Taking Christ out of Christmas

[ember]

I am not saying all are perfect, although I am trying But yes that is what is taught. Do unto others as you would want done to you. It would be a perfect concept to follow even if you dont believe in religon, IMO

I absolutely agree!

 

[Maral]

Didnt know where to put this please move if in wrong place....


My Granny all growing up used to tell me to never write X-mas as you take Christ out, so when I saw this I thought I would bring it over and see what yall think. IMO PPL are ruining Christmas. No fat santa, no Ho Ho Ho, Beating up Santas, the list goes on. Will there even be a Christmas that we know left for our children??

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/20/roland.martin/index.html

X and XP are ancient Christian abbreviations for Christ's name, so it has never occured to me that seeing or writing Xmas instead of Christmas is taking Christ out of Christmas.

Edited to add: Sorry, I didn't read Ember's post before posting.

 

[MeoW333]

Adding on to last post here. I cant consider myself a good Catholic any how, I dont go to church all that much, I never go to midnight mass, but I do believe in God and so forth. But I just never thought saying merry christmas to someone was pushing my faith onto someone else. Am I wrong? By saying this do I offend ppl who are jewish, etc?

I hear ya, Indy.. I would keep saying Merry Christmas, i don't think it's offensive, or pushing faith onto another. Only the individual is capable of pushing a faith onto theirself as everyone is responsible for their own actions.

I've also heard of the X as the symbol of the cross. Also when in signing contracts, sign at the X which going way back symbolized the cross..

It seems corporations are marketing all our Holidays for corporate gains, and they just want to make money off all of them, and they do.

 

[Indy Gal]

X and XP are ancient Christian abbreviations for Christ's name, so it has never occured to me that seeing or writing Xmas instead of Christmas is taking Christ out of Christmas.

So I have learned today. My granny as most are was set in her ways of thinking.

 

[Maral]

Actually, some Christians have realized that Christmas is truly a pagan holiday in disguise and want to leave Christ out of the mess that has become "Christmas". It really is a big ruse...this whole thing about this season being about Christianity's golden child. It was orginally Yule, the time for winter solstice and celebration to usher in the longer days ahead...but again, the "heathens" had to convert.....

If some Christians have realized that Christmas is truly a pagan holiday in disguise, I believe they are wrong. So what if the date coincides with a pagan holiday? Christians are not celebrating a date on the calendar, but an EVENT - the birth of Christ. It shouldn't matter when we celebrate it, what should matter is that we do celebrate it.

 

[Glow]

So I have learned today. My granny as most are was set in her ways of thinking.

Ah Indy Gal...you seem to be that most delightfully rare of creatures!

A woman who can actually learn from the viewpoints of others. Usually threads like this just go round and round with each one defending there original viewpoint. Your post about having learned something is very admirable!

 

[Indy Gal]

Ah Indy Gal...you seem to be that most delightfully rare of creatures!

A woman who can actually learn from the viewpoints of others. Usually threads like this just go round and round with each one defending there original viewpoint. Your post about having learned something is very admirable!

WOW!! Thank you so much. I learn a lot from here. Although I must admit somethings I stand firm on, but most times I do learn. Thanks again.

 

[Dark Knight]

Actually, some Christians have realized that Christmas is truly a pagan holiday in disguise and want to leave Christ out of the mess that has become "Christmas". It really is a big ruse...this whole thing about this season being about Christianity's golden child. It was orginally Yule, the time for winter solstice and celebration to usher in the longer days ahead...but again, the "heathens" had to convert.


This church know it's history. See link: http://users.aol.com/libcfl/xmas.htm



On another note..... here is a little history on why it is OK to use "X" instead of "Christ" for Christmas.

X-as-chi was associated with Christ long before X-as-cross could be, since the cross as a Christian symbol developed later. (The Greek letter Chi Χ stood for "Christ" in the ancient Greek acrostic ΙΧΘΥΣ ichthys.)
While some see the spelling of Christmas as Xmas a threat, others see it as a way to honor the martyrs.

Yes, X is for "Chi"--the first letter of Christ's name in Greek and an accepted symbol for Christ for hundreds of years.

What's even more depressing is that all of the people who get so uptight about the use of X (and who are likely therefore Christian) are the ones who got it completely wrong.

What does that say about the modern Christian's knowledge about the history of their own faith?

Geesh! I'm not even a Christian and I know this! What are they teaching y'all in church?!


ETA: I still wish Merry Christmas to everyone I see because it just doesn't hold the same magic when I say anything else. Must be because of memories from my childhood when everyone wished a Merry Christmas! I miss those days.....

The pagan story is something that people, especially non-Christians, still hang on to, desperately trying to discredit Christmas, as if the date really matters. The date is irrelevent, the celebration is not.

Your are correct about the origins of the "X", but some people deliberately use the X to leave Christ out of it.

 

[KrisNine]

I'm not religious and it doesn't offend me if someone says Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays, etc. They mean well, whatever they are saying.

 

[Indy Gal]

The pagan story is something that people, especially non-Christians, still hang on to, desperately trying to discredit Christmas, as if the date really matters. The date is irrelevent, the celebration is not.

Your are correct about the origins of the "X", but some people deliberately use the X to leave Christ out of it.

Thank you for you post!!!:blowkiss:

 

[Indy Gal]

I'm not religious and it doesn't offend me if someone says Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays, etc. They mean well, whatever they are saying.

Thats what I think too!

 

[MREG2]

Agreed!!!! I dont care I still say merry christmas to E1 I see!! Sue me America..LOL

Me too Indy Gal! I don't say it to offend...just trying to be friendly. If it just so happens to offend someone well then they can just go........... :silenced:

As long as I'm alive my children will know the Christmas the way it was for me. I promise that.

 

[MREG2]

I can certainly see both sides of the argument. I'm a Christian, so it's easy for me to be offended by the perceived backlash against Christmas. Needless to say, it's obvious that people do not like change. The change being a more politically correct society, one in which we say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. Non-Christians sometimes think we are "shoving [Christmas and Christianity] down [their] throats."

I'd rather see a society where Jewish people wish me a Happy Hanukkah, or where an African wishes me a Happy Kwanzaa, or where an Atheist can just not wish me anything at all, all in addition to people wishing each other a Merry Christmas. I would be honored if any person wished me one of these things.

Political correctness has gotten out of hand. It has given many people the false impression that they should feel offended at every pass. It has done nothing but made this country a bunch of super-sensitive whiners.

Don't get me wrong though, there are certainly things that we need to stand up against such as prejudice, bigotry, and the like, but I think this has gone just a little bit too far.

Same here Paladin. To me, it just shows that "you" are strong and confident in your faith. I am a Christian and I will say Merry Christmas because that's what I do. It's what I believe. I'm loving it.

 

[Nova]

Adding on to last post here. I cant consider myself a good Catholic any how, I dont go to church all that much, I never go to midnight mass, but I do believe in God and so forth. But I just never thought saying merry christmas to someone was pushing my faith onto someone else. Am I wrong? By saying this do I offend ppl who are jewish, etc?

In most cases, it isn't so much that you "offend" anyone, but it does serve as a reminder to non-Christians that they are excluded from certain celebrations. It's not YOUR fault that their beliefs and/or traditions exclude them, of course, but you might ask yourself what it is you really want to say.

If your purpose is to announce which holiday matters to you, by all means, wish everyone a Merry Christmas. It isn't a crime to do so and nobody has said it is. (The so-called "War on Christmas" is just another fake social issue employed by Fox News and the like to drum up unnecessary indignation.)

But if your intent is to wish joy to others on special days, then it might behoove you to include days that have meaning to them. "Happy Holidays" serves that purpose. Still no law; it's totally up to you.

(This is only an issue with strangers and casual acquaintances, BTW. Christians (including those, like me, who are "Christian" now only by cultural tradition) wish each other "Merry Christmas" all the time and nobody has said we must do otherwise.)

Two more points:

To respond to your link, the "season" of "Season's Greetings" is the season of winter holidays in which we now find ourselves. Such holidays include Christmas (not just Dec. 25, but also other days celebrated as Christmas in other countries, days that extend into January), Chanukah and Ramadan, but also New Year's Eve, Boxing Day (for our British and Canadian friends). The phrase predates any sort of political correctness; when I was a kid, it was used by Christians to refer to the holiday period from Christmas Eve (or even earlier) through New Year's Day.

If there is a danger of removing Christ from Christmas, it doesn't come from what you or I say to strangers during this month. The far greater threats to the "true meaning" of Christmas come from commercialism, a decline in church attendance, and the destruction of communities and extended families primarily by economic forces that compel greater mobility. None of these threats have anything to do with political correctness, nor will they be covered by Fox News, which is owned by those with a vested interest in distracting ordinary Americans from the issues that actually affect our lives.

 

[Nova]

Me too Indy Gal! I don't say it to offend...just trying to be friendly. If it just so happens to offend someone well then they can just go........... :silenced:

As long as I'm alive my children will know the Christmas the way it was for me. I promise that.

Emphasis added, 'cause there's "Christmas spirit" for you! (Christian goodwill, too.) :clap:

 

[Indy Gal]

Great post Nova!

 

[Dark Knight]

If some Christians have realized that Christmas is truly a pagan holiday in disguise, I believe they are wrong. So what if the date coincides with a pagan holiday? Christians are not celebrating a date on the calendar, but an EVENT - the birth of Christ. It shouldn't matter when we celebrate it, what should matter is that we do celebrate it.

You are very much correct. The date is irrelevant, the event is not. The pagan thing is an old excuse by non Christians and lazy Christians to not celebrate His birth on ANY date. Just another insidious attempt by the devil to undermine the faith, but it just won't work. The gates of Hell will not prevail against His church.

ETA: I didn't realize my previous post stating the same thing actually made it online before WS went down for a bit, sorry.

 

[MREG2]

Emphasis added, 'cause there's "Christmas spirit" for you! (Christian goodwill, too.) :clap:

Sorry Nova... Maybe that was a little harsh but why should I be afraid to say Merry Christmas to someone for fear of offending them? It just rubs me wrong. If someone was to wish me something other than Merry Christmas I would not be offended at all. The fact that their heart was in the right place means more to me than what they say (if that makes sense).

I may be a Christian but also human. I know you don't like me, Nova, so let's just leave it at that.

 

[absinthe]

As usual I love Nova's post. War on Christmas - discussed more than the actual war in Iraq. If I didn't have close friends desperately trying to evacuate their families from Iraq currently, I would have forgotten all about it. Sorry for the slight topic change, but I will add that Christmas is a very dangerous time for Iraqi Christians now that Saddam's control over Muslim extremists is gone.

 

[absinthe]

I'm loving the different viewpoints on this post and hoping things don't get caustic.