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Goodbye Jesus

Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays?


ag_NO_stic

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On 11/12/2018 at 6:07 PM, Blood said:

 

Some private, for profit corporations decided to start saying "happy holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" some time back. Since conservatives hate the free market, and are over-sensitive snowflakes in general, they had a collective hissy fit when this happened, and went full McCarthyism on atheists, who supposedly instigated this nefarious plot. 

It never was, of course. it was private businessmen who made the decision not to overprivilege Christianity at everyone else's expense, a completely sound idea.

 

I have no problem saying "Merry Christmas." 

 

 

I feel bad for the poor employees just doing their jobs and saying, "Happy Holidays," only to have some overzealous wingnut blow a gasket at them.

 

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On 11/10/2018 at 2:11 PM, Citsonga said:

Screenshot_2018-04-08-00-38-52-1.png

 

I should've added that Eric Reaves, who's been drawing Hi & Lois for several years now (including the above comic), was my high school art teacher one year.

 

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The thing is, it's literally "holidays." It's the winter solstice, there's a variety of holidays that land around the winter solstice in a multicultural nation like the US. Not knowing what the other person may be celebrating, it's probably best to say happy holidays. Unless you know that they are celebrating Christmas. But even then, they would be celebrating both Christmas and New Years, so happy holidays is still relevant considering that they are celebrating at least two holidays at that time. So it just makes sense. 

 

 

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16 minutes ago, Joshpantera said:

The thing is, it's literally "holidays." It's the winter solstice, there's a variety of holidays that land around the winter solstice in a multicultural nation like the US. Not knowing what the other person may be celebrating, it's probably best to say happy holidays. Unless you know that they are celebrating Christmas. But even then, they would be celebrating both Christmas and New Years, so happy holidays is still relevant considering that they are celebrating at least two holidays at that time. So it just makes sense. 

 

 

Here's the December list

December 2-10: Hanukkah, a Jewish holiday that is celebrated around the world for eight days and nights. Hanukkah celebrates the victory of the Maccabees or Israelites over the Greek-Syrian ruler, Antiochus about 2200 years ago.

December 2 - 24: Advent, a Christian season of celebration leading up to the birth of Christ.

December 8: Bodhi Day, a holiday observed by Buddhists to commemorate Gautama’s enlightenment under the Bodhi tree at Bodhgaya, India.

December 12: Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a religious holiday in Mexico commemorating the appearance of the Virgin Mary near Mexico City in 1531.

December 12: Eid Milad Un Nabi, an Islamic holiday commemorating the birthday of the prophet Muhammad. During this celebration, homes and mosques are decorated, large parades take place, and those observing the holiday participate in charity events.

December 13: St. Lucia’s Day, a religious festival of light in Scandinavia and Italy commemorating the martyrdom of St Lucia, a young Christian girl who was killed for her faith, in 304 AD. She secretly brought food to persecuted Christians in Rome while wearing a wreath of candles on her head so both her hands would be free.

December 16-24: Las Posadas, a nine-day celebration in Mexico commemorating the trials Mary and Joseph endured during their journey to Bethlehem.

December 21: The Winter Solstice/ Yule, celebrated by Pagans and Wiccans, the shortest day of the year represents a celebration focusing on rebirth, renewal, and new beginnings as the sun makes way back to the earth. A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year when the Sun reaches its highest position in the sky.

December 25: Christmas, the day that many Christians associate with Jesus’s birth.

December 26: Boxing Day, a secular holiday celebrated in the UK, Canada Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and South Africa. Also the day of the Feast of Saint Stephen, who is the patron saint of horses.

December 26 – January 1: Kwanzaa, an African-American holiday started by Maulana Karenga in 1966 to celebrate universal African-American heritage.

 

However, it just doesn't help when you point this list out to the Christians who will get in your face and say something like "this country was founded with Christian beliefs..." yada yada because they really haven't bothered to learn anything about their own history. Hell, even some secular folks have an issue with saying happy holidays, because they think we've caved in to PC culture or something. Really, it's just showing some respect for diversity, instead of favouring one holiday over another.

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I always preferred the secular saying "ba hum bug", found it really helps the festive mood 😋  I usually follow up by kicking over the nativity scene, sculling the eggnog and spending Xmas in a jail cell re-reading the first half of A grinch who stole Xmas. 

 

Anyone heard of the complaints about using Xmas? One Christian told me it was terrible because it was crossing out Christ 🙄

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7 hours ago, Wertbag said:

Anyone heard of the complaints about using Xmas? One Christian told me it was terrible because it was crossing out Christ 🙄

 

I had to explain that to someone last year. That the X is an abbreviation for Christ: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xmas

 

Xmas is a common abbreviation of the word Christmas. It is sometimes pronounced /ˈɛksməs/, but Xmas, and variants such as Xtemass, originated as handwriting abbreviations for the typical pronunciation /ˈkrɪsməs/. The "X" comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word Χριστός, which in English is "Christ".[1] The "-mas" part is from the Latin-derived Old English word for Mass.[2]

There is a common misconception that the word Xmas stems from a secular attempt to remove the religious tradition from Christmas[3] by taking the "Christ" out of "Christmas", but its use dates back to the 16th century.

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My family’s Christmas cards from the 1960s and ‘70s almost always said “Season’s Greetings,” “Happy Holidays,” or some such. Why? Because a few of the recipients thought it was sinful celebrate Catholic holidays! We celebrated Christmas as a purely secular holiday because we were Christians and to celebrate it as a religious holiday would have been wrong. Some people thought that we were implicitly condoning it, anyway.

 

So “happy holidays” doesn’t bother me. And it isn’t exactly a new thing! It just became an issue a few years ago when some Christian decided to take offense when a store in a multi-cultural city suggested that their employees use the phrase.

 

Now the 1942 Bing Crosby song is stuck in my head:

”Happy holiday.

Happy holiday.

May the merry bells keep ringing

Happy holiday to you.”

 

I guess he started the war on Christmas way back during WWII.

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I already got the "what do we do if we offend you since we celebrate Xmas and you don't" question from family. I thought it was a bizarre question. I had to correct them, in that I do celebrate Xmas, just not as a religious holiday. I think it's time to have a discussion on the pagan roots of the tradition. And why would I be offended by other people's beliefs? Those who are easily offended automatically assume that others are as well. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND MERRY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!!

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I have no hangups with any of the holiday greetings. I typically use "merry christmas" because that's the culture I was raised in. However, if someone greets me with a friendly "happy holidays", I will return the greeting in kind. The label doesn't matter...the attitude does. :)

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  • 3 weeks later...

I usually say Happy Holidays if I don't know someone's religion.  If they greet me first I usually reply with the same greeting, including Merry Christmas.  As others have said, the only time I get upset is when I say Happy Holidays and get a angry Merry Christmas in return.

war-on-christmas2.jpg

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Screenshot_2018-12-11-17-11-44-1.png

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43 minutes ago, TexasFreethinker said:

I usually say Happy Holidays if I don't know someone's religion.  If they greet me first I usually reply with the same greeting, including Merry Christmas.  As others have said, the only time I get upset is when I say Happy Holidays and get a angry Merry Christmas in return.

war-on-christmas2.jpg

 

That's a good approach. Thanks for posting the comic. I'll add it to the comic strips thread in the humor & satire subforum. 

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I dunno how it is in the US, but I live in Canada and yesterday I spent a good part of the day greeting people at the mall, and it's overwhelmingly positive reaction to Happy Holidays. But then again I live in a city with a very international vibe and I'm guessing a good 50% of the people are not of any Christian "heritage."

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Christmas is so gag worthy. Stepfather watched some Christian stuff. Felt sick. 

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"Merry Christmas" ... what's wrong with that? Here's one of the first definitions I found of "Merry" Online ... I'll take that! 🍷🍸🍺

 

INFORMAL slightly and good-humouredly drunk. "after the third beer he began to feel quite merry" synonyms: tipsy, mellow, slightly drunk; informal tiddly, squiffy "after three beers he began to feel quite merry"

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  • 3 weeks later...

Christmas is at heart a pagan holiday. I don’t care either way honestly.  I will continue to say Merry Christmas.  I even celebrate Easter and dye eggs.  It is to me about doing something special with my kids. This past Christmas, we were at my family’s house and they don’t know how I believe but my oldest daughter overheard my mom telling my niece that my kids knew nothing about Jesus and only knew about Santa.  That pissed me off. I didn’t say anything though. I’m really not even sure why it pissed me off. I guess because at the time I still professed to believe. I just didn’t believe the way they did, in their version of Christianity. The way I believed wasn’t right.  Well guess what bitches? I don’t believe anything now.  

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  • 2 months later...

Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays? Either one. It is, in fact, a season of holidays. It becomes situational though. Saying "Merry Christmas" at a pagan equinox party might not be very prudent.

 

Once I was old enough to be considered an adult I started to "celebrate" less and less. Over the years I've come to the mindset holidays and festivals are not something I care to support or participate in. The primary disdain is for the monetizing of it all. The "holiday season" in my opinion is just one big push by companies trying to make money. Once an active Christian, I really started having a dislike, almost a hatred once I understood alleged Christian believers are celebrating pagan rituals. I thought how ironic it is when you have the biblical text warns about this very practice of decorating trees and celebrating, mentioned in the Old Testament as a pagan practice.

 

I consider the act of profiting off such a serious thing as one's beliefs to be at the least distasteful. The Jesus character mentions the money-changers and others who profited off the temple worshippers. Same exact things are still being done to this day, only on a much larger scale.

 

As an atheist, nothing has changed, I still don't support or believe in the practice of celebrating holidays. I communicate with people. I find it slightly offensive that a person only associates via a card sent in the mail once a year. If that is the only time you want to approach me, then keep your cards, seeing you have no interests the rest of the year. If you weren't around during my life, don't bother showing up at my funeral once I'm gone. Social decorum is bullshit and is born out of people wanting to appear a better person than they really are. I support people not lying and not being fake towards each other. If you think I suck, please tell me though I believe you are under no obligation to do so. How else can one improve on their suckness? 

 

And as mentioned in an above post, the so-called Christmas concept, was not only a highjacked holiday to draw pagans in, but it breeds greed and selfishness in humans. It causes divisions and resentment and jealousy. Of course, kids want toys, etc., and that doesn't go away as an adult. It plays on the desires of self. Children have no idea they are being used as pawns. All the kids know is that they want that cool new thingy.

 

I look at it as what is wrong with people gathering and having a good time? Why is there a need for a reason to have a party? Time management for a busy society. To confine celebration to specific calendar dates is born out of pagan religious rituals that observe celestial patterns and then later because of commerce and the need for workers to be at work and not partying all the time. A hungover worker is not a productive worker, so allowances and compromises have been made over time to meet the demands of business and still offer to the "peasants" a small break from time to time to reduce worker burnout.

 

I don't believe in or care to support such ritual practices.

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Bah, humbug!

Casey

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