Christmas, winter solstice or just the hell of it ~ what should we be celebrating?

[Amorphos]

Christmas, winter solstice or just the hell of it ~ what should we be celebrating?

for me Christmas is the theft of a very ancient tradition - the winter solstice, it is widely believed that Christ wasn’t even born on Christmas day, so why should we celebrate this time of year in his name? many of us don’t even believe in Christianity, we have our own faiths or no faith at all as the case may be.

with the winter solstice, we simply celebrate this time of year, traditionally considered to be the week of the end of the year. in past times it was always about giving and receiving - using up the old ready for the new, now it is much the same although not based around farming. as i see it the nativity is a questionable story from a foreign culture and christianity stole it! what is wrong with going back to our roots and celebrating our own traditions?

or

why not just have a festival for the sheer sake of having one? preferably i would like to see a less materialistic festival, but i just hate all those plays i have to go and see my children in every year, at first it is fun but now it just makes me dribble profusely . secondly there is the question of indoctrination! why should our children be brought up with this stuff shoved down there throats?


i would like to see an end to Christmas but not the festival!

how do you see it?



merry solstace

[Ummagumma]

Happy Capitalism, Everybody!

[Amorphos]

yeah - while there are still resources to waste, lets live like kings

[wilting]

Every tradition is a crazy mix of other traditions and circumstances of the day. Don't worry about it too much and just enjoy it.

[ThiudareiksGunthigg]

for me Christmas is the theft of a very ancient tradition - the winter solstice, it is widely believed that Christ wasn’t even born on Christmas day

"Widely believed"? It's not "widely believed", it's well known. No-one ever claimed that this was the day Jesus was actually born. Ever. It's always been known simply as the day on which his birth was celebrated.

so why should we celebrate this time of year in his name?

If you're not a Christian, you shouldn't. I always make a point of wishing people a "Happy Yule".

many of us don’t even believe in Christianity, we have our own faiths or no faith at all as the case may be.

So what's the problem? Celebrate your own faith's winter festival and let the Christians have theirs.

as i see it the nativity is a questionable story from a foreign culture and christianity stole it!

Most people would say there is very little that's Christian about the way the winter festival is celebrated. So if it's the name that's the problem, call it "Yule" and celebrate that. Or "Saturnalia". Or "the Feast of the Unconquered Sun".

And if it's the fact that the Christians "stole" the date - get over it already! No-one is stopping you from having as pagan or as secular winter festival as you want, so why the whining? Get on with your own and let them get on with theirs.

what is wrong with going back to our roots and celebrating our own traditions?

Is someone stopping you?

i would like to see an end to Christmas but not the festival!

So now you'd like to stop them?! Way to be hypocritical dude!

merry solstace

I'd take your whining about all this more seriously if you knew how to spell "solstice".

[Earl of Rochester]

Holidays are a healthy thing, I honestly don't think the significance of them is terrible important. Christmas to me is about having a good time with my loved ones.

If you want to celebrate it Roman style with a drunken orgy or something feel free

[Big War Bird]

I'm agnostic, but I celebrate a secular Christmas. Its a kick ass holiday and gives me an excuse to drop my natural frugality and blow some cash on rapidly depreciating assets.

[Tom Paine]

I'm agnostic, but I celebrate a secular Christmas. Its a kick ass holiday and gives me an excuse to drop my natural frugality and blow some cash on rapidly depreciating assets.

Whereas I celebrate it because people give me new "assets". Also because of fun.

Seriously, what's wrong with slapping the name Christmas on the celebration? Its no more of a problem than calling it Saturnalia...

[removeduser_487563287433]

There's nothing wrong with Christmas.

[Metellus]

Merry Sol Invictus everyone, now go load up RTW:BI and build a temple to Sol in every city in your empire... you know you want to (and what's more, you can!)

[Sidmen]

Everyone should celebrate Christmas, because its the best holiday.

my feelings...

[different_13]

On the one hand I despair of the commercial nature of this holy day (sorry, holiday).
On the other hand, presents are fun.

I don't celebrate anything at Christmas. I just get/give presents. As someone else said, happy capitalism.

I don't think I'd be bothered if Christmas was abolished somehow..

[ajm317]

Let's not kid ourselves. Christmas is, at this point, a secular holiday. Oh sure, there are some Christians who still go to church and ramble on about baby Jesus and all that, but to most of the world it's all about gift giving, Christmas trees, Santa Claus and eggnog.

And really, who cares what it's named? I mean, if we're going to complain about the name "Christmas" why aren't the Christians upset that Thursday is named after a pagan god?

[Tom Paine]

And Wednesday (Wodin) and Tuesday (Tyr) and Friday (Frigge) and Saturday (Saturn).... And even the Sabbath is named after the Sun!

the fact is, that its called Christmas has no impact whatsoever on the nature of the day. The name is divorced from the reality of what is done on the day.

[Ummon]

Ahem, you mean, in English...

[Cúchulainn]

What should we be celebrating?.....I know Hajj!!

[Amorphos]

So what’s the problem? Celebrate your own faith’s winter festival and let the Christians have theirs.

> it is my own festival - not Christians!

the name doesn’t matter no, but the indoctrination? you talk about the freedom to have what festival you want or that i want, but we tend to get religion rammed down our throats this time of year esp.



anyhow i don’t care to much about all that, i got a grand to blow on notin' man wahoo .

[ajm317]

> it is my own festival - not Christians!

the name doesn’t matter no, but the indoctrination? you talk about the freedom to have what festival you want or that i want, but we tend to get religion rammed down our throats this time of year esp.



anyhow i don’t care to much about all that, i got a grand to blow on notin' man wahoo .

I haven't seen a single baby Jesus yet this season.

But I must admit, I haven't looked at my girlfriends Christmas cards too closely.

Seen a couple Santa Claus TV specials though.

[Earl of Rochester]

> it is my own festival - not Christians!

the name doesn’t matter no, but the indoctrination? you talk about the freedom to have what festival you want or that i want, but we tend to get religion rammed down our throats this time of year esp.



anyhow i don’t care to much about all that, i got a grand to blow on notin' man wahoo .

Nobody promised you freedom from religion...

[Tom Paine]

No, we don't. We get the term Christmas all over the place, but that's hardly religion being rammed down our throats - or should we protest the names of the various weekdays as ramming Anglosaxon paganism down our throats too? Huh. Foolishness.