I just saw this on a good friend's Facebook page and it bothered me.
Well, it's true that Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ although there is speculation that he wasn't really born on December 25th. I got this information from the website of the American Presbyterian Church.
There is more than one holiday in December. We used to teach the children in our school district that people around the world celebrated many holidays in December. Christmas is also celebrated differently in other countries. The unit was called Festival of Lights. There is Chanukah, of course. There's also Diwali and Kwanzaa.
Each holiday is special to the people who celebrate it. It is hopefully a time of peace, love and reflection.
My mother is Buddhist, but she always set up a tree in our house when we were children and there was that hopeful possibility of a gift. As a little girl, we all went to the plantation manager's large mansion where he passed out gifts to us "poor" children of the laborers. I think he might have been dressed up as Santa Claus too. I can't quite remember.
When we moved to Illinois, I learned the traditions of Chanukah from our good friend, Dina and have been to midnight mass with Catholic friends. Our children were introduced to all the religions and encouraged to respect them.
At this winter holiday time, would it be possible for everyone to share the month and not claim it exclusively for their own? Could they inclusively share their holiday traditions and happiness and allow everyone to celebrate with them in their own way?
Would it be possible to wish someone a Happy Christmas or a Merry Chanukah if you know that is the religion they celebrate, but to say "Happy Holidays" if you don't? Therefore, could you leave it so that stores or public places should be allowed to wish all people happiness and not just Christians without being angry about it?
This would make for a much more peaceful, friendly, loving world, don't you think?
There were several replies after this entry with his friends all agreeing and saying things like, "Let's bring back the Christ in Christmas."
Well, it's true that Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ although there is speculation that he wasn't really born on December 25th. I got this information from the website of the American Presbyterian Church.
"What the Bible does clearly teach is that Christ was born in the fall and not on December 25th. The latter date was the great pagan holy day of the ancient world. It was the birthday of the sun god, when at the winter solstice, the sun that had been in decline grew stronger again and regained new life. It was Baal’s birthday. It was Tammuz’ birthday. To the Romans it was the birthday of the invincible sun. God has given us just enough information for his purposes. He has not given us enough information to determine the exact date of Christ’s birth and thus be able to institute on mere human authority a celebration of his birth. He has also given us enough information to clearly demonstrate that Christ was not born at the time of the winter solstice and thus show us that participating in pagan traditions and resurrecting pagan festivals on the basis of a pretended birth of Christ at that time of year is totally without foundation or merit. God in his wisdom has given us the information that we need. May we have the wisdom to walk according to that knowledge and depart from evil."
Each holiday is special to the people who celebrate it. It is hopefully a time of peace, love and reflection.
My mother is Buddhist, but she always set up a tree in our house when we were children and there was that hopeful possibility of a gift. As a little girl, we all went to the plantation manager's large mansion where he passed out gifts to us "poor" children of the laborers. I think he might have been dressed up as Santa Claus too. I can't quite remember.
At this winter holiday time, would it be possible for everyone to share the month and not claim it exclusively for their own? Could they inclusively share their holiday traditions and happiness and allow everyone to celebrate with them in their own way?
Would it be possible to wish someone a Happy Christmas or a Merry Chanukah if you know that is the religion they celebrate, but to say "Happy Holidays" if you don't? Therefore, could you leave it so that stores or public places should be allowed to wish all people happiness and not just Christians without being angry about it?
This would make for a much more peaceful, friendly, loving world, don't you think?
Yes, I agree! Well put, Kay! Happy Holidays, everyone! There is more than one reason for the season.
ReplyDeleteIf I say "Merry Christmas" to a non-Christian they usually smile and respond with "Merry Christmas". If I say "Happy Holidays" to a (so called) Christian, they will jump down my throat with an accusation of leaving Christ out of Christmas.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of what time of year Christ was born, Christmas to me is the time to celebrate the birth of Christ but I certainly don't do so just to say Merry Christmas and I rejoice that other religions and/or non-religions have something to celebrate this time of year as well. Arguing over politically correctness takes all the joy out of the holiday season.
HAPPY, MERRY, JOYFUL WHATEVER EVERYONE!
Wonderful thought and i completely agree with you .Happy Holidays !
ReplyDeleteYou are right, as usual, Kay. I think we can all appreciate people giving us a holiday greeting without worrying about the words they use.
ReplyDeleteVery well put, Kay. I agree with you on so many levels. There is a push toward religious intolerance going on these days, and I fear that many Christians are forgetting Christ's admonition to love your neighbor, not try to convert him. Thanks for such a thoughtful post.
ReplyDeletewhoohoo, someone finally talking sensibly about this.
ReplyDeleteFunny...I've been thinking about the same thing the past few days. I completely agree with you. I think some of the people who are insistent on using "Merry Christmas" are more about the commercial aspect of it than the religious part.
ReplyDeleteVery well said Kay. Thanks you.
ReplyDeletePerfectly said, Kay, and I do so agree with you. To me the season is simply one of love and the time to share the love we feel with everyone. Thank you for such a wonderful post!
ReplyDeleteWishing you a day of love and laughter -- every day!
Sylvia
I have always said 'Happy Holidays'....I have seen that FB message..made me angry....
ReplyDeleteExactly Kay! I love your post.
ReplyDeleteyes you are right. My religion believes Christ was born April 6th...but we celebrate His birth all year and at Christmas...
ReplyDeleteHalleluia...O happy day! Whatever is to you and yours!
ReplyDeleteOh Heck, not this argument again. At work, I said Happy Holidays to everyone. I worked with Christians, Muslims, Jews, Wiccans, you name it. What would Jesus Do?? Dianne
ReplyDeleteYes, I've been quietly agreeing with you for years.
ReplyDeleteThere's Ramadan in there somewhere too.
Happy holidays.
I saw a very funny cartoon where a person at someone down on the ground beating them up and saying, "It's MERRY CHRISTMAS!! NOT HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!"
ReplyDeleteThat kind of says it all doesn't it?
Mage: I was wondering about Ramadan, but when I looked it up it said it was around July. I'm still not sure.
ReplyDeleteKay G: That does sound like a perfect cartoon. I wish I had it.
Kudos to you, Kay! Well said!
ReplyDeleteAMEN
ReplyDeleteAMEN
AMEN
AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aloha from Waikiki
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YES! I do agree! I have seen these same messages on Facebook, and find them annoying, and frankly, ignorant! There are many holidays this time of year. Most of our Christmas symbols, including the Christmas tree, have pagan origins. So what. Celebrate all of it, with joy!
ReplyDeleteThe Muslim calendar is lunar but they don't have leap months like our Jewish calendar does. So Ramadan can be in different Western months each year.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Dina. I was wondering when Ramadan was.
ReplyDeleteYou've lost me!
ReplyDeleteI've only ever heard of Christmas in December.
It is more of a traditional holiday here as a religious one. Actually come to think of it, apart from a few Christmas Carols that refer to "Christ" or "Jesus" etc, I've never encountered ANY religious aspect of Christmas.
My students would celebrate Eid, usually around the beginning of December. Eid-ul-fitr. It was tough fasting all day. But we honoured their celebrations. We had much fun with all the different celebrations. I resent bible thumping Christians posting such a status on Facebook, I agree with you.
ReplyDeleteI remember Eid-al-fitur from when we were in Turkey. It was in November then. I believe the date of Eid-al-fitur changes each year just like Ramadan. We do have such rich and interesting cultures in our world. I wish we could all respect and celebrate them.
ReplyDelete