Ok lets start talking w/a controversial topic!

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Posted by LauraD419

The point of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Christ. It irritates me when people don't recognize this...even Christians.

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But its NOT the birth of christ...it doesnt say ANYWHERE In the bible that Jesus was born on december 25th so the fact that very religious people say it is a religious holiday makes no sense to me. INFACT if you go by the bible and historical facts then it clearly states that jesus was NOT born on december 25th. So knowing that jesus was not born on december 25th then i dont recognize it as such. First of all the pagan's were the ones who started celebrating december 25th for different reasons, it revolved around their winter festivals and infact was the birthdate of one of their gods. So when it comes down to it December 25th is a PAGAN holiday.

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Posted by Snowflake08

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Posted by bluegreen08

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Posted by angl2001

a little off topic but...what i dont understand is how people who are so 'religious' and think they follow the 'christian way' can talk about what people should and shouldnt do....but yet they do things that are against the 'church' .Yet they are the first to say something about someone else.....FH mom does this...she talks crap about what everyone else does and judges people all the time but yet thinks she is all high and mighty and she follows 'gods rules' yet she judges everyone and everything.....THAT ANNOYS ME!

I feel if people think it is wrong to celebrate christmas and not be 'religious' then i think people who arent 100% pure and don't follow every word of the bible shouldnt either!

to each their own...celebrate or dont! its your choice

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i agree... i'm not christian but isnt the point of the bible to be good to your fellow man and to be accepting of others?

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LOL yea; thats what i always thought
someone should remind the cross burners of this LOL

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cross burners should also read the bible, because i would like to know where it says this is the birth of jesus

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Posted by Espo22

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Posted by LauraD419

The point of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Christ. It irritates me when people don't recognize this...even Christians.

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But its NOT the birth of christ...it doesnt say ANYWHERE In the bible that Jesus was born on december 25th so the fact that very religious people say it is a religious holiday makes no sense to me. INFACT if you go by the bible and historical facts then it clearly states that jesus was NOT born on december 25th. So knowing that jesus was not born on december 25th then i dont recognize it as such. First of all the pagan's were the ones who started celebrating december 25th for different reasons, it revolved around their winter festivals and infact was the birthdate of one of their gods. So when it comes down to it December 25th is a PAGAN holiday. SO i like to stick to the facts and ill celebrate christmas as a holiday and not a religious one.

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I think it is very clear that Dec 25 is NOT the actual day that Christ is born but as stated earlier it was chosen for various non religious reasons. . . but the Church designated it as a chance to celebrate His birth . . . so I don't get how it is NOT religious?

I doubt that any religious holidays actually fall on the actual day that they are supposed to represent. . .

the bible does NOT say that dec 25th is the birth of Christ - but it DOES say that Christ was born

so what does it matter what day we celebrate - the church designated a special day for all Christians of the world to celebrate together. . . and therefore it is a religious holiday

obviously not everyone celebrates it as a religious one, but intrinsically it is. . .

eta: you guys know i NEVER get offended but i am totally offended right now

i am not saying everyone should celebrate Christmas as the day that Jesus was born - but to say that it is NOT a religious holiday and NOT to be celebrated as such is pretty darn offensive!

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Posted by ant n tilde

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Posted by Espo22

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Posted by LauraD419

The point of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Christ. It irritates me when people don't recognize this...even Christians.

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But its NOT the birth of christ...it doesnt say ANYWHERE In the bible that Jesus was born on december 25th so the fact that very religious people say it is a religious holiday makes no sense to me. INFACT if you go by the bible and historical facts then it clearly states that jesus was NOT born on december 25th. So knowing that jesus was not born on december 25th then i dont recognize it as such. First of all the pagan's were the ones who started celebrating december 25th for different reasons, it revolved around their winter festivals and infact was the birthdate of one of their gods. So when it comes down to it December 25th is a PAGAN holiday. SO i like to stick to the facts and ill celebrate christmas as a holiday and not a religious one.

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I think it is very clear that Dec 25 is NOT the actual day that Christ is born but as stated earlier it was chosen for various non religious reasons. . . but the Church designated it as a chance to celebrate His birth . . . so I don't get how it is NOT religious?

I doubt that any religious holidays actually fall on the actual day that they are supposed to represent. . .

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is it in the bible? and not only that but the pagans started it and its something the christians picked up on...i understand people who yes do want to celebrate it as the birth of jesus christ which you know what I have absolutely no problem with because i think everyone should follow whatever they choose to follow and doesn't have to have the same opinions as I do, but someone saying that it annoys them that christians dont celebrate christmas as the birth of jesus is what bothered me. It doesnt bother me that people do recognize it as the birth of jesus even if its different than what I do believe.

AND you said 'THE CHURCH' what church would that be, the catholic church? we're not all catholics there are other parts of christianity

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Posted by ant n tilde

the bible does NOT say that dec 25th is the birth of Christ - but it DOES say that Christ was born

so what does it matter what day we celebrate - the church designated a special day for all Christians of the world to celebrate together. . . and therefore it is a religious holiday

obviously not everyone celebrates it as a religious one, but intrinsically it is. . .

eta: you guys know i NEVER get offended but i am totally offended right now

i am not saying everyone should celebrate Christmas as the day that Jesus was born - but to say that it is NOT a religious holiday and NOT to be celebrated as such is pretty darn offensive!

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Tilde- i never said that it SHOULDN't be celebrated as a religious holiday, do what makes you happy and do what you believe in, i would never tell someone what they believe is wrong, my point was that SOME people don't see it as a religious holiday. I got annoyed at the comment someone made that 'it annoys them that christians don't celebrate it as the birth of jesus' i thought that statement was wrong.

do you understand now why some of us got mad, same reason as you did bc others are telling you what you should believe in which is wrong...the same way we got mad bc people are telling us it has to be celebrated as a religious holiday its the same way you felt when someone said it shouldn't be bc its not a religious holiday

whether or not it is the actual birth date of Christ is not really the point
to say that Christmas is NOT a religious holiday seems silly to me; since it is celebrated by people of a particular faith

The 4th of July is when we celebrate the united states' independence from England; this is NOT a religious holiday

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Posted by Espo22

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Posted by ant n tilde

the bible does NOT say that dec 25th is the birth of Christ - but it DOES say that Christ was born

so what does it matter what day we celebrate - the church designated a special day for all Christians of the world to celebrate together. . . and therefore it is a religious holiday

obviously not everyone celebrates it as a religious one, but intrinsically it is. . .

eta: you guys know i NEVER get offended but i am totally offended right now

i am not saying everyone should celebrate Christmas as the day that Jesus was born - but to say that it is NOT a religious holiday and NOT to be celebrated as such is pretty darn offensive!

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Tilde- i never said that it SHOULDN't be celebrated as a religious holiday, do what makes you happy and do what you believe in, i would never tell someone what they believe is wrong, my point was that SOME people don't see it as a religious holiday. I got annoyed at the comment someone made that 'it annoys them that christians don't celebrate it as the birth of jesus' i thought that statement was wrong.

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yes i just read your other post above - i see what you are saying but as a Christian, you ( not YOU but the universal YOU ) believe that Christ was born and hte church designated a day to celebrate that ( I WAS talking about the Catholic church but I just looked it up and it was started by a King so whatever - in modern times. . . I think pretty much all Christian churches follow dec 25 as a day to CELEBRATE His birth ) so why would you ( again, not YOU lol ) not celebrate it as such?

Does that mean that you celebrate in some random day in April or wherever the theorists say the actual birth was?

I dont understand all of this bc honestly I never thought about it any other way than the birth of Christ that has been distorted by popular culture

and the made up stuff was just to that person, sorry i got annoyed by such a comment and said that but it was to prove a point to the person who posted it not everyone on here.

Personally I really don't care what people do...whether they think its a religious holiday, not a religious holiday, whether they are agnostic, christian, jewish, muslim, buddhist or whatever the case might be. So when i see such close minded comments made that ALL christians HAVE to do this well it bothered me

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Posted by ant n tilde

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Posted by Espo22

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Posted by ant n tilde

the bible does NOT say that dec 25th is the birth of Christ - but it DOES say that Christ was born

so what does it matter what day we celebrate - the church designated a special day for all Christians of the world to celebrate together. . . and therefore it is a religious holiday

obviously not everyone celebrates it as a religious one, but intrinsically it is. . .

eta: you guys know i NEVER get offended but i am totally offended right now

i am not saying everyone should celebrate Christmas as the day that Jesus was born - but to say that it is NOT a religious holiday and NOT to be celebrated as such is pretty darn offensive!

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Tilde- i never said that it SHOULDN't be celebrated as a religious holiday, do what makes you happy and do what you believe in, i would never tell someone what they believe is wrong, my point was that SOME people don't see it as a religious holiday. I got annoyed at the comment someone made that 'it annoys them that christians don't celebrate it as the birth of jesus' i thought that statement was wrong.

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yes i just read your other post above - i see what you are saying but as a Christian, you ( not YOU but the universal YOU ) believe that Christ was born and hte church designated a day to celebrate that ( I WAS talking about the Catholic church but I just looked it up and it was started by a King so whatever - in modern times. . . I think pretty much all Christian churches follow dec 25 as a day to CELEBRATE His birth ) so why would you ( again, not YOU lol ) not celebrate it as such?

Does that mean that you celebrate in some random day in April or wherever the theorists say the actual birth was?

I dont understand all of this bc honestly I never thought about it any other way than the birth of Christ that has been distorted by popular culture

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actually christian orthodox is january 7th but that is for those who are extremely religious and follow the old calendar so for me it is different but we dont follow the old calendar so we do celebrate it on december 25th...i wrote in another post infact a few pages back that many russians celebrate it on january 7th and other christian orthodox people do too. Even we celebrate on december 25th we also do recognize january 7th

Lukes gospel explains his birthdate.

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Posted by Espo22

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Posted by LauraD419

The point of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Christ. It irritates me when people don't recognize this...even Christians.

---

But its NOT the birth of christ...it doesnt say ANYWHERE In the bible that Jesus was born on december 25th so the fact that very religious people say it is a religious holiday makes no sense to me. INFACT if you go by the bible and historical facts then it clearly states that jesus was NOT born on december 25th. So knowing that jesus was not born on december 25th then i dont recognize it as such. First of all the pagan's were the ones who started celebrating december 25th for different reasons, it revolved around their winter festivals and infact was the birthdate of one of their gods. So when it comes down to it December 25th is a PAGAN holiday. SO i like to stick to the facts and ill celebrate christmas as a holiday and not a religious one.

Made up stuff is what annoys me, until someone can prove that jesus was born on december 25th, which is impossible bc of the events that were going on at the time it clearly states it was not during the winter, but anyways until someone posts a fact to back it up that saying untrue things annoys me

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Posted by Espo22

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Posted by ant n tilde

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Posted by Espo22

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Posted by ant n tilde

the bible does NOT say that dec 25th is the birth of Christ - but it DOES say that Christ was born

so what does it matter what day we celebrate - the church designated a special day for all Christians of the world to celebrate together. . . and therefore it is a religious holiday

obviously not everyone celebrates it as a religious one, but intrinsically it is. . .

eta: you guys know i NEVER get offended but i am totally offended right now

i am not saying everyone should celebrate Christmas as the day that Jesus was born - but to say that it is NOT a religious holiday and NOT to be celebrated as such is pretty darn offensive!

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Tilde- i never said that it SHOULDN't be celebrated as a religious holiday, do what makes you happy and do what you believe in, i would never tell someone what they believe is wrong, my point was that SOME people don't see it as a religious holiday. I got annoyed at the comment someone made that 'it annoys them that christians don't celebrate it as the birth of jesus' i thought that statement was wrong.

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yes i just read your other post above - i see what you are saying but as a Christian, you ( not YOU but the universal YOU ) believe that Christ was born and hte church designated a day to celebrate that ( I WAS talking about the Catholic church but I just looked it up and it was started by a King so whatever - in modern times. . . I think pretty much all Christian churches follow dec 25 as a day to CELEBRATE His birth ) so why would you ( again, not YOU lol ) not celebrate it as such?

Does that mean that you celebrate in some random day in April or wherever the theorists say the actual birth was?

I dont understand all of this bc honestly I never thought about it any other way than the birth of Christ that has been distorted by popular culture

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actually christian orthodox is january 7th but that is for those who are extremely religious and follow the old calendar so for me it is different but we dont follow the old calendar so we do celebrate it on december 25th...i wrote in another post infact a few pages back that many russians celebrate it on january 7th and other christian orthodox people do too. Even we celebrate on december 25th we also do recognize january 7th

Lukes gospel explains his birthdate.

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oh yeah i got ya - that makes sense. . . and i understand that but your first post confused me bc that is like me saying that Jan 7th ISNT a religious holiday. . . bc it is not 'MY' Christmas ( even though technically I am supposed to go to church that day but thats a different story LOL )

but i dont even think that jan 7th is supposed to be the 'proven' birth date i think it is also a more symbolic date like dec 25 . . .

Yeah, isn't it called 'Little Christmas?' My neighbors are devout Catholics and they celebrate it in a huge way.

Also, don't Orthodox Greeks celebrate Christmas and Easter on different days?

Just wondering

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Posted by Snowflake08

whether or not it is the actual birth date of Christ is not really the point
to say that Christmas is NOT a religious holiday seems silly to me; since it is celebrated by people of a particular faith

The 4th of July is when we celebrate the united states' independence from England; this is NOT a religious holiday

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yeah and before christians it was the pagans who celebrated december 25th

Yes it is recognized as the birth of jesus i do understand this and i don't think theres anything wrong with celebrating it as such, i believe everyone should follow whatever THEY want. But to say that a person who doesn't believe this shouldn't celebrate christmas is wrong

to clarify my point

what i am saying is this: people should celebrate Christmas in whatever way they see fit as long as it isn't all about commercialism and materialism - as long as its about family and love and charity etc.

BUT the holiday itself IS a religious one - it is a day set aside to celebrate the birth of Christ

How people celebrate it is an entirely different matter - it doesnt take away from what the day is SUPPOSED to be about

that's my point anyway - how i see it.

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Posted by mathteach

Yeah, isn't it called 'Little Christmas?' My neighbors are devout Catholics and they celebrate it in a huge way.

Also, don't Orthodox Greeks celebrate Christmas and Easter on different days?

Just wondering

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Yes, Greek Easter is a different day than whatever day the catholic church designates as Easter Sunday. I'm not greek but I love greek easter because living in Astoria where it's predominantly greek, it's such a nice happy day to be walking around, everyone is in such good spirits that day in my neighborhood.

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Posted by mathteach

Yeah, isn't it called 'Little Christmas?' My neighbors are devout Catholics and they celebrate it in a huge way.

Also, don't Orthodox Greeks celebrate Christmas and Easter on different days?

Just wondering

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well ill call it CHRISTIAN orthodox since first of all i am orthodox but NOT greek...i explained above SOME christian orthodox people celebrate it on January 7th but from what i've personally seen its mostly russians who do this and not even ALL russians. Most greeks i know do celebrate december 25th, i even celebrate it on the 25th. Most of our generation and even our parents celebrate the 25th, those who follow the old calendar are extremely religious and follow even different rules and strictly follow the bible so i won't pretend like i do so i don't celebrate on january 7th.

Easter yes it is at different times but once every 4 years or so it does land on the same day otherwise each year it changes sometimes its a week apart and other times even as much as 4 weeks apart

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Posted by mathteach

Yeah, isn't it called 'Little Christmas?' My neighbors are devout Catholics and they celebrate it in a huge way.

Also, don't Orthodox Greeks celebrate Christmas and Easter on different days?

Just wondering

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yes, because their calendar is 13 days shorter than ours
they use the julian(sp)? calendar; not the gregorian

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Posted by ant n tilde

to clarify my point

what i am saying is this: people should celebrate Christmas in whatever way they see fit as long as it isn't all about commercialism and materialism - as long as its about family and love and charity etc.

BUT the holiday itself IS a religious one - it is a day set aside to celebrate the birth of Christ

How people celebrate it is an entirely different matter - it doesnt take away from what the day is SUPPOSED to be about

that's my point anyway - how i see it.

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Tilde i agree with you, sorry i went off in the other post but that persons comment just bothered me. Yes the church recognizes it as the birth of jesus i do know this and that is fine i don't have anything against that. But remember there are people who don't follow everything the church says so my point was that yes a person who is not religious can celebrate christmas and have their own meaning. I go to church for mass on christmas which probably alot of ppl who do argue that its a religious holiday don't even do(not you tilde, i know you do)

Everyone should follow their hearts and do whats best for them

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Posted by missliss

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Posted by mathteach

Yeah, isn't it called 'Little Christmas?' My neighbors are devout Catholics and they celebrate it in a huge way.

Also, don't Orthodox Greeks celebrate Christmas and Easter on different days?

Just wondering

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Yes, Greek Easter is a different day than whatever day the catholic church designates as Easter Sunday. I'm not greek but I love greek easter because living in Astoria where it's predominantly greek, it's such a nice happy day to be walking around, everyone is in such good spirits that day in my neighborhood.

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I know what you mean. Easter is my absolute fave holiday: it's a beautiful meaning and so joyful!