The Christmas Paradox

Enjoy spending lots of time eating and drinking with family - especially the fun times with the nephews and nieces

Enjoying spoiling as many as possible
 
Most on here know my beliefs & thoughts on religious matters , Christmas like all holidays has been hijacked by commercialism and religious beliefs have waned & probably been lost by the newer/younger generations .. Times have changed & ordinary folk became more educated & smart enough not to believe everything they were told no matter what ..

Faith & belief. the secret is in the names , powerful things both & who is anybody to question anothers faith or belief , ok , question it but at least respect the persons right to believe in it if they want ...

You get 2 real shots at Christmas , your own & your kids , as for the lies I tell my kids I will try protect them as they grow , advise & educate them to the level so as they grow older they can make their own choices & I will respect their choices as much as I do everyone elses ..

Just curious for the people who call it xmas , doesn't bother me what you call it by the way, but is it the Christ bit you object to? , if you object to a celebration because its partially called Christ do you not think that's a bit ott ? whats in a name , regarding a holiday/featival .. 100% genuine question by the way
For those that say its just easier do you X Hallow of Halloween or Valentine in valentines day

What ever you believe I hope you & your families have a great fun & love packed one , enjoy all the good days you can , life is short & no one gets out of it alive ..

Happy Christmas
 
If you celebrate Christmas in anyway then you are celebrating a Christian thing, ergo you are a Christian. If you do not believe in the Christian faith then why are you celebrating Christmas? And don't give me that rubbish that the Christians kidnapped anothers holiday. What rot! We give presents because we were taught that the Three Kings turned up with gifts for the baby Jesus. So, again, if you don't believe then why give gifts?
It is a time of the year that fills even the hardest of hearts with joy, and hopefully, the will to do something good for their fellow man.
 
Crazyface said:
If you celebrate Christmas in anyway then you are celebrating a Christian thing, ergo you are a Christian. If you do not believe in the Christian faith then why are you celebrating Christmas? And don't give me that rubbish that the Christians kidnapped anothers holiday. What rot! We give presents because we were taught that the Three Kings turned up with gifts for the baby Jesus. So, again, if you don't believe then why give gifts?
It is a time of the year that fills even the hardest of hearts with joy, and hopefully, the will to do something good for their fellow man.
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cos we get a holiday and we all get stuff - so things to celebrate! :)

Except - as you say - it's actually the other way round.

But not a view that seems to be held by that many on these boards - which may be just as well since if there weren't plenty of largely agnostic/atheist golfers then Sunday morning comps would be pretty poorly subscribed.
 
A paradox is only there if your looking for it

The office is pretty multicultural with Hindus, Tamils, Muslims, Christians and maybe some more for all I know, as well as those of us that don't follow a religion

The varying festivals for all of the above religions and cultures are celebrated throughout the year inc Eid, Diwali, Chinese New Year, Christmas etc and not just celebrated by those of any specific denomination there seems to be plenty of 'cross-celebration' goes on too

Pretty much everyone's looking forward to Christmas although its safe to say celebrating the New year is a much bigger deal

Hope everyone enjoys theirs
 
Crazyface said:
If you celebrate Christmas in anyway then you are celebrating a Christian thing, ergo you are a Christian. If you do not believe in the Christian faith then why are you celebrating Christmas? And don't give me that rubbish that the Christians kidnapped anothers holiday. What rot! We give presents because we were taught that the Three Kings turned up with gifts for the baby Jesus. So, again, if you don't believe then why give gifts?
It is a time of the year that fills even the hardest of hearts with joy, and hopefully, the will to do something good for their fellow man.
Click to expand...

Cant really agree with this, I was brought up Christian, made to go to Sunday School and then Church but it never at any point became ingrained, I was fairly indifferent even bored with it and now am generally agnostic, open to faith but it's never found me. I did however love Christmas as a child particularly and readily sung carols and did nativity plays etc as it was fun doing it with friends, as an adult however it was just the holiday and time with family which was fun (to a point) and is enjoyable mostly.
I do go occasionally to a Christmas service, the only time in the year I might attend church but that's not because I believe in god or follow Jesus, its just a nice thing to do occasionally to meet people and sing a few carols or have a walk in the snow at night and then a wee dram or two. I am not a follower of Christ but like most people enjoy some cultural traditions be they based on fact or nonsense.
The Christmas festival has taken a lot of Pagan traditions into Christianity, that is not rot - the holly and ivy, the tree taken indoors, mistletoe are all pagan as they were celebrated long before Jesus, in the Saturnia festival as anything that was seen as evergreen or alive in midwinter was celebrated. Teutonic peoples took a tree inside to warm up the Sylvan spirits they believed in. If you wanted to get people onside you absorbed their beliefs/traditions into your religion. The St Nicholas element, the gift giving, the star on the tree top - they are all very Christian I agree. However St Nicholas was from somewhere in Greece originally so how he now lives immortally in Lapland or the North Pole or wherever with his flying reindeer and elves, in the snow - beats me! We know he wore black also, the red suit came about in the 19th century from an American store or something like that. How kids are expected to believe in Santa until they are 9 or 10 then give up on that belief yet still believe in God is beyond me, one myth is the same as the next.
Until recently people were afraid to say they don't believe in God, it was taboo and punishable, all religion was/is control by fear imo - Do as we say, not as you think. Thank goodness our society doesn't judge us any more on religious grounds, freedom of choice is key.
 
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maxfli65 said:
Cant really agree with this, I was brought up Christian, made to go to Sunday School and then Church but it never at any point became ingrained, I was fairly indifferent even bored with it and now am generally agnostic, open to faith but it's never found me. I did however love Christmas as a child particularly and readily sung carols and did nativity plays etc as it was fun doing it with friends, as an adult however it was just the holiday and time with family which was fun (to a point) and is enjoyable mostly.
I do go occasionally to a Christmas service, the only time in the year I might attend church but that's not because I believe in god or follow Jesus, its just a nice thing to do occasionally to meet people and sing a few carols or have a walk in the snow at night and then a wee dram or two. I am not a follower of Christ but like most people enjoy some cultural traditions be they based on fact or nonsense.
The Christmas festival has taken a lot of Pagan traditions into Christianity, that is not rot - the holly and ivy, the tree taken indoors, mistletoe are all pagan as they were celebrated long before Jesus, in the Saturnia festival as anything that was seen as evergreen or alive in midwinter was celebrated. Teutonic peoples took a tree inside to warm up the Sylvan spirits they believed in. If you wanted to get people onside you absorbed their beliefs/traditions into your religion. The St Nicholas element, the gift giving, the star on the tree top - they are all very Christian I agree. However St Nicholas was from somewhere in Greece originally so how he now lives immortally in Lapland or the North Pole or wherever with his flying reindeer and elves, in the snow - beats me! We know he wore black also, the red suit came about in the 19th century from an American store or something like that. How kids are expected to believe in Santa until they are 9 or 10 then give up on that belief yet still believe in God is beyond me, one myth is the same as the next.
Until recently people were afraid to say they don't believe in God, it was taboo and punishable, all religion was/is control by fear imo - Do as we say, not as you think. Thank goodness our society doesn't judge us any more on religious grounds, freedom of choice is key.
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I thought Coca Cola changed the Santa colour from green to red, to match their colours and be more jolly, and thus it stuck.
 
Crazyface said:
If you celebrate Christmas in anyway then you are celebrating a Christian thing, ergo you are a Christian. If you do not believe in the Christian faith then why are you celebrating Christmas? And don't give me that rubbish that the Christians kidnapped anothers holiday. What rot! We give presents because we were taught that the Three Kings turned up with gifts for the baby Jesus. So, again, if you don't believe then why give gifts?
It is a time of the year that fills even the hardest of hearts with joy, and hopefully, the will to do something good for their fellow man.
Click to expand...

What does celebrate Christmas mean? We give our kids presents, Santa visits (and he is largely a creation of Coca-Cola anyway), there is a dinner with turkey, there is a tree with tinsel. The kids love it.

But we don't go to church, I don't believe in God, heaven, hell, angels or anything supernatural. There were no three kings.

I am not endorsing any of the Christian story or suggesting for a second I believe a word of it by having turkey or putting up tinsel.
 
Bunkermagnet said:
I thought Coca Cola changed the Santa colour from green to red, to match their colours and be more jolly, and thus it stuck.
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Not quite. Before the Coca‑Cola Santa was even created, St Nick had appeared in numerous illustrations and written descriptions wearing a scarlet coat. Coke did however play a big role in shaping the jolly, fat character we know today. Check out the Swedish-American artist Haddon Sundblom if you want to know more.
 
As a child I can well remember my father working on Christmas day in Scotland.
It was not a statuary day off
He had two days off for NewYear and the day after which were statuary.
 
Crazyface said:
If you celebrate Christmas in anyway then you are celebrating a Christian thing, ergo you are a Christian. If you do not believe in the Christian faith then why are you celebrating Christmas? And don't give me that rubbish that the Christians kidnapped anothers holiday. What rot! We give presents because we were taught that the Three Kings turned up with gifts for the baby Jesus. So, again, if you don't believe then why give gifts?
It is a time of the year that fills even the hardest of hearts with joy, and hopefully, the will to do something good for their fellow man.
Click to expand...

What an absolute crock.

I give my family and friends gifts because it gives me a chance to spoil them and it makes me feel good seeing their faces. I fully accept that a lot of the origins of Christmas come from a Christian story (mixed with other elements), but just because I enjoy some of the traditions doesn't make me "Christian" the same way that putting up a Christmas tree in my house doesn't make me a Pagan.
 
Doon frae Troon said:
As a child I can well remember my father working on Christmas day in Scotland.
It was not a statuary day off
He had two days off for NewYear and the day after which were statuary.
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Me too - my dad worked Christmas Day morning and then his work let everyone go after a wee lunchtime Christmas dram and presents given by the boss to each worker. We dug into our Christmas stocking but don't think we opened our presents until he got home from work. Can't recall when he started getting Christmas Day off but we must have been little - so early 1960s.
 
woody69 said:
What an absolute crock.

I give my family and friends gifts because it gives me a chance to spoil them and it makes me feel good seeing their faces. I fully accept that a lot of the origins of Christmas come from a Christian story (mixed with other elements), but just because I enjoy some of the traditions doesn't make me "Christian" the same way that putting up a Christmas tree in my house doesn't make me a Pagan.
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True dat
 
My golf mate and his family are from India, they put up a tree, decorations and give presents but they aren't Christian!
 
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