crap you caught me, i do not care about tolerance when it comes to baseball headed mascots. of course containedC is right. people get mad when somebody endorses religion, then others get mad when they endorse nothing. you cant win. people actually want stores to soothe their ears and eyes with religious diplays. you just cant please people. freedom sucks, other people get to not be religious. and you have to sometimes shop at stores whose advertisements and promotions do not properly reflect your personal views.
I haven't heard that new years is a holy day to catholics, why is that? Does it have to do with it being about 8 days after christmas which is when Jesus would've been circumcised, because if so it would stand to reason that Jan 2 would be the holy day or is there another reason?
To stay on topic I have to say that as a "fundie" I have no problem with businesses saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas". Yes the christmas season is about Jesus's birth but not every business is run by a Christian and they don't see it that way. The bottom line to business leaders is that the christmas season is about making money and they will do whatever is necessary to make money. I would bet that even though approximately 70% of Americans label themselves as Christians they are not and therefore will not be offended by people saying "Happy Holidays" because to most people it is just another holiday with no real significance other than spending time with your family and getting/giving gifts.
I'm not being judgemental i'm just saying that for most people Christmas doesn't have the same meaning people that aren't Christians as it does for Christians. I may be wrong about not everyone claiming to be a Christian is and I hope I am. Even though it isn't my place to judge a persons salvation you can usually tell by the way a person is living their life and it seems to me that even though most Americans claim to be Christian the way they live their life doesn't show it.
How right you are. Christianity is a prop for many people. Christians, devout or not, typically spend the holidays in a very similar fashion than do non-Christians: with family and exchanging gifts. Sure, there are those who truly reflect on the birth of Christ in addition to that. But the fact that the holidays have evolved into something a bit different, but no less meaningful, for others doesn't take away from that whatsoever. Funny how in a season typically marked by generosity, some Christians are being selfish.
christians are so defensive about things. when things are secular or sort of generic and not explicitly christian, that dosent mean there is a conspiracy to choke christianity out of the world. particularly by amercan consumer goods companies, they dont care. in fact the owners of these companies are almost certainly christian too. for me christmas is a sweet vacation from everyone. pretty much everyone i know in ny/nj is not from here and they go home to their familes, but i stay. so usually i get to have some sweet silence and solitude on christmas.
Acctually its when we celebrate the feast of the Anunciation of Christ. I don't know why we celebrate it after we celebrate his birth, but the tradition of celebrating it on January 1 can be firmly traced back to the year 486, and there is some allusion to it even prior to that.
