Happy Holidays!

[TheGlitchMaster]

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, and Happy Kwanzaa! Share your holiday spirit on this thread. Feel free to talk about gifts you got, want, or just pop in to wish someone a merry whatever. So have a happy holiday, and happy smashing!

 

[antimatter]

i just want to wish merry christmas and a happy new year to all. yes, i know not everyone celebrates christmas, but please, at least accept the gesture.

 

[Crimson King]

I am in the minority who just doesn't like Christmas. It's meaningless to me now that I have a job.

 

[CHAOSDRAGON88]

Happy holidays everyone and to all a good cheer.
@CK; please dont bring that here.

 

[adumbrodeus]

I would appreciate if people lay off the "Merry Christmas", except when explicitly talking to Christians, instead say, "Happy/Merry Santamas". I would furthermore, appreciate it if none-Christians would call their celebration "Santamas".


I am absolutely disgusted with the massive commercialization which has come to dominate Christmas, it's supposed to be about the Birth of Jesus Christ, not about getting presents and waiting for Santa to come down the Chimney. This secular identity that has been created has stolen Christmas from Christianity and turned it into a way for corporations to make a buck at the beginning of Winter in preparation for Winter sales slumps.

It's not right what has happened to Christmas, so please do your part to divorce Christmas from this monstrous commercialization which has turned the holiday about Jesus Christ, friend of the poor and oppressed into just another cash cow.

Now then....




Happy Holidays to all!

 

[CHAOSDRAGON88]

Most people that say merry christmas that are christian are referring to christ. The legend of santa claus was merged with christmas so that people(who did not want to stop celebrating santa) could celebrate santa claus, because at one time it was prohibited.

 

[Crimson King]

I would appreciate if people lay off the "Merry Christmas", except when explicitly talking to Christians, instead say, "Happy/Merry Santamas". I would furthermore, appreciate it if none-Christians would call their celebration "Santamas".

I am absolutely disgusted with the massive commercialization which has come to dominate Christmas, it's supposed to be about the Birth of Jesus Christ, not about getting presents and waiting for Santa to come down the Chimney. This secular identity that has been created has stolen Christmas from Christianity and turned it into a way for corporations to make a buck at the beginning of Winter in preparation for Winter sales slumps.

It's not right what has happened to Christmas, so please do your part to divorce Christmas from this monstrous commercialization which has turned the holiday about Jesus Christ, friend of the poor and oppressed into just another cash cow.

Now then....




Happy Holidays to all!

You are aware that Christ has NOTHING to do with the date of Christmas at all right?

As for my lack of interest in Christmas: it's a bull**** superficial holiday. You buy presents for people you rarely see or even worse for people you see all the time because if you really did it out of anything other than obligation you would have been doing gifts all year long, not just when you have a chance to get something back. Other than that, the magic of Christmas, ie getting awesome gifts to play with for the first time, died when I got a job my freshman year in college. After that, what's the purpose of waiting, I have a lot of disposable income because I work a lot and budget well.

 

[Xsyven]

I am in the minority who just doesn't like Christmas. It's meaningless to me now that I have a job.

You find no joy in giving your actual friends gifts? I'm only giving out about six presents this year, but I had great time looking for them. They're all cheap and stupid, too.

For example, I have a friend, and she and I joke around about how I'm a stalker, and that I'll one day murder her. I found her an eight inch, rusty knife that I dug out of the depths of my garage, which I'll spatter with fake blood, put it in a tattered box, and leave a note scribbled on notebook paper, saying: "Just to be fair... Merry Christmas".

We just have weird inside jokes. Anyway, it sounds cheesy, but really, it's the thought that counts.

 

[Crimson King]

You find no joy in giving your actual friends gifts? I'm only giving out about six presents this year, but I had great time looking for them. They're all cheap and stupid, too.

For example, I have a friend, and she and I joke around about how I'm a stalker, and that I'll one day murder her. I found her an eight inch, rusty knife that I dug out of the depths of my garage, which I'll spatter with fake blood, put it in a tattered box, and leave a note scribbled on notebook paper, saying: "Just to be fair... Merry Christmas".

We just have weird inside jokes. Anyway, it sounds cheesy, but really, it's the thought that counts.

Not really, no. Most of my friends just don't like stuff or stuff worth buying from anyone else.

 

[choknater]

Merry Christmas SWF!

 

[adumbrodeus]

More expansion on why non-Christians need to stop celebrating Christmas... expanded

Erm.... you completely misread my post, didn't you? That was not a rant about why everybody should celebrate Christmas, it was a rant about how, because everybody celebrates Christmas people don't realize it's anything more then presents.

You are aware that Christ has NOTHING to do with the date of Christmas at all right?

THAT'S WHAT I'M COMMENTING AGAINST!!!

This secular identity that the holiday has gained that allows people to celebrate it without even referencing to Christ.


The holiday was established to celebrate the birthday of Christ, I say, "if you don't care about the birthday of Christ, don't hijack our holiday, celebrate something else".





If you don't care about Christmas, you don't have to celebrate it, in fact, I take strong exception to you celebrating it, so don't.... I know where you live *menacing glare*

Just kidding obviously, you don't celebrate Christmas anyway, so you're part of the solution, not the problem, and I encourage you to convince other people to do the same.

Most people that say merry christmas that are christian are referring to christ. The legend of santa claus was merged with christmas so that people(who did not want to stop celebrating santa) could celebrate santa claus, because at one time it was prohibited.

Yet what are the Christmas specials? They're stuff like pikachu the yellow electric rat that saved Christmas (by subbing in for a certain red-nosed reindeer). What do people do before Christmas? Instead of reflecting and considering the birth of their savior, they're trampling people for the hottest gizmos for gifts.

Where is the Christ-centricity, Christmas has become too embedded in American culture, making it an extension of consumerism. Sure, a good number of people are Christians, and they remember Christ is the reason for the season (for them anyway), but it's something in the back of their minds that is drowned out by the hustle and bustle of holiday preparations.

You can go through the entire Christmas season without hearing about Jesus once! That shows how bad it's become.


The only solution is a clean break, make sure everybody knows that Santamas is a superficial celebration of American consumer culture, and let those Christians among us celebrate our religious holiday in a manner befitting the birthday of the messiah.


Because right now, nobody really cares, I have friends of just about every religious denomination that you can imagine, and they all celebrate Christmas. Nobody except the Christians know the reason, and even they only realize it as a side-thing because they have too much to deal with with all the consumer issues.

And Children, they have no idea, even in my family, my little brother (a 5 year old) who has been raised in a very Christian household, when asked what Christmas means to him he said, "it's about being with family and goodwill towards men". Sure those are nice perifrials, but that's not what the holiday is about, that's his primary image of the holiday.

Sure, Santa's creation was noble, but he has gained a life of his own and has overwhelmed what he was trying to protect. Why continue this trend? Our savior deserves better.




And here's a little Christmas song, it truly encapsulates my issues with what people have done with Christmas:


That's What Christmas Means To Me


..Oh yeah ...YEAH!...
Candles burnin' low
Lots of mistle-toe
Lots of snow and ice
Everywhere we go

Choir singin' carols
Right outside my door
All these things and more
All these things and more
That's what Christmas means to me my love,
Christmas means to me my love

Christmas means to me my love,
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh-oh
Christmas means to me my love,
Christmas means to me.....my..love

WHOA!...
I see your smilin' face,
like I've never seen before
Though I love you madly
It seems I love you more

The little cards you give me
will touch my heart for sure
All these things and more
All these things and more

That's what Christmas means to me my love,
Christmas means to me my love

Christmas means to me my love,
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh-oh
Christmas means to me my love,
Christmas means to me.....my..love

I feel like runnin' wild
Lord's angels and a little child
I'll get you 'neath the mistle-toe
I'll kiss you once, and then some more

 

[antimatter]

i thank you for giving me hope that people like you exist anymore.

 

[Crimson King]

The holiday was established to celebrate the birthday of Christ, I say, "if you don't care about the birthday of Christ, don't hijack our holiday, celebrate something else".

Typical Christian mindset. December 25th was selected because it was the popular Roman holiday of the birth of Mithra. In order to make the religion more popular for the masses, early Christians started celebrating his birth in December, despite it being impossible (Jesus was born around September). So like Easter, when you celebrate this holiday, you are celebrating a Pagan holiday.

 

[adumbrodeus]

i thank you for giving me hope that people like you exist anymore.

You're welcome.


You'll stop telling non-Christian "merry Christmas", right?

 

[antimatter]

yes, you gave plenty of reasons to.

 

[CHAOSDRAGON88]

Typical Christian mindset. December 25th was selected because it was the popular Roman holiday of the birth of Mithra. In order to make the religion more popular for the masses, early Christians started celebrating his birth in December, despite it being impossible (Jesus was born around September). So like Easter, when you celebrate this holiday, you are celebrating a Pagan holiday.

We are not celebrating a date we are celebrating the birth of jesus christ. I myself dont know the exact date and we have to celebrate on some date, Easter is the celebration of the resurrection.

 

[adumbrodeus]

Yes I know all that stuff... but you presented it wrong.

Typical Christian mindset. December 25th was selected because it was the popular Roman holiday of the birth of Mithra. In order to make the religion more popular for the masses, early Christians started celebrating his birth in December, despite it being impossible (Jesus was born around September). So like Easter, when you celebrate this holiday, you are celebrating a Pagan holiday.

oh, you were talking about the choice of date and other nice symbolism. You should've said that, I know all about that fun stuff. If you wish to assert that the choice of date and other perifrial issues make Christmas really not about Christ, then you need to say so explicitly, because even though I know about those circumstances, I obviously disagree with the conclusion, so it is a topic for debate.


You can't just assume I don't know because I disagree with your conclusion, I've already shown myself an atypical Christian because instead of just choosing to assume that plastering Jesus everywhere is good, I looked at the social effects of various actions and chose the one which made the most sense. It makes no sense for you to assume that I have the typical lack of knowledge on the issue just because I don't present the knowledge when somebody presented an opinion that by all indications up to the point was unrelated, except to people who directly subscribe to religious reletivism, which I obviously don't.


The date was picked for that reason. As were some aesthetics of the Holiday. The date was picked by Constantine because Maxentius, his rival, supported the cult of Mithra, and before then it was celebrated on January 6 (along with Jesus' baptism). His actual birthday is unknown, so whoever told you September is mistaken if they consider it an absolute, though the most popular is February to early March as of late, at least in my experience.


But the date being set on the feast of Mithra does not mean it's the same feast. The feast itself pre-existed the setting of that date, and was just another example of the early Christian habit of absorbing customs that do not run counter to Christianity in order to ease conversion.


It's still a different holiday, same date and similarities in practice =/= same holiday. That's lazy thinking and I see it way to often among non-religious people. Sure, religions have similarities, but that doesn't mean that you can lump them all in one category, the differences MATTER.



It's the same for Easter, adopting some innocent symbolism and dates for ease of transition.

 

[F8AL]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years! :D

 

[adumbrodeus]

Look guys, why must you take offense at this course of action?

I am not acting like Christmas is the only holiday in this time period (or the only important one, which is just as bad), I'm not attempting to force you all to celebrate Christmas, and I am discouraging people from following those course of action.

Does it really matter why I'm doing it? What's wrong with me holding these views because I feel strongly about protecting something. It accomplishes the same thing for your purposes, and you don't really care about Christianity anyway, why does it irk you?




Truthfully, I figured that Christians would be the ones opposing this, that's what generally occurs.

 

[Blackadder]

For example, I have a friend, and she and I joke around about how I'm a stalker, and that I'll one day murder her. I found her an eight inch, rusty knife that I dug out of the depths of my garage, which I'll spatter with fake blood, put it in a tattered box, and leave a note scribbled on notebook paper, saying: "Just to be fair... Merry Christmas".

We just have weird inside jokes. Anyway, it sounds cheesy, but really, it's the thought that counts.

That's the kind of humour that makes me laugh my arse off.
That's just awesome.

I'm just gonna pretend I didn't read the debate that's going on with Crimson and those Christian folk, and just say it now:

Merry Christmas to all.

 

[Blazey]

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you all get super awesome presents!

Seriously mate, how are we supposed to celebrate the birth of your "saviour" other than the way we are now? Bake him a cake? Put a tiny party hat on top of the crown of thorns of our best crucifix and sing "Happy Birthday"?

We get gifts on Christmas day because Jesus got gifts. While we also get gifts on our own birthdays just like he did, who's supposed to get the gifts on the celebration of his birthday since he's 2000 years dead? Well, since we're all "god's children" just like Jesus was/is, we all get and give gifts on his birthday as a way of celebrating it.

People are celebrating Jesus' life in Christmas day, whether they know it or not. Perhaps your goal should be to educate those who don't on why they're celebrating what they are the way they are instead of telling them to not celebrate it or say they're celebrating something else.

 

[adumbrodeus]

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you all get super awesome presents!

Seriously mate, how are we supposed to celebrate the birth of your "saviour" other than the way we are now? Bake him a cake? Put a tiny party hat on top of the crown of thorns of our best crucifix and sing "Happy Birthday"?

We get gifts on Christmas day because Jesus got gifts. While we also get gifts on our own birthdays just like he did, who's supposed to get the gifts on the celebration of his birthday since he's 2000 years dead? Well, since we're all "god's children" just like Jesus was/is, we all get and give gifts on his birthday as a way of celebrating it.

People are celebrating Jesus' life in Christmas day, whether they know it or not. Perhaps your goal should be to educate those who don't on why they're celebrating what they are the way they are instead of telling them to not celebrate it or say they're celebrating something else.

I have no issue with most of the traditions, merely the extravagance that they have been taken too, primarily because they have become the reason for the season in most people's minds.

Christmas tree, fine. Christmas tree that you buy 4,000 dollars worth of decorations for every year, not ok. Exchanging gifts with family and close friends, ok, trampling other shoppers in the mad rush to get that playstation 3, not ok.

Well, most traditions, Santa Clause needs to be expunged because he has become an excuse to avoid the true nature of Christmas. As do these inane Christmas specials which are indicative of the commercialization of Christmas. Christmas decorations, overdoing it should be discouraged in general.

And corperations should be discouraged from mentioning it.

All of which would be accomplished if Christmas became an intimate holiday again instead of this insane extravaganza it is.


And I'm sorry, while we might all be children of God, if people don't know what it really is, they're not celebrating it. The only thing it's really accomplishing is making Christians celebrate Christmas poorly.


Ah yes, education, that's the whole purpose of attempting to spread the gospel, however it will only be accepted by those who actually accept Christ, the rest just won't care about the history of the holiday because they consider the real meaning irrelevant.

 

[Mr.GAW]

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you all get super awesome presents!

Seriously mate, how are we supposed to celebrate the birth of your "saviour" other than the way we are now? Bake him a cake? Put a tiny party hat on top of the crown of thorns of our best crucifix and sing "Happy Birthday"?

We get gifts on Christmas day because Jesus got gifts. While we also get gifts on our own birthdays just like he did, who's supposed to get the gifts on the celebration of his birthday since he's 2000 years dead? Well, since we're all "god's children" just like Jesus was/is, we all get and give gifts on his birthday as a way of celebrating it.

People are celebrating Jesus' life in Christmas day, whether they know it or not. Perhaps your goal should be to educate those who don't on why they're celebrating what they are the way they are instead of telling them to not celebrate it or say they're celebrating something else.

QFT.

adumbrodeus, seriously- just stop. You're really starting to get on my nerves. The amount of money we spend on Christmas and the amount of gifts we give/recieve is independent of how much you celebrate Jesus' birth and worship him.

And who are you to say that Christmas belongs to only Christians? You keep talking about how commercial and secular it has become. Who are you to say that the extravagant spending is wrong?

 

[TheGlitchMaster]

heyheyhey! i don't want anger! i welcome all holidays here!

 

[Vicious Delicious]

*looks at all the surprising anger*
>.>
<.<
Christmas is in 2 days! **** YEAH!

 

[CHAOSDRAGON88]

QFT.

adumbrodeus, seriously- just stop. You're really starting to get on my nerves. The amount of money we spend on Christmas and the amount of gifts we give/recieve is independent of how much you celebrate Jesus' birth and worship him.

And who are you to say that Christmas belongs to only Christians? You keep talking about how commercial and secular it has become. Who are you to say that the extravagant spending is wrong?

You must have heavily misinter
preted his/her posts because he she didnt say that. The first six letters of christmas is christ, if christmas doesnt belong to christians than who? I say jesus owns it. Adumbrodeus never shoveled his/her ideas on anyone they just stated their belief and yet they have been charred with the snickering insults and snares. Lets just change topic.

 

[Mr.GAW]

You must have heavily misinter
preted his/her posts because he she didnt say that.

lul wut lrn2speakenglish plz

The first six letters of christmas is christ, if christmas doesnt belong to christians than who?

Whoever celebrates it.

I say jesus owns it.

k. What if someone doesn't believe in Jesus but still celebrates the holiday?

Adumbrodeus never shoveled his/her ideas on anyone they just stated their belief

O RLY?

 

[CHAOSDRAGON88]

Without flaming or snyde remarks explain yourself when you said i need to learn how to speak english, wouldnt it just be learn english . The way you took my comments out of context was uncalled for. One error and i cant speak english and over a messageboard too, what's your problem.

 

[Blackadder]

Christmas is a lot more fun when people don't go at each other's throats.
I have a really cool idea, everyone.

Come children, listen to Uncle Adder.
Why don't we all just wish each other a Merry Christmas, accept that some million thousand billion Non-Christians celebrate Christmas, and that some million thousand billion Christians celebrate it too.
And then chill with that.
Isn't it a nice holiday, even if it is somewhat commercial now?

I'm not one that preaches Christmas Spirit like in some cheesy movie, but come on guys. Let's all just be happy for now, eh?

Merry Christmas, eh wot.

 

[CHAOSDRAGON88]

Blackadder i give you props but know this i never meant for this to happen and i tried to stop it before it even came to this level. Happy holidays!

 

[Goopygoo]

Seriously, what's the point of debating? Christmas is Christmas. It has evolved (Or devolved, based on your views) into what it is today, and we can't change that. All anybody can do is state their opinion and get on with life.

To everybody not a Scrooge *coughCrimsonKingcough* MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Believe it or not, I'm hoping to get a Wii. That's right, I don't have one. Nor do I have a Gamecube. (Sure as heck don't want that though. Wii all the way, babeh!)

 

[victra♥]

Ugh, so overrated. I have 1 present under the tree right now.

 

[Mini Mic]

You are aware that Christ has NOTHING to do with the date of Christmas at all right?

As for my lack of interest in Christmas: it's a bull**** superficial holiday. You buy presents for people you rarely see or even worse for people you see all the time because if you really did it out of anything other than obligation you would have been doing gifts all year long, not just when you have a chance to get something back. Other than that, the magic of Christmas, ie getting awesome gifts to play with for the first time, died when I got a job my freshman year in college. After that, what's the purpose of waiting, I have a lot of disposable income because I work a lot and budget well.

Your Christmas must be very different from mine, you're a mod though so you're not expected to have a heart

 

[Blackadder]

Well, I know for many of you yanks out there, this is a day or so early, but ehh.
In Australia, it's has JUST turned Christmas day. 12 AM, on the 25th. How cute.

But since I love teh happiness, I'm gonna post you all a big fat Merry Christmas.
...
...

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

 

[antimatter]

agreed.

 

[Cobalt]

I'm not a Christian, I'm theological noncognitivist. However, I still celebrate Christmas. Why? Because it's at the end of the year, and it's an awesome way of saying "Thank you for everything you've done for me this past year." It allows for reflection upon what happened throughout the year, and to recognize those who have helped you and made your life better.

The reason I do this on Christmas is because Christmas is the traditional holiday of recognition, reflection, and giving. Even before all this commercialization, people reflected on the birth of Jesus, and gave to others. Thus, it is the ideal day to recognize those who have made your life better throughout the year.

That's why I celebrate Christmas.

 

[adumbrodeus]

A little clarifacation about who my arguments are aimed at

Perhaps I have been unclear at who this is targeted at, I expected it to be obvious from the tone. This was targeted at highly religious Christians, namely those within the "just say Merry Christmas" crowd.

That's why the tone is so pious, all this is true, and I believe it, however were it aimed at say, atheists, I would've chosen a different tone and used secular arguments to discourage Christmas celebration (of which CrimsonKing already pointed out a few).


But I'm not, because if you're not Christian it's not your fault that Christmas has become something that just about everyone celebrates (it's something that Christians did), and furthermore you have no particular interest in changing whether you celebrate since you have no reason to care whether Christmas' true nature is preserved. While I certainly do like it when you guys decide not to celebrate Christmas, that's not what I'm trying to accomplish here.

Thus I repeat, this is for the "just say Merry Christmas" crowd. I am annoyed at them because people are moving away from celebration of Christmas if they are not Christian, which I consider a good thing, and they are trying their hardest to keep people celebrating it.

I'm not alone in my opinions of what Christmas has become, that's what the whole festivus movement is about. I merely wish to make the holiday return to it's old self as opposed to creating a new one.

QFT.

adumbrodeus, seriously- just stop. You're really starting to get on my nerves. The amount of money we spend on Christmas and the amount of gifts we give/recieve is independent of how much you celebrate Jesus' birth and worship him.

I'm starting to get on your nerves? That's not a good argument. How are my arguments illogical? That's what you should be attacking.


And they shouldn't be, for a Christian, Christmas should be totally Christ-centric.

And who are you to say that Christmas belongs to only Christians? You keep talking about how commercial and secular it has become. Who are you to say that the extravagant spending is wrong?

This is aimed specifically at Christians, to stop them in their efforts to prevent it from reverting to a Christian-only feast, which is what has been naturally occurring for quite some time.

If you're a Christian, read your Bible, there's plenty to say that there's something wrong with extravagant spending.

If you're not a Christian, then it's an empty useless holiday that simply celebrates consumerism, sure you can celebrate it, but why would you want to?

Still, this is aimed at Christians for attempting to ****** the natural evolution of the holiday.

Come children, listen to Uncle Adder.
Why don't we all just wish each other a Merry Christmas, accept that some million thousand billion Non-Christians celebrate Christmas, and that some million thousand billion Christians celebrate it too.
And then chill with that.
Isn't it a nice holiday, even if it is somewhat commercial now?

Look, I'm not attacking non-Christians for celebrating Christian, I'm attacking Christians for attempting to shove Christmas down non-Christians' throats.

The holiday is evolving away from a universal holiday, to be exchanged with holidays that celebrate the good points of Christmas, but are relevant to each group, which ultimately results in christmas becoming a more intimate holiday.

Ok, I'm just asking that Christians let the inevitable happen and realize it's good.






I think I accomplished my goal since the people on the thread who seemed to be within the group that this was targeting (the "just say merry christmas" crowd) seem to have seem to have agreed with me really quickly, leaving ironically the people who argue against that same group shoving Christmas down others' throats to disagree with me, even though I'm simply arguing for the same thing in a different (and more effective) tone.


Ironic, usually the "just say merry christmas" crowd opposes my arguments, the rest realize what I'm trying to accomplish and support me.

 

[Vicious Delicious]

Hey, I'm a happy camper. I received pretty much everything I asked for, save for a new bowling ball. But that would've been a luxury rather then a highlight.

Some notable things included..
*Sansa e280 MP3
*Guitar Hero 3
*Family Guy Box Set 5
*Jeff Dunham's Spark of Insanity AND Gabriel Inglasias' Hot and Fluffy (Stand-up DVDs)
*Spiderman 3 (collector's edition)
*Salvador Dali's 'The Hallucinogenic Toreador' painting, about 30 by 20 measurment, more or less
*Guinness World Records 2008

Hope everybody got what they wanted

 

[TheGlitchMaster]

yeah, let's just list presents....

 

[Deleted member]

Adumbrodeus, Christmas is Christmas - who gives a flying ****.

It helps the economy, everyone's happier, eggnog is aflowin', PEOPLE SINGING IN PUBLIC (such a wondrous thing to see..man, everyone in a large public place singing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is like..what!), and people give gifts because it's fun to do. You can also place Jesus's importance on it, but you don't need to do that to celebrate Christmas.

Christmas is about spreading good cheer and good will towards men (in physical form - gifts - and otherwise).

If you don't like being happy, shut the hell up and go elsewhere ^___^