Originally posted by plawrence:
Christmas is still a religious holiday which is not celebrated by non-Christians.
I have to disagree here. Christmas is celebrated by many, not just Christians. All my athiest and most Jewish friends "celebrate" Christmas: most have Christmas trees, outdoor lights, exchange gifts with family and friends, etc. What non-Christians do NOT celebrate, necessarily, is the Birth of Christ. While for Christians these go hand-in-hand, for others, they don't. And none of my athiest or Jewish friends have a problem with it. Some even have religious-type decorations.
Reindeer are OK. They're non-sectarian. Santa, though, represents Christmas.
Santa Claus represents the spirit of Christmas, sure. He was based on
St Nicholas (Santa's name came from the Dutch
Sint Nikolaas), as is a fairly new concept (as
we know Santa, only since the 1800's in America).
Here is a brief history if anyone's interested.
In any event, while Santa has traditionally represented a religious icon, nowadays you have to admit he's used to sell toys and used by parents to threaten their kids to be good!
...people have the freedom to listen to whatever music they choose to on their radio. It's different when someone walks into the Department of Motor Vehicles because they have to and get bombarded with Christmas music.
Man, I'm just gonna call you Ebenezer Scrooge from now on! :p You left out the "Bah, humbug!!"
...this is not about being politically correct. It's about the government's "promotion", if you will, of Christianity.
I just don't see it that way, so, what can I say? It's not like the government is holding religious masses on the steps of every county courthouse and forcing everyone to attend.
I guess I
could see how a nativity scene or a display of The 10 Commandments
may offend some people. (Altho the latter is Judeo-Christian). I'm not gonna repeat my previous post, but will just say:
I wouldn't be offended at all if other groups celebrated their own holidays with the same enthusiasm.
I don't think kids should be singing Christmas Carols in public schools.
Opinion noted.
BTW - Do you object to the word
holiday, being that its etymology is from the Old English for "Holy Day"? See, I thought "happy holidays" was P.C., and I say it all the time myself. But maybe I should now stop since it may offend someone who doesn't think it's holy at all. Dag, now what? :p
lol
