Lets talk about Christmas for a minute..

[Major Kong]

As a non-denominational Christian I look at Christmas as the celebration of Christ's birthday and thus his life. Our family has always treated Yule as a personal time to reflect and remember the passing year.
As for gift giving it is a big part of my family for the reason that the Mrs. and Jr. (+ believe it or not our extremely spoiled Scotch Collie) celebrate their birthday on that day. Unfortunately this will be the first time I have ever missed the celebration of the birthday's with my family , but they all know I'm there and Love them very much!
NOEL Everyone!

[Draggar]

I look at Christmas a a great excuse for the whole family to get together and have a great time.

Since I work in retail, I hate the commercial aspect of it. Ugh! Someone kill me!!!

[Stalemate]

It's interesting to note that the early christians, being mostly Jewish, did not observe the birth of Christ with any significance but celebrated his death and resurrection instead, as was customary.

I think we're going in the right direction with honoring the idea of Christmas by trying to right wrongs, help those in need and get in touch with our loved ones.

[trivia]For anyone who cares, the magi visited Jesus' parents well after his birth, possibly when he was between 1 to 3 years of age. Hint: Remember Herod decreed that all males under the age of three should be killed at that time? Most assume the magi were there from the start, but it was actually shepherds who first paid teir respects.

There is no official mention of how many magi did visit (but there were 3 gifts given), much less of what their names were, but their caravan was large enough to attract the king's attention. Their own gifts were symbolic of those given to a dying or deceased member of royalty.[/trivia]

[DANIMAL]

[quote]Originally posted by adept:
<strong>It's interesting to note that the early christians, being mostly Jewish, did not observe the birth of Christ with any significance but celebrated his death and resurrection instead, as was customary.

I think we're going in the right direction with honoring the idea of Christmas by trying to right wrongs, help those in need and get in touch with our loved ones.

[trivia]For anyone who cares, the magi visited Jesus' parents well after his birth, possibly when he was between 1 to 3 years of age. Hint: Remember Herod decreed that all males under the age of three should be killed at that time? Most assume the magi were there from the start, but it was actually shepherds who first paid teir respects.

There is no official mention of how many magi did visit (but there were 3 gifts given), much less of what their names were, but their caravan was large enough to attract the king's attention. Their own gifts were symbolic of those given to a dying or deceased member of royalty.[/trivia]</strong><hr></blockquote>

Hey didn't they all come in one Accord (Honda)

LOL

[Stalemate]

[quote]Originally posted by DANIMAL:
<strong>

Hey didn't they all come in one Accord (Honda)

LOL </strong><hr></blockquote>

LMHO !!!! Good one!

[JungleMan1]

[quote]Originally posted by adept:
<strong>

LMHO !!!! Good one!</strong><hr></blockquote>

LMHO? Isn't it LMAO?

[*SlyVenom*]

[quote]Originally posted by Jungleman:
<strong>

LMHO? Isn't it LMAO? </strong><hr></blockquote>

Maybe he's offended by the word @$$...

[Outcoded]

[quote]Originally posted by DANIMAL:
<strong>Well as a christian that believes that christmas Is Christs birthday give or take a few days or hours.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Or months and years, I think you'll find that date belongs to us Pagans, Christianity hijacked it because people were already eating too much, drinking too much, and giving each other presents that cost too much (as my RS teacher said).

End of the day, modern Christmas is about people getting together and having a good time, and is that really such a bad thing? In fact, if you consider a Wicker or Satanist (which isn't about devil worshipping), they believe that we are so small to God, that whatever we do, doesn't really matter to him.

Just a few perspectives, not meant to offend anyone.

Either way, have a good Christmas, Winter Solstice, Hannakah, or whatever you want.

[JungleMan1]

[quote]Originally posted by SlyVenom:
<strong>

Maybe he's offended by the word @$$...</strong><hr></blockquote>

He could use ROFL instead

But what would the H stand for?

[snooper2]

[quote]Originally posted by Jungleman:
<strong>

He could use ROFL instead

But what would the H stand for? </strong><hr></blockquote>

it could stand for hiney

[ilovetheusers]

The true meaning of Christmas is HAM – Eric Cartman

X-mas isn't that bad. Being an atheist I quite like the commercial tone to it. It gives me a holiday that is separate from religion even though the roots of X-mas are based in religion.

To be sure though. the whole idea behind Christmas was for the Catholic church to compete with a pagan religious holiday so they could move into a new location and convert the populace to Catholicism. Looking back in history one finds this is the case with most Christian holidays. See, they would take site of a particular group - say the druids in what is now Britain - and peg them for conversion. They would create a holiday in the church that amazingly coincided with the exact same dates as the pagan holiday. Eventually the pagan religion would falter as its worshippers converted to Christianity/Catholicism.

Got a little off track, anyway, I get gifts for my friends and family because it's a nice thing to do. It’s really fun. If you go shopping well in advance you only need get one or 2 small items that really suit the person. In gift giving we often miss the point that the proper gift beats the heck out of a truckload of stuff they don’t want or need. I personally find that many people who don’t get a jump on this holiday wind up grumbling and groaning about it and how it’s so commercialized and life would be better of without it and so on.

As for the fake holiday spirit – I haven’t seen any spirit of any sort this year. I think it may be due to 9/11 but then again it could be just me because I have had to work every day up until today (X-mas eve) and my paycheck being sucked dry by the government and my inability to get as many things for people (and myself) that I wanted. By the way – you can only get in the holiday spirit if you let yourself get in the spirit.

X-mas rules! Presents rule! Happy holidays guys! Hope Santa brings you all something to make you smile.

[KINGofBLEH]

EvilCabbage,

You are dead on about the commercialism! Christmas should not be the only time of year we give gifts and do special things for each other.

However, I hardly think we could classify Christmas as "just another day". What is special about Christmas for me is that it gives me an opporuntity to gather with family and friends who are geographically distant from me and it is not possible or practical to visit them individually during the year.

The holiday season is also a time of spiritual significance for people of faith. Most major religions observe some equivalant to Christmas during this time. This season is especially significant given events of the last few months.

You may or may not see any religious or spiritual significance to the holidays and I understand that. Whatever your point of view, the giving and loving spirit should not be limited to December. So whether you choose to celebrate Christmas by going to work or loafing on the couch or going to church or visiting your family, be sure to tell somebody you love them and remember how much you are loved.