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Do Christian fundamentalist holidays suck?

Don2 (Don1 Revised)

Don2 (Don1 Revised)

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It's Christmas eve today. Virtually nowhere do I observe the "true" fundamentalist meaning of Christmas. It's all presents, Santa, christmas trees, Rudolph, and shopping. Driving through neighborhoods, I cannot recall even seeing a nativity scene, just cartoonish blow-up dolls. No, not the pornographic kind. I mean like blow-up Snoopy or Santa. Candy cane lights.

I am sure there are also some Jehovah's Witnesses who are really suffering, feeling isolated, deprived and can't take part in Presents Fest.

Without Santa Claus, tons of cartoons, hot cocoa, stockings, and only strict adherence to celebrating the birth of an alleged man-god, would this holiday actually be much of anything?

How about Easter without the chocolate egg-laying bunny?
 
Don2 (Don1 Revised) said:
It's Christmas eve today.
Click to expand...
It's Christmas Day today. Christmas Eve was yesterday. ;)

And I think you're looking at this from the wrong (ie, Christian) perspective.

The celebrations, partying, overindulgence, gift-giving, illuminations and cheerfulness all pre-date Christanity.

The question isn't:

"Without Santa Claus, tons of cartoons, hot cocoa, stockings, and only strict adherence to celebrating the birth of an alleged man-god, would this holiday actually be much of anything?"

It's rather:

"With ONLY Santa Claus, tons of cartoons, hot cocoa, stockings, and without any adherence to celebrating the birth of an alleged man-god, wouldn't this holiday actually be so much better?"

And of course, the answer is "yes"; And the people have voted with their feet, and walked away from the Christian aspects of the festivities.

Despite the increasingly desparate attempts by Christians to claim that the northern hemisphere midwinter festival is all about them, it isn't, and it never was.
 
Some Christians reject the secular Christmastime.

The xmas tree has a long non Christian history. I believe Christmas as the cerebration of the alleged birth of Jesus was moved to where it is to compete with Pagan winter celebrations.

It is a good example of how Christianity developed as a mix of various beliefs and practices. Nothing to do with how a Jewish Jesus would have lived.
 
Don2 (Don1 Revised) said:
It's all presents, Santa, christmas trees, Rudolph, and shopping.
Click to expand...
Why do you hate America?
Don2 (Don1 Revised) said:
I am sure there are also some Jehovah's Witnesses who are really suffering, feeling isolated, deprived and can't take part in Presents Fest.
Click to expand...
I know some JWs... they even come around with their "newbies" every couple of years - I guess to teach them how to handle passive rejection. The senior one is contractor - and a very good (expensive) one.
Anyhow, they're no saintlier than any santa worshiping, present wrapping evangelical; they go hog wild buying stuff during the after-Christmas sales.
 
I am sure PETA should check on how the reindeer are treated.

And the elves might want to unionize.
 
Let's ease off on the Christmas snark, everyone. When else are Americans gonna have an excuse -- or opportunity -- to eat large portions of high-caloric food?
 
When I was a kid even for middle class families Christmas and Thanksgiving were atypical big meals.

There was a sense of expressing thanks and gratitude associated with those holidays.

If as a Catholic you did not usually go to Sunday mass, you dressed up with your family and went to Christmas mass. A family and community ritual.

As to snarky, Christmas even as a secular ritual has become crass and grotesque.
 
steve_bank said:
Christmas even as a secular ritual has become crass and grotesque.
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Christmas has been crass and grotesque since long before the existence of the Roman Catholic Church, or indeed the existence of Christianity.

Nostalgia is a terrible way to attempt to compare the oresent with the past; Things weren't better when people struggled all year to afford a big blow-out at Christmas, and for many people things are still like that (and there's zero nobility in suffering).
 
I mean, I certainly have a lot of happy memories of the religious aspects of the holiday, atvleast when I was a kid. We were relatively liberal-minded Swedish Lutherans, not fundamentalists, but I don't recall doing anything that would have offended one, aside from the whole concept of Advent. Nativity plays, Handel, lefse, tree decorating, lussekatter, ginger bread, candlelight services. Good times.
 
bilby said:
Don2 (Don1 Revised) said:
It's Christmas eve today.
Click to expand...
It's Christmas Day today. Christmas Eve was yesterday. ;)

And I think you're looking at this from the wrong (ie, Christian) perspective.

The celebrations, partying, overindulgence, gift-giving, illuminations and cheerfulness all pre-date Christanity.

The question isn't:

"Without Santa Claus, tons of cartoons, hot cocoa, stockings, and only strict adherence to celebrating the birth of an alleged man-god, would this holiday actually be much of anything?"

It's rather:

"With ONLY Santa Claus, tons of cartoons, hot cocoa, stockings, and without any adherence to celebrating the birth of an alleged man-god, wouldn't this holiday actually be so much better?"

And of course, the answer is "yes"; And the people have voted with their feet, and walked away from the Christian aspects of the festivities.

Despite the increasingly desparate attempts by Christians to claim that the northern hemisphere midwinter festival is all about them, it isn't, and it never was.
Click to expand...

I agree with you.

For your question, it is interesting:
"With ONLY Santa Claus, tons of cartoons, hot cocoa, stockings, and without any adherence to celebrating the birth of an alleged man-god, wouldn't this holiday actually be so much better?"

Would this work in practice over a long period of time, though, in consideration of how Islamo-Judeo-Christianity has traditionally treated outside ("pagan") traditions and so forth? It's a bit of a different subject I suppose.
 
Elixir said:
Don2 (Don1 Revised) said:
It's all presents, Santa, christmas trees, Rudolph, and shopping.
Click to expand...
Why do you hate America?
Don2 (Don1 Revised) said:
I am sure there are also some Jehovah's Witnesses who are really suffering, feeling isolated, deprived and can't take part in Presents Fest.
Click to expand...
I know some JWs... they even come around with their "newbies" every couple of years - I guess to teach them how to handle passive rejection. The senior one is contractor - and a very good (expensive) one.
Anyhow, they're no saintlier than any santa worshiping, present wrapping evangelical; they go hog wild buying stuff during the after-Christmas sales.
Click to expand...
You reminded me of my one JW patient when I was working in long term care. I was always able to convince her to join in with the Christmas party dinner etc. I simply told her not to think of it as a Christmas celebration, but to think of it as a nice meal with the other residents and me. The poor little woman was mildly cognitively impaired since childhood, and had been abused as a child. She became a JW as an adult along with her late sister. The JWs were her only friends, so I just wanted her to have a good time and not let her religious beliefs keep her from that. It always worked.
 
And I hope that
Elixir said:
southernhybrid said:
The JWs were her only friends, so I just wanted her to have a good time and not let her religious beliefs keep her from that.
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You are such a good person, SH.
I hope this holiday spreads some of the love your way.
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Thank you!

And, I hope Mrs. Elixer is starting feel better and you aren't as stressed out as you were a few days ago.

I always tried to be good to all of my patients. That's what a good nurse does. That is probably why my former patients liked me so much. That is probably why the women, shared the details of the little sex affairs a few of them had with a few of the male residents. They trusted me and knew I wouldn't judge them. I don't miss working but I do miss my patients and I have lots of interesting memories from those experiences. But, I digress.

Back on topic.....my parents were fundamentalists but my mom seemed to enjoy the secular aspects of the Christmas holiday more than anything else.
 
As I understand it, the Jehovah's Witness reject Christmas because it is rooted in pagan customs and rites. And right they are, on that one. When I taught, I had at least one instance over 31 years of a child who belonged to the church who had to leave the room during our Christmas party. That child went down to the library with a book and her art supplies. In a few other cases, the parents called me and I told them our class party had absolutely no religious context and was simply a break from the usual schedule (the kids got to see a movie and had lunch up in the room and a few games.) I didn't have to say more than that; they were okay with their child staying with the peer group. Obviously there is a spectrum of doctrinaire versus 'more relaxed' to the membership.
 
Don2 (Don1 Revised) said:
[Thread title:] Do Christian fundamentalist holidays suck?

It's Christmas eve today. Virtually nowhere do I observe the "true" fundamentalist meaning of Christmas. It's all presents, Santa, christmas trees, Rudolph, and shopping. Driving through neighborhoods, I cannot recall even seeing a nativity scene, just cartoonish blow-up dolls. No, not the pornographic kind. I mean like blow-up Snoopy or Santa. Candy cane lights.

I am sure there are also some Jehovah's Witnesses who are really suffering, feeling isolated, deprived and can't take part in Presents Fest.

Without Santa Claus, tons of cartoons, hot cocoa, stockings, and only strict adherence to celebrating the birth of an alleged man-god, would this holiday actually be much of anything?

How about Easter without the chocolate egg-laying bunny?
Click to expand...

Thread title and OP body are totally incongruous. The Christian holiday, whether fundamentalist or not, is about the Birth of Jesus, and the associated Glad Tidings.

As OP states, present-day Christian celebrations have NOTHING to do with a religious Christmas. @Don2 : Please contact a Moderator for help changing thread title to something that is more relevant to the topic.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

My small extended family had beer, games and music on Christmas. For Christmas songs, all but myself wanted the teenage-pop song "Last Christmas," especially its Taylor Swift cover. Though not a Christian I like "Good King Wenceslaus" or even "Gloria in excelsis Deo" or "O Come, All Ye Faithful." (We can enjoy stories about King Arthur and his grandeur and bravery despite them being entirely mythical; why not extend Jesus the same courtesy?)

My selections were booed down. I think "Last Christmas" may have just been put on repeat, though I'm a little vague about details: I was drinking soju rather than beer.
 
I like the sounds of the Christmases of my youth. Roger Wagner Chorale, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and any really grandiose acapella chorale arrangements of the oldest classics.
No goddam Holly Jolly pop tune Xmas for this Jesus-hugging old timer!
 
Doug and I don't do much Christmas. But we both enjoyed a Trans-Siberian Orchestra fest nearly all afternoon.
Tom
 
Everyone needs a copy of Soul Christmas -- the one released on Stax in '67. It's got Otis...Booker T...Clarence Carter with 'Back Door Santa'...King Curtis...Solomon Burke...Joe Tex. The real deal.
 
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