Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays?

[LightningCrash]

There's some merit to this...... just as in this thread, it seems that christians are the ones that get offended more often than not opposed to lets say.... atheists.

Spend a half hour here and it will change your mind:
http://www.reddit.com/r/atheism/

There are people over there smearing feces on Chik-Fil-A's bathroom walls.

 

[Danny Tanner]

Spend a half hour here and it will change your mind:
http://www.reddit.com/r/atheism/

There are people over there smearing feces on Chik-Fil-A's bathroom walls.

Internet atheists are just as annoying and pompous as the religious folks they disagree with.

 

[Cedar Creek]

I say "Merry Christmas", but I'm fine with "Happy Holidays". I've heard that term for as long as I can remember and just took it as an inclusive gesture of good will, with nothin' and nobody being demonized.

Cedar Creek

 

[dutchwrangler]

Happy Holidays. I subscribe to Deism and reject all religions. God yes, religion no.

 

[chr_edw]

Merry Christmas.....without Christ there's no Happy Holiday..just sayin

Well said.

I always say Merry Christmas regardless of what is said to me. Other religions certainly don't offend me, so they shouldn't be either. I could care less about being politically correct.

 

[Danny Tanner]

 

[gmar]

Here's my thoughts on this....

[Broken External Image]

 

[chr_edw]

To often it's just like saying good morning or how are you.

 

[RidgeHunter]

Spend a half hour here and it will change your mind:
http://www.reddit.com/r/atheism/

There are people over there smearing feces on Chik-Fil-A's bathroom walls.

Somehow I don't think a subreddit is an accurate representation of an entire group of people. Just like this thread is not an accurate representation of Christians.

Like Danny said, people are annoying and pompous on the internet. They may tell you they act like this in real life, but most of them really don't. I say whatever comes to mind. If I'm reasonably sure you celebrate Christmas, you get a merry Christmas from me. Or you might get happy holidays, or a have a good one, or take it easy, or keep on truckin' or what the hell ever.

I've never had anybody get pissy because IRL people don't act like self-important douchebags to the extent they do on the net. If I ever have a Christian get snippy because I say happy holidays to them, I'm going to tell them to get a life and reexamine the tenets of their faith if a friendly greeting from a stranger spurs a lecture or curt comment as a response. And if I ever have someone say "I'm not religious" or some such crap after I wish them a merry Christmas, I'm going to say "I'm not either, but the difference is I'm not an insecure ********* like you."

I doubt I'll ever have to say either one because IRL people just don't act this horribly. Yet.

Regardless of religious beliefs, any person who reacts in a negative way to a friendly greeting of any kind needs to learn some freaking social skills and shove their agenda up their hind end. If you feel your beliefs or lack thereof are being threatened by words from a stranger, friendly words at that, they must not be that strong in the first place.

 

[mugsy]

It's all good man, no problem on the "moron" comment. Religious topics are difficult to discuss in person let alone on a forum.

1. Christmas today (at least in the eyes of the "Church") is about the birth of Christ. But it wasn't always that way. The Catholic church took what had been a Pagan celebration around December 25th, that included trees, gift giving, babies being born, etc, and turned it into what became a celebration of the birth of Christ. There is no evidence that Christ was born on Christmas day, let alone in December. Christmas today is about the birth of Christ only because the Catholic church said it is.

2. No matter our view point, we are all basing our beliefs on the historical writings of someone. And the point of Christ founding the Catholic church does nothing to prove that Christmas has always been about the birth of Christ.

3. In regard to answering your question. I didn't say anything about the "true" meaning of Christmas. Never used the word true. All of us here are commenting on what our beliefs are. No one can say "true", about any of this. It is just what we choose to believe. As to my source, there are plenty of books written about the periods of history that apply to the subject. Just Google "origin of Christmas". There is plenty to read from a variety of sources.

4. I hope you and yours, as well as the others in this discussion have a Very Merry Christmas this season. As well as those that call the season by any other name.

Your reasoning is fallacious - let's try an analogy. Before the founding of the United States subjects of the British Crown rallied around Union Jack and celebrated the Monarch's elevation. After the upstart Republic broke away we instituted a national flag and celebrated our independence day and also accorded the elected President "royal-ish" honors as head of state not just head of government.
Does that mean there was no substantive difference between the old UK Monarchy governing system and the new republican form in the United States? Is the US flag nothing more than a reworked old Union Jack? Of course not as any even casual observer would see. Similarly, when certain dates in the Pagan year were celebrated as new Christian holy days and feasts the impulse was to not greatly disrupt newly converted peoples' life while moving their sensibilities and impulses in a "Christian" direction. The analogy fits well and, I believe, shows that SoonerATC has made a much better case than you have.