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- #221
The OP (minus my Jewish friend's joke)
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Religious demographics were almost 100% Christian when America was founded.
Christmas was established as a Christian Holiday.
76% or more of Americans list some form of Christianity as their religious faith.
America has welcomed and accepted people of many other religious faiths but these still make up a relatively small percentage of the population.
In one way or another, Christmas is observed by almost 100% of the U.S. population either as a religious holiday or as a secular holiday.
Christmas, as Americans have observed it, is largely an American cultural tradition.
Most of my non-Christian friends celebrate Christmas as enthusiastically as the Christians and ad their own traditions to it.
The point, is why should it offend ANYBODY to celebrate Christmas as Christmas in churches, in the community, in the schools, and in our homes? If you don't believe in Jesus, there is still Santa Claus and the Grinch. For more than 170 years, American schools enjoyed Christmas plays, Christmas concerts, decorated classrooms, put up a Christmas tree, and enjoyed all the great traditional music, religious and non religious, of the season. Somehow none of the Buddhist or Jewish or Hindu or Atheist kids were corrupted or left out in the least during all this time and most participated and had a ball. It was non coercive, a joy to participate in whether or not somebody was religious, and the high point of the year for many communities.
When there were kids of other faiths in our groups, we learned about and celebrated their religious festivals with them, sang their songs, and learned their traditions too. They didn't demand that Christmas accommodate their beliefs and we Christians didn't demand that they accommodate ours.
Why can't we still do that? Who or why is Christmas being made a derogatory term that 'might be' offensive to somebody and therefore should be avoided or put in the back someplace? What is it to you Atheists, anti-religious, anti-Christian, or others that finds Christmas such a threat? Why is that creche in the public square so offensive to you?
And you Christians and others who love Christmas? Don't you miss the freedom to celebrate Christmas that we once had?
Merry Christmas everybody!!!!! I want to celebrate it!
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Religious demographics were almost 100% Christian when America was founded.
Christmas was established as a Christian Holiday.
76% or more of Americans list some form of Christianity as their religious faith.
America has welcomed and accepted people of many other religious faiths but these still make up a relatively small percentage of the population.
In one way or another, Christmas is observed by almost 100% of the U.S. population either as a religious holiday or as a secular holiday.
Christmas, as Americans have observed it, is largely an American cultural tradition.
Most of my non-Christian friends celebrate Christmas as enthusiastically as the Christians and ad their own traditions to it.
The point, is why should it offend ANYBODY to celebrate Christmas as Christmas in churches, in the community, in the schools, and in our homes? If you don't believe in Jesus, there is still Santa Claus and the Grinch. For more than 170 years, American schools enjoyed Christmas plays, Christmas concerts, decorated classrooms, put up a Christmas tree, and enjoyed all the great traditional music, religious and non religious, of the season. Somehow none of the Buddhist or Jewish or Hindu or Atheist kids were corrupted or left out in the least during all this time and most participated and had a ball. It was non coercive, a joy to participate in whether or not somebody was religious, and the high point of the year for many communities.
When there were kids of other faiths in our groups, we learned about and celebrated their religious festivals with them, sang their songs, and learned their traditions too. They didn't demand that Christmas accommodate their beliefs and we Christians didn't demand that they accommodate ours.
Why can't we still do that? Who or why is Christmas being made a derogatory term that 'might be' offensive to somebody and therefore should be avoided or put in the back someplace? What is it to you Atheists, anti-religious, anti-Christian, or others that finds Christmas such a threat? Why is that creche in the public square so offensive to you?
And you Christians and others who love Christmas? Don't you miss the freedom to celebrate Christmas that we once had?
Merry Christmas everybody!!!!! I want to celebrate it!