'Silent Night' secularized

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

I'm going to put it like this.

 

If atheists decide to buy their kids presents on a day that is supposed to be about Jesus, whether that is what they believe or not, they can also call it something different too. They can secularize everything that they want to, but they can also give it a different name for themselves. Atheists celebrating on a day called Christmas, a day intended to be about Christ, is hypocrisy in the worst fashion.

 

Anyone responds telling me different, I'll get back to you in the afternoon.

That's one of the reasons I refer to it as X-Mas. I'm not celebrating the birth of Christ, I'm celebrating being alive and in good company for another year, and trying my best to show my loved ones how much I appreciate them and just generally give stupid pieces of shit a break for once.

 

That...and I like buying stuff with no religious undertone and not having to type out the extra 4 characters.

[SuperJerk 0]

I'm going to put it like this.

 

If atheists decide to buy their kids presents on a day that is supposed to be about Jesus, whether that is what they believe or not, they can also call it something different too. They can secularize everything that they want to, but they can also give it a different name for themselves. Atheists celebrating on a day called Christmas, a day intended to be about Christ, is hypocrisy in the worst fashion.

 

Hypocrisy my ass. Most atheists I know think Jesus was a real guy, just not the son of God, and the tradition of giving gifts on December 25th has nothing to do with the holiday's alledged religious origins.

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

Most atheists I know think Jesus was a real guy, just not the son of God, and the tradition of giving gifts on December 25th has nothing to do with the holiday's alledged religious origins.

 

I'm agnostic and I think Jesus (at least from what I've read about him) was pretty awesome. I have no problem with celebrating his birth.

Edited December 14, 2005 by bigolsmitty

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Most atheists I know think Jesus was a real guy, just not the son of God, and the tradition of giving gifts on December 25th has nothing to do with the holiday's alledged religious origins.

 

I'm agnostic and I think Jesus (at least from what I've read about him) was pretty awesome. I have no problem with celebrating his birth.

 

I'll agree to that.

 

It's semi-off topic, but here's one for the atheists, if any, here:

 

I once read a pamphlet by some religious group(Joho's perhaps?) that claimed everyone really believed in Jesus. People who claimed to be atheist were just 'choosing to deny his existence, even though they really knew better"

 

Thoughts? Seems like, at best, petty semantics argument.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

On that point, there's plenty of historical evidence that Jesus really existed. You may not think he was the son of God, but pretty much every reputable historian agrees that there really was a Jewish man named Jesus who lived around the year 30 AD or so.

 

As far as Kwanza, I have no problem with people celebrating it...but the percentage of people who actually do in the US is very small. I've heard that less than 15% of the black population in the US actually celebrates it...so taking that into account of the overall US population, it's really a relatively small amount of people. It just bothers me that it's ok to have Kwanza symbols and talk about that openly in public institutions, but not talk about Christmas or use the phrase "Christmas tree."

[RepoMan 0]

Does anyone else think the War on Christmas is just some conservative talking point so they don't have to talk about Iraq?

[SuperJerk 0]

Does anyone else think the War on Christmas is just some conservative talking point so they don't have to talk about Iraq?

Pretty much. This time last year, virtually every conservative columnist and radio host "simultaneously" decided to start complaining about it.

 

On that point, there's plenty of historical evidence that Jesus really existed.

 

Four independently written accounts of his life and philosophy dating back to the 1st century. Of course, those accounts got turned into the Bible. I don't think any evidence outside of the Bible exists, though.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Cold in the night,

no one in sight,

winter winds whirl and bite,

how I wish I were happy and warm,

safe with my family out of the storm.

 

 

--

Sounds like it should be called Homeless for the Holidays..

[Kaertos 0]

I was giving this some thought, and I remember working in retail some years back and thinking, "It would be polite of me to say "Happy Holidays" just in case my customer is Jewish or Muslim or celebrates Kwanzaa instead of (or in addition to) Christmas." So I did. Nobody complained and a few of the people who were Jewish or Muslim or whatever thanksed me for not making them feel like outsiders in the whole thing.

 

Christmas is a religious holiday that was co-opted from any number of celebrations people had concerning the winter solstace. There are a ton of traditions and ideas that went into the modern celebration, secular or religious, of the holiday.

 

I think people complaining about the "War on Christmas" are missing the entire point. At some point politeness turned into PC turned into an attack on the holiday.

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

One of my co-workers and I have started saying Happy Kwanzaa to some customers for fun.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Cute

[Sideburnious 0]

Why did the capitalists choose xmas for their holiday? If they chose Hannukah, they could have a twelve times higher increase in sales.

[MrRant 0]

Jews don't spend money.

 

Fool.

[SuperJerk 0]

Activist Judge Cancels Christmas

 

December 14, 2005 | Issue 41•50

 

WASHINGTON, DC—In a sudden and unexpected blow to the Americans working to protect the holiday, liberal U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stephen Reinhardt ruled the private celebration of Christmas unconstitutional Monday.

 

"In accordance with my activist agenda to secularize the nation, this court finds Christmas to be unlawful," Judge Reinhardt said. "The celebration of the birth of the philosopher Jesus—be it in the form of gift-giving, the singing of carols, fanciful decorations, or general good cheer and warm feelings amongst families—is in violation of the First Amendment principles upon which this great nation was founded."

 

In addition to forbidding the celebration of Christmas in any form, Judge Reinhardt has made it illegal to say "Merry Christmas." Instead, he has ruled that Americans must say "Happy Holidays" or "Vacaciones Felices" if they wish to extend good tidings.

 

Within an hour of the judge's verdict, National Guard troops were mobilized to enforce the controversial ruling.

 

"Sorry, kids, no Christmas this year," Beloit, WI mall Santa Gene Ernot said as he was led away from his Santa's Village in leg irons. "Write to your congressman to put a stop to these liberal activist judges. It's up to you to save Christmas! Ho ho ho!"

 

Said Pvt. Stanley Cope, who tasered Ernot for his outburst: "We're fighting an unpopular war on Christmas, but what can we do? The military has no choice but to take orders from a lone activist judge."

 

Across America, the decision of the all-powerful liberal courts was met with shock and disappointment, as American families quietly took down their holiday decorations and canceled their plans to gather and make merry.

 

"They've been chipping away at Christmas rights for decades," Fox News personality John Gibson said. "Even before this ruling, you couldn't hear a Christmas song on the radio or in a department store. I hate to say it, America, but I told you so."

 

Gibson then went into hiding, vowing to be a vital part of the Christmas resistance that would eventually triumph and bring Christmas back to the United States and its retail stores.

 

The ban is not limited to the retail sector. In support of Reinhardt's ruling, Sen. Ted Kennedy, a Jew, introduced legislation that would mandate the registration of every Christian in the United States and subject their houses to random searches to ensure they are not celebrating Christmas.

 

"Getting rid of every wreath or nativity scene is not enough," Kennedy said. "In order to ensure that Americans of every belief feel comfortable in any home or business, we must eliminate all traces of this offensive holiday. My yellow belly quakes with fear at the thought of offending any foreigners, atheists, or child molesters."

 

America's children are bearing the brunt of Reinhardt's marginal, activist rulings.

 

"Why did the bad man take away Christmas?" 5-year-old Danny Dover said. "I made a card for my mommy out of paper and glue, and now I can't give it to her."

 

Shortly after Dover issued his statement, police kicked down his door, removed his holiday tree, confiscated his presents, and crushed his homemade card underfoot.

 

A broad, bipartisan coalition of lawmakers has been working closely with the White House, banding together in the hope of somehow overruling the decision. So far, however, their efforts have been fruitless.

 

"Our hearts go out to the Americans this ruling affects," Sen. Chip Pickering (R-MS) said. "If it's any condolence, I wish you all a Happy Holidays, which, I'm afraid, is all I'm legally allowed to say at this time."

 

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/43438

[2GOLD 0]

His last name should have been Reinhold, just so it could have read "Judge Reinhold cancels Christmas" and everyone would have thought it was the guy behind Beethoven's 4 and National Lampoon's Thanksgiving Reunion.

 

Now that would have been funny.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

That's pretty darn funny.

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

So it turns out Rant's story was a bunch of right-wing manufactured scare tactic bullshit:

 

 

In fact, the new song lyrics are part of a 1988 Christmas play called The Little Tree's Christmas Gift, in which a scraggly Christmas tree is informed it may not be sold and will instead become firewood, prompting it to croon the revised version of "Silent Night" while lamenting its situation. Think Progress further explained that the play's creator, Dwight Elrich, is the musical director of the New Covenant Singers at Bel Air Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles -- which a December 20 Washington Post article noted was "former president Ronald and Nancy Reagan's church in California" -- and his play has been performed by churches across the country. According to Elrich's website, his products "make it easy for you to produce a fantastic Kids Christmas Musical Program." Elrich told the Post: "I'm just flabbergasted. I'm a choir director in a church! I perform 'Silent Night' 40 or 50 times each year! I thought the play was a really charming, wonderful, positive story about love and acceptance ... removing it from the Christian tradition was something I never thought anyone could ever come up with. We were telling a story about a little tree, so we used a familiar tune to help the kids get it."

[Special K 0]

And O'Reilly will never be called on his bullshit. Fantastic.

[SuperJerk 0]

Fucking liberal media.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Play or not, it still sounds like No Quarter.

[Guest JMA]

And O'Reilly will never be called on his bullshit. Fantastic.

The guy is like a damn cockroach--you can never get rid of him.