrooge? LOL.

Typical of the Christian faith is ridiculing anyone who doesn't partake in their festive rituals or antiquated beliefs. That is of course a great advance from previous eras when Christians burned them at the stake if they didn't show appropriate fealty to baby Jesus.

[Bushwhacker]

I'd be happy to drop lengthy nuclear truth bombs regarding matters of Christian theology in another thread, as many are in desperate need of a proper education. It is the season of giving after all.

I simply posted Merry Christmas wishes previously in keeping with the OP's question, and will offer a final post to note the following:

It's interesting to see the vitriol and ignorance from so many on this topic. And by the left's own wacky definitions, wouldn't Christians qualify as an 'identifiable minority group' and therefore be deserving of the protection and praise they reserve for the oppressed? Interesting how a thread discussing the sheer lunacy of men competing in women's sports (and the madness of transgenderism in general) was quickly shut down due to 'discrimination' or lack of 'inclusivity' or being 'unnecessarily provocative', yet this attack on the very foundations of our culture continues unabated.

Proving the point that Christians are the only group you can freely and legally discriminate against.

Checkmate, liberals.

[MikePal]

Christmas is a melting pot of ideas and cultures, that is not a bad thing.

You're absolutely right...in fact, it is actually linked to a Pagan festival:

Although some evidence suggests that his birth may have occurred in the spring (why would shepherds be herding in the middle of winter?), Pope Julius I chose December 25. It is commonly believed that the church chose this date in an effort to adopt and absorb the traditions of the pagan Saturnalia festival. First called the Feast of the Nativity, the custom spread to Egypt by 432 and to England by the end of the sixth century.

By holding Christmas at the same time as traditional winter solstice festivals, church leaders increased the chances that Christmas would be popularly embraced, but gave up the ability to dictate how it was celebrated. By the Middle Ages, Christianity had, for the most part, replaced pagan religion. On Christmas, believers attended church, then celebrated raucously in a drunken, carnival-like atmosphere similar to today’s Mardi Gras. Each year, a beggar or student would be crowned the “lord of misrule” and eager celebrants played the part of his subjects. The poor would go to the houses of the rich and demand their best food and drink. If owners failed to comply, their visitors would most likely terrorize them with mischief. Christmas became the time of year when the upper classes could repay their real or imagined “debt” to society by entertaining less fortunate citizens.

[MarkB]

Typical of the Christian faith is ridiculing anyone who doesn't partake in their festive rituals or antiquated beliefs. That is of course a great advance from previous eras when Christians burned them at the stake if they didn't show appropriate fealty to baby Jesus.

And there it is again ... you look at a man's action, and judge God for it. Typical excuse by a non-believer. You're right, some Christians can be terrible people!
That's because we are humans, just like everyone else ... and we aren't any more special than anyone else.

But really dude ... it is hilarious that you associated " annual orgy of rampant spending, gluttony and stupidity" with the birth of Christ, which happened over 2000 years ago.
Like ... what does that have anything to do with Christ?

And I'm not ridiculing ... really, I was laughing my head off ... I should have videoed myself to prove it. It was almost cry laughing. I'm just trying to have some fun with this ...
cheer up a little. Kind of like brothers around a fire, just poking some innocent fun at each other.

[MarkB]

I'd be happy to drop lengthy nuclear truth bombs regarding matters of Christian theology in another thread, as many are in desperate need of a proper education. It is the season of giving after all.

I simply posted Merry Christmas wishes previously in keeping with the OP's question, and will offer a final post to note the following:

It's interesting to see the vitriol and ignorance from so many on this topic. And by the left's own wacky definitions, wouldn't Christians qualify as an 'identifiable minority group' and therefore be deserving of the protection and praise they reserve for the oppressed? Interesting how a thread discussing the sheer lunacy of men competing in women's sports (and the madness of transgenderism in general) was quickly shut down due to 'discrimination' or lack of 'inclusivity' or being 'unnecessarily provocative', yet this attack on the very foundations of our culture continues unabated.

Proving the point that Christians are the only group you can freely and legally discriminate against.

Checkmate, liberals.

Sorry, I confused you for Badenoch ... so I wrote a response that was not applicable. Apologies.

I deleted my response.

[Badenoch]

No, no ... let's not try and summarize and make it seem like you did nothing wrong. You took what was a nice subject, and used it to belittle all the Christians in this Forum.

Let me quote the very sentence that you wrote that set this all off ... and you just could have been respectful of other's beliefs ... "Seasonal celebrations and traditions established centuries before Jesus was born ruined by those pesky Christians. Happy Saturnalia!"

Pesky Christians ... hmmmm, yeah, that sounds like a jab to the gut. Let's make sure we acknowledge where the train went off the rails here.

You seem to have your posters mixed up. Bushwacker didn't make the comments that seem to have got your rosary in a knot.