Comments on: Why I Don’t Participate in the ‘Christmas Wars’

By: Headless Unicorn Guy

Headless Unicorn Guy — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 23:18:04 +0000

Someone once wisecracked that to American Christians, “Persecution (TM) means not being allowed to persecute everybody else”.

By: tma

tma — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 17:56:47 +0000

I like this answer…….as a Christian I ought to celebrate His birth, death and resurrection everyday not just according to what the calendar says. So why not celebrate Christmas like we celebrate thanksgiving or the 4th of July.
He is the King and Lord and Savior everyday!

By: Derek

Derek — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:06:45 +0000

Nate, it’s ironic that you mention this:

but the difference is that people consume a product, and the more consumption, the better for the one selling the product. But God isnâ€™t a product that needs a clever marketing scheme…

Derail. Then someone (anyone) explain to me why we do the “Four Spiritual Laws” and “Are you Sure You’re Going to Heaven When You Die?” routines…

By: Derek

Derek — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:03:32 +0000

Andy, Matthew, et al. Please forgive me my role in this. HUG, Andy has a point. Besides, if you look at the fact that he was quoting all of Matthew’s questions, his comment really wasn’t that long.

Shalom, everyone.

By: Derek

Derek — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 14:55:02 +0000

I remember, Andy. Truth is Truth.

Thank you.

By: SUKI

SUKI — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:42:49 +0000

This is a few days late. The only songs I heard at the malls and on the radio were about Santa, Frosty, Rudolph, sleigh bells, etc. The only things I saw were idols of such things. No nativity scenes in the city parade – don’t want to offend. Great big displays of Santa. Nativity sets are available in the back.
.
In pastor’s words, first you tolerate, then you embrace. By accepting these things we are conforming to the world, rather than transforming it. You can’t make them do it. But you can take a stand for Christ. Be selective about how you celebrate. Encourage others to do the same.

By: C. Hays

C. Hays — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 19:09:21 +0000

I’m with you, Nate. We have lots of fun on December 25, but I began long ago to “put Christ OUT of Christmas”, not because I’m an atheist, but because I’m a Christian. Now, I don’t judge others who continue to make this a religious holiday – in fact, I envy them. I grew up participating in Christmas pageants, going to church, and singing “Away in the Manger”. I’m happier now, though, because I don’t think Christ ever was in Christmas, so I’m free to buy presents, give to the needy, bake lots of cookies, drink eggnog (the really good, spiked kind!), and not feel guilty that it’s all too “Commericialized”. Every day as I kneel down to pray, I’m express my gratitude that our Heavenly Father came to earth in human form, and gave us a pathway out of the sin and wickedness that is born in each of us. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

By: Bror Erickson

Bror Erickson — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 14:19:01 +0000

It is still Christmas so I think I will comment to this post even still. Pat K is exactly right, we Christians should celebrate that even pagans can’t avoid celebrating the birth of our Lord, as He is their Lord also. Even stranger is that they should do so in pretty much the same manner as the first pagans to bow their knee to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Magi, whom we often call wise men who bore gifts to Christ. Wise I suppose they were in recognizing the Christ. But they were Magi, and we should not forget that, they were in fact representatives of pagan Gods, and made their living practicing the dark arts that Simon Magus practiced. They bore gifts to Christ our Lord and bowed their knee to him.
One might flesh out Christ’s teaching in Matthew 25 concerning what we do for the “least of these,” and see that in fact the pagans still bear gifts to our Lord.

By: Jason

Jason — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 05:24:26 +0000

China Mieville wrote a story about a future in which Christmas has become copyrighted. Tis the Season.

By: Martha

Martha — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 19:19:22 +0000

Pick any day of the year and it’s going to be a holiday in *some* culture.

To take an example at random, 17th March is St. Patrick’s Day. I Googled to see what other festivals might be on then, and it turns out that “The Liberalia (17 March) is the festival of Liber Pater and his consort Libera.” Liber is “an ancient god of fertility and wine …also a vegetation god, responsible for protecting seed.”

However, if someone told we Irish that the Church had co-opted a pagan holiday in honour of Liber, we’d look at them funny. We never heard of Liber, and I’m pretty sure Paddy’s Day wasn’t a big deal in Rome.

I’m not pushed one way or the other. Christmas Day was a pagan holiday before Christianity was the majority religion? So what? Enjoy it anyway!