The "Reason for the Season"

[justuschickens59]

Quote:
No, we are talking about the holiday season in general, not just Christmas, thus many different reasons to celebrate the holiday season. Check out the first post of this thread to get the topic of conversation.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

I think we are talking about what we call Christmas today too. Or at least, I was.

 

[Royd]

Quote:

Heathen is a slur. Its meant to be insulting and/or derogatory in many cases.

http://books.google.com/books?id=Ui...6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=heathen derogatory&f=false

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080517200813AASFtyO

Unbelievers, despisers of religion, infidels, heathens. Without some sort of higher moral authority, society tends to degenerate. Hedonism, anarchy,and crime are on the rise. I could go on, but there's really no need. You get the point.

 

[justuschickens59]

Quote:
Heathen is a slur. Its meant to be insulting and/or derogatory in many cases.

http://books.google.com/books?id=Ui...6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=heathen derogatory&f=false

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080517200813AASFtyO

Unbelievers, despisers of religion, infidels, heathens. Without some sort of higher moral authority, society tends to degenerate. Hedonism, anarchy,and crime are on the rise. I could go on, but there's really no need. You get the point.

I strongly disagree and hope that I am just misunderstanding your statement here. Surely you are not saying that all crimes are committed by people who are not Christian? Just because a person does not believe in the Christian "God" does not mean they are without morals, and HIGH morals at that. Being a Christian does not automatically assign high moral character to a person. I could also go on and on, but I think you get the point.

 

[AquaEyes]

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OK...then if Jesus is "the only reason" for Christmas, why is December the "season" for Christmas? In other words, what is the reason for it being celebrated on December 25? And while Jesus may be the reason we call the holiday Christmas, what does Jesus have to do with the tree, the stockings, the holly, the mistletoe, exchanging presents on December 25 (remember...Jesus didn't get gifts until the wise men came, almost two weeks later...), the feasts, getting together with family and friends, etc?

What many people refer to by "the Christmas season" is more than just celebrating the birth of Jesus, and may not even include it. And much of what many people DO during the season traces back to before there were Christians. Just because it got rebranded by Christianity doesn't mean it's exclusive to Christianity.

 

[AquaEyes]

Quote:
Heathen is a slur. Its meant to be insulting and/or derogatory in many cases.

http://books.google.com/books?id=Ui...6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=heathen derogatory&f=false

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080517200813AASFtyO

Unbelievers, despisers of religion, infidels, heathens. Without some sort of higher moral authority, society tends to degenerate. Hedonism, anarchy,and crime are on the rise. I could go on, but there's really no need. You get the point.

Yes...we should all go back to when the "higher moral authority" of religion ruled with an iron fist. What do we call that period? Ah, yes....the Dark Ages.

 

[Royd]

Quote:
OK...then if Jesus is "the only reason" for Christmas, why is December the "season" for Christmas? In other words, what is the reason for it being celebrated on December 25? And while Jesus may be the reason we call the holiday Christmas, what does Jesus have to do with the tree, the stockings, the holly, the mistletoe, exchanging presents on December 25 (remember...Jesus didn't get gifts until the wise men came, almost two weeks later...), the feasts, getting together with family and friends, etc?

What many people refer to by "the Christmas season" is more than just celebrating the birth of Jesus, and may not even include it. And much of what many people DO during the season traces back to before there were Christians. Just because it got rebranded by Christianity doesn't mean it's exclusive to Christianity.

It's a roll of the dice. It wouldn't matter what day or week was chosen, whether at his actual birth or not, there would be plenty of hulabaloo about it, because of the message that man is sinful and needs a savior. This tends to rub many people the wrong way, and they object, loudly....Methinks, they protest too much.

 

[AquaEyes]

If you can't celebrate Christmas without thanking Jesus, what does everyone here do on Wednesdays and Saturdays? These days of the week are named for pagan gods. Does that necessarily mean that leaving the house -- or even having a party -- on Wednesday or Saturday is a celebration for Odin (Wednesday) or Saturn (Saturday)? If you participate in any kind of celebration on those days of the week, does that mean Odin or Saturn are the "reason for the season"?

 

[RHRanch]

Quote:
Heathen is a slur. Its meant to be insulting and/or derogatory in many cases.

http://books.google.com/books?id=Ui...6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=heathen derogatory&f=false

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080517200813AASFtyO

Unbelievers, despisers of religion, infidels, heathens. Without some sort of higher moral authority, society tends to degenerate. Hedonism, anarchy,and crime are on the rise. I could go on, but there's really no need. You get the point.

And you guys thought I was imagining things. LOL

 

[Matthew3590]

Unless you are actually celebrating the birth of Christ then you are not celebrating Christmas. You are celebrating any other holiday or ritual that might fall around that day.