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in ukraine we also had grandpa frost. only thing is, it wasnt santa clause, because he wasnt a religious figure. grandpa frost was a mascot/whatever for the celebration of the new year...like father time is in the US.
so its not the culture of santa, its a culture of a gift-giving old, bearded man that is associated with holidays in the winter. just so everyone is clear on the facts. haha
bot_r_d...from now on, every time someone says "merry christmas" to me, im going to look them in the eye and tell them that im not christian, and make sure that they understand that and feel utterly STUPID.
yea we also had a new year tree instead of a christmas tree. i tell folks im jewish too. im like "happy hannukah" any they give me a look lol.
ok, let me settle something- in uzbekistan we had a santa. even though im jewish. he was not called santa. he was called "grandfather frost" - translation of russian. so the culture of santa is everywhere make no mistake. christmas though is different. santa clause is everywhere.
But in America, Santa = Christmas. Educated folks might know there are different incarnations of Santa all over the world, but as long as there are slack-jawed yokels running around here, Santa is Christmas. Don't blame us, blame the education system.
hey about passover and easter differences --- correct the below if im wrong
1. christians believe that jesus is their messiah(sp)
and he rose from the dead on easter.
2. jews believe passover is the "waiting period" for their savior. every year they wait to see if the son of god will come.
thats the difference. the only reason anything christian is linked to ANYTHING jewish is cause christians were all originally jewish. period.
hey about passover and easter differences --- correct the below if im wrong
1. christians believe that jesus is their messiah(sp)
and he rose from the dead on easter.
2. jews believe passover is the "waiting period" for their savior. every year they wait to see if the son of god will come.
thats the difference. the only reason anything christian is linked to ANYTHING jewish is cause christians were all originally jewish. period.
but passover is mentioned in the christian/catholic bible
but passover is mentioned in the christian/catholic bible
yea. well the whole concept was to "add" to the old testimant(sp)
your supposed to follow old and new. but most just follow the new. passover is mentioned in the old. i have not read the new, so if its in there then idk lol
I never meant saying hello was pathetic, the matter is more that not saying the word christmas has made it's way all across the media and lunch rooms everywhere. It is rediculous, something that has been said for centuries is now becoming an issue. And somehow i knew slavery was gonna be mentioned, which holds no relevance. We are discussing a word, not a degredation of an entire race.
I mean if we start to argue about this, why shouldn't we start to argue about other meaningless things, like I don't know, Halloween. I don't see the jehovah witnesses making proclamations about it being offensive to them, they don't believe in so they don't turn their lights on for the kids, there...done, no complaints. Moreover they don't celebrate birthdays so maybe none of us should make birthday announcements in the paper or on the radio.
So should we not say happy easter to anyone either? which from definition is a direct relation to the word 'pashca' which is translated to passover ? should we say happy rabbit day? just so we make everyone happy? no it is rediculous.
we take it for what it is, the greeting that has been around for centuries, just like christmas. jewish people say happy hannuka to all of their relatives and friends during this festive season, and christians say merry christmas to everyone including perfect strangers, why be offended like i said before it is just a greeting, just say happy holidays/hanukkah/kwanzaa/ramadan etc..back. don't fight it and make a bigger deal about it than it is. it is the holiday season and most everyone who is shopping in North America around dec. 1 and 25 is christmas shopping, so deal with it. if you are no religion and are celebrating the 25th, then maybe you should reconsider cause it is historically a christian based holiday reflecting christian beliefs, so in my opinion do the least to respect it, and just accept it for what it is.
Shut up Pon!! haha
Again, if people who are not christian must respect Christmas, then it is only fair that people who are Christian respect the views of people who do not believe. You bring a point about the Jews. They say happy chanakah to all their RELATIVES. They know their relatives are Jewish. Do they say it the average white/black person walking down the street? No, because they know they aren't Jewish. It is an assumption in this country that if you aren't Jewish or resemble a person who is of a different religion (e.g. Middle Eastern, Indian, some Asian), that you are Christian, when that is just not the case.
I completely agree that this point is separate from the slavery point, but I was trying to make a point. Salvery isn't about just one race at one point in time. Entire races have been enslaved by the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Monguls, the British, and the French. Of course the views of these peoples were forced upon the slaves and then passed down. I feel just because something has been done for 100 years does not mean that it cannot change.
I am not taking the fun or religiousity out of Christmas. I believe that religions are very important to a lot of people. However, all I have been asking for was respect for the person one is talking to. As for Halloween or Birthdays, you can choose not to celebrate those. However, you can't escape Christmas in this country.
The fact that most religious holidays in the country have turned into secular affairs with religious undertones makes it even crappier. They are no longer religious holidays, but holidays about buying, spending, giving, getting, not about religion.
Again, I am not saying remove religions from the planet (although my personal view of them is very pessimistic), but rather just about respect. You wouldn't walk up to someone in the Middle East and say Merry Christmas! Why assume that everyone celebrates it here??
I can't see that picture, but if it said X-mas instead of Christmas, then heres some interesting things:
The X-mas abbreviation originated in early calendars when the typesettings were of much less variation in size than we have now - in other words they didn't have really small fonts. To fit the names of holidays they had to abbreiate them, X-mas was chosen because the X is the greek letter "chi" - which is the first letter of "Christ" as it is spelled in the original greek. The church had no problem with this originally.
Now I guess it's a different story, we can type small, but still - neat story.
your supposed to follow old and new. but most just follow the new.
Not possible, if they follow the new it therefore stands that they must follow the old or they are not following either. This is because the new testament teaches that the old testament is still valid - for instance Matthew 5:17 - "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. " The Old Testament is classified into 3 sections, the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms. Get what He was saying?
So in other words, you can't follow the new without following the old.
while i agree with you synod, i gotta say alot of christians are freakin hypochrites or are just ignorant of what you said. cause i hear alot that the old don't matter. this is from christians. sorry if im wrong
but it hasn't been a problem up untill now, i can't find any records anywhere stating the frustrations of the jewish,muslim,hindi,etc...that they don't want to be said merry christmas to, i mean take it for what it is, a stranger basically telling you to enjoy your day or holidays anyway. since christmas is viewed as a holiday just interpret it as happy holidays, cause basically that is the meaning of the word christmas anyways now a days
but it hasn't been a problem up untill now, i can't find any records anywhere stating the frustrations of the jewish,muslim,hindi,etc...that they don't want to be said merry christmas to, i mean take it for what it is, a stranger basically telling you to enjoy your day or holidays anyway. since christmas is viewed as a holiday just interpret it as happy holidays, cause basically that is the meaning of the word christmas anyways now a days
I understand that and yes any welcoming, friendly greeting is a wonderful gesture. And I understand that Christmas has been reduced to a capitalistic holiday. However, I would just want people to be aware of who they are talking to. That's all. I understand your points and I don't want to detract from the spirit of the holidays. And I am well aware that this topic is trivial compared to many other topics. But coming from a agnostic/atheist view, it gets pretty tiring when the whole country assumes you are Christian at every holiday. That was my point.
Have a nice holiday or vacation or whatever you practice...
Majin - Happy Chanukah (if you celebrate it)!
Last edited by robbclark1 : 12-22-2005 at 02:17 PM.
I think the whole thing is stupid. Everyone now a days has to find something to complain about. Just live your own life, who cares.
I saw on CNN the other night how it is now politically incorrect to call someone a transexual. It should be transGENDER. I mean come on. They dotn want to be called transexual? Well thats what they are! So does that mean on every form now where it says Sex: M or F, it will now say Gender: m/F?
Its all stupid. I dont think anyone is gay or whatnot for celebrating any holiday other than christmas. Hell in our family, and im sure lots of others, christmas doenst mean much other than a day off of work, an empty wallet and lots of presents. How many people actually celebrate christ's birth on the 25th? If by giving my fiance a new ipod is celebrating his birth, well then hell im guilty. People just need to stop nit-picking society and just live their lives. This crap was never even mentioned very much 10 years ago, and now all these things are coming up that are politically incorrect? Gimme a break. Where were you 10 years ago?
I dunno, it irritates me. Just my .02, im sure someone will bicker about it in a few hours anyway.
just so everyone is clear on the facts. haha
