Non-Christians who celebrate Christmas

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH and I say we're "culturally Christian"---we celebrate Santa and the Easter Bunny, not Jesus. We enjoy decorating the tree, shopping for thoughtful presents for our friends and family, spending time with family and close friends, the Yule log on TV, and watching Xmas movies.

The cognitive dissonance is strong with this one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm Hindu, we celebrate Christmas, and we also have no problem saying "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays".

Why we celebrate it - that has already been answered in this thread. It's a part of American culture, and we are Hindu-Americans. It's a fun winter holiday. It's a fun family holiday. It's a season to be jolly.

Same here. In fact the non Christians who don't celebrate baffle me

I am Jewish and do not celebrate Christmas (unless you call a movie and Chinese food celebrating Christmas, and we don't even always do that).

What do I need to explain? I also don't celebrate diwali or ramadan. I assume you do not celebrate purim or sukkos.

If you lived in India, you'd probably celebrate diwali as it is more secular. Purim and sukkos are more religious. I attend Passover at my Jewish friend's homes.

I'm not sure why the two big Christian holiday are so secular, but they are. Easter bunny and Santa are commercialized and very secular. They have nothing to do with Jesus's birth or resurrection. Good Friday is religious but not secular (unlike the others) and it's only celebrated by Christians.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a Christian and a minister. The things you listed are pagan in origin. Christianity adopted them in an effort to combine the nativity with well-established pagan winter festivals. Lights and festivities make the celebration of the birth of Jesus much more fun! So anyone can celebrate the winter holiday and more importantly, Christ would welcome all to the celebration regardless of spiritual path.

How would you know something like that? It suggests that there is something in the Bible that indicates that Christ would want people who don't believe he is the Messiah to be celebrating his birth.

Jesus was kind to non-believers. He met them where they lived, fed them, taught them, and healed them (Matthew 9:9-11; Mark 1:33-34; 6:30-42; Luke 5:1-11).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a Christian and a minister. The things you listed are pagan in origin. Christianity adopted them in an effort to combine the nativity with well-established pagan winter festivals. Lights and festivities make the celebration of the birth of Jesus much more fun! So anyone can celebrate the winter holiday and more importantly, Christ would welcome all to the celebration regardless of spiritual path.

Thank you!!!i wish many of the"christians" I met had your attitude.

Exactly, the Christian minister has a good attitude about non-Christians celebrating Christmas, but it's the minister's personal opinion, with no basis in Christian history or teachings.

Jesus thought he was King of the Jews -- their long-awaited Messiah. He did not know that a new religion would be formed around him - that was Paul's doing - and certainly did not envision his supposed birthday becoming a major holiday.

Dear friend, may I gently suggest that you are missing the point? I am the minister you keep quoting. We know that Jesus had no idea that thousands of years later people would be celebrating his birth with decorated trees, beautiful lights, cookies, and gifts. However, Jesus the Christ (whatever that means to you) would certainly welcome everyone to the table on Christmas! His entire message was one of love, inclusivity, tolerance, compassion, and friendship. We are called to love one another. Period. No descriptors or exclusions followed that statement. Just love one another. Christmas is a time of love and light, of family and friendship, of giving and receiving, regardless of faith tradition. Those who practice other religions often choose not to participate in Christmas and that is certainly understandable. However, should they choose to participate in the non-religious traditions associated with the holiday, they should always feel more than welcome to do so. The Jesus I know would never exclude - he would add more chairs to the table.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a Christian and a minister. The things you listed are pagan in origin. Christianity adopted them in an effort to combine the nativity with well-established pagan winter festivals. Lights and festivities make the celebration of the birth of Jesus much more fun! So anyone can celebrate the winter holiday and more importantly, Christ would welcome all to the celebration regardless of spiritual path.

How would you know something like that? It suggests that there is something in the Bible that indicates that Christ would want people who don't believe he is the Messiah to be celebrating his birth.

There IS something in the Bible to that effect. A lot of somethings, actually. Let the children come to me and do not hinder them and all that.

Does it say something about people who don't believe in Jesus celebrating his birth? I don't think so. Jesus had no idea that people would be celebrating his birth or that a religion would be formed around him. He lived and died a jew. I"m sure the Christian minister knows that.

Sorry you didn't get my meaning. The Bible does not spell out who should or should not participate in Christmas, mostly because Christmas is a post Christ construct. Sorry if I thought that much would be obvious. The Bible DOES however spell out concepts like love, inclusion, treating others the way you would want to be treated, etc. All of which can be interpreted to mean that everyone is welcome, regardless of faith. Of course, if you only read the letters and words, you might miss the larger meaning. Forest for the trees, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a Christian and a minister. The things you listed are pagan in origin. Christianity adopted them in an effort to combine the nativity with well-established pagan winter festivals. Lights and festivities make the celebration of the birth of Jesus much more fun! So anyone can celebrate the winter holiday and more importantly, Christ would welcome all to the celebration regardless of spiritual path.

This. Also, DH and I were brought up Christian/catholic but are now both atheist. We do the tree, gift exchange,etc because we focus on Christmas being about family, and the winter solstice and things to come, etc. So in short, we do Christmas without the religious aspect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a Christian and a minister. The things you listed are pagan in origin. Christianity adopted them in an effort to combine the nativity with well-established pagan winter festivals. Lights and festivities make the celebration of the birth of Jesus much more fun! So anyone can celebrate the winter holiday and more importantly, Christ would welcome all to the celebration regardless of spiritual path.

How would you know something like that? It suggests that there is something in the Bible that indicates that Christ would want people who don't believe he is the Messiah to be celebrating his birth.

Because we aren't celebrating his birth

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a Christian and a minister. The things you listed are pagan in origin. Christianity adopted them in an effort to combine the nativity with well-established pagan winter festivals. Lights and festivities make the celebration of the birth of Jesus much more fun! So anyone can celebrate the winter holiday and more importantly, Christ would welcome all to the celebration regardless of spiritual path.

How would you know something like that? It suggests that there is something in the Bible that indicates that Christ would want people who don't believe he is the Messiah to be celebrating his birth.

Jesus was kind to non-believers. He met them where they lived, fed them, taught them, and healed them (Matthew 9:9-11; Mark 1:33-34; 6:30-42; Luke 5:1-11).

What were "non-believers" in Jesus day, which was before Christianity was a religion and Jesus was a Jew preaching to other Jews to accept him as their Messiah. It was Paul who reached out to the Greeks to spread the word of Jesus. The Jews were not buying it. They still aren't.

PS, Mathew refers to tax collectors and sinners, not non-believers. The Mark passages refer to demons and the loaves and the fishes, not non-believers and the Luke passage is about Jesus choosing his disciples who acknowledge being sinful - and are grateful for the big catch of fish Jesus arranged for them.

It seems fair to call Jesus inclusive, but that hardly seems like a justification or invitation for non-Christians to celebrate his birthday -- a birthday he himself never foresaw as a cause for widespread merry-making.

21st century Americans can celebrate Christmas because they want to, not because a Jesus that many of them don't believe in welcomes them. Bringing it all back to Jesus seems like an attempt to assure Jesus' position as a good guy, even to people who don't believe in him. For Christians, it seems like it should be enough that Jesus is the son of God who died for their sins so they could have eternal life, as long as they believe in him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm Hindu, we celebrate Christmas, and we also have no problem saying "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays".

Why we celebrate it - that has already been answered in this thread. It's a part of American culture, and we are Hindu-Americans. It's a fun winter holiday. It's a fun family holiday. It's a season to be jolly.

Same here. In fact the non Christians who don't celebrate baffle me

I am Jewish and do not celebrate Christmas (unless you call a movie and Chinese food celebrating Christmas, and we don't even always do that).

What do I need to explain? I also don't celebrate diwali or ramadan. I assume you do not celebrate purim or sukkos.

If you lived in India, you'd probably celebrate diwali as it is more secular. Purim and sukkos are more religious. I attend Passover at my Jewish friend's homes.

I'm not sure why the two big Christian holiday are so secular, but they are. Easter bunny and Santa are commercialized and very secular. They have nothing to do with Jesus's birth or resurrection. Good Friday is religious but not secular (unlike the others) and it's only celebrated by Christians.

Like Christmas, Easter was co-opted by christians from Pagan traditions. The Easter bunny, eggs, etc. are symbols of spring, rebirth and fertility-all pagan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a Christian and a minister. The things you listed are pagan in origin. Christianity adopted them in an effort to combine the nativity with well-established pagan winter festivals. Lights and festivities make the celebration of the birth of Jesus much more fun! So anyone can celebrate the winter holiday and more importantly, Christ would welcome all to the celebration regardless of spiritual path.

Thank you!!!i wish many of the"christians" I met had your attitude.

Exactly, the Christian minister has a good attitude about non-Christians celebrating Christmas, but it's the minister's personal opinion, with no basis in Christian history or teachings.

Jesus thought he was King of the Jews -- their long-awaited Messiah. He did not know that a new religion would be formed around him - that was Paul's doing - and certainly did not envision his supposed birthday becoming a major holiday.

Dear friend, may I gently suggest that you are missing the point? I am the minister you keep quoting. We know that Jesus had no idea that thousands of years later people would be celebrating his birth with decorated trees, beautiful lights, cookies, and gifts. However, Jesus the Christ (whatever that means to you) would certainly welcome everyone to the table on Christmas! His entire message was one of love, inclusivity, tolerance, compassion, and friendship. We are called to love one another. Period. No descriptors or exclusions followed that statement. Just love one another. Christmas is a time of love and light, of family and friendship, of giving and receiving, regardless of faith tradition. Those who practice other religions often choose not to participate in Christmas and that is certainly understandable. However, should they choose to participate in the non-religious traditions associated with the holiday, they should always feel more than welcome to do so. The Jesus I know would never exclude - he would add more chairs to the table.

I think the point that you miss is that many people who celebrate Christmas, including Christians, former Christians and never-Christians, don't care much if at all about how Jesus would feel about what they are doing. They are just enjoying themselves as people have at this time of year for centuries, including long before Jesus' birth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm Hindu, we celebrate Christmas, and we also have no problem saying "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays".

Why we celebrate it - that has already been answered in this thread. It's a part of American culture, and we are Hindu-Americans. It's a fun winter holiday. It's a fun family holiday. It's a season to be jolly.

Same here. In fact the non Christians who don't celebrate baffle me

I am Jewish and do not celebrate Christmas (unless you call a movie and Chinese food celebrating Christmas, and we don't even always do that).

What do I need to explain? I also don't celebrate diwali or ramadan. I assume you do not celebrate purim or sukkos.

If you lived in India, you'd probably celebrate diwali as it is more secular. Purim and sukkos are more religious. I attend Passover at my Jewish friend's homes.

I'm not sure why the two big Christian holiday are so secular, but they are. Easter bunny and Santa are commercialized and very secular. They have nothing to do with Jesus's birth or resurrection. Good Friday is religious but not secular (unlike the others) and it's only celebrated by Christians.

Good Friday is a day of mourning, when Christ was crucified, so there's no associated celebration for people to enjoy. No food, no dancing. Observant Christians spend 3 hours in Church reliving the "passion" of christ -- the trial, being spat on, receiving the crown of thorns, carrying the cross, being nailed to the cross, dying and being taken down. No joy in that. Many Christians don't observe it either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a Christian and a minister. The things you listed are pagan in origin. Christianity adopted them in an effort to combine the nativity with well-established pagan winter festivals. Lights and festivities make the celebration of the birth of Jesus much more fun! So anyone can celebrate the winter holiday and more importantly, Christ would welcome all to the celebration regardless of spiritual path.

Thank you!!!i wish many of the"christians" I met had your attitude.

Exactly, the Christian minister has a good attitude about non-Christians celebrating Christmas, but it's the minister's personal opinion, with no basis in Christian history or teachings.

Jesus thought he was King of the Jews -- their long-awaited Messiah. He did not know that a new religion would be formed around him - that was Paul's doing - and certainly did not envision his supposed birthday becoming a major holiday.

Dear friend, may I gently suggest that you are missing the point? I am the minister you keep quoting. We know that Jesus had no idea that thousands of years later people would be celebrating his birth with decorated trees, beautiful lights, cookies, and gifts. However, Jesus the Christ (whatever that means to you) would certainly welcome everyone to the table on Christmas! His entire message was one of love, inclusivity, tolerance, compassion, and friendship. We are called to love one another. Period. No descriptors or exclusions followed that statement. Just love one another. Christmas is a time of love and light, of family and friendship, of giving and receiving, regardless of faith tradition. Those who practice other religions often choose not to participate in Christmas and that is certainly understandable. However, should they choose to participate in the non-religious traditions associated with the holiday, they should always feel more than welcome to do so. The Jesus I know would never exclude - he would add more chairs to the table.

I think the point that you miss is that many people who celebrate Christmas, including Christians, former Christians and never-Christians, don't care much if at all about how Jesus would feel about what they are doing. They are just enjoying themselves as people have at this time of year for centuries, including long before Jesus' birth.

No. I am not missing the point. You have responded to several people in the same way. It is you who seems to be missing the point. Go back and read the OP's very first post. She specifically asked about non-Christians and Christmas. There are basically two points being made (1) Many of the things we associate with Christmas are not Christian in origin. They are pagen traditions that the church combined with the celebration of the nativity. And (2) Jesus, the very reason Christians celebrate "Christ's-Mass" would welcome all to participate.

Most people do acknowledge that a guy named Jesus was born many years ago and spent most of his life teaching about compassionate, tolerance, and forgiveness and encouraging people to love each other. As a Christian, I believe he was sent by God to our earth as an example of God's perfect love. A Messiah. I celebrate the nativity on December 25th. However, Christmas doesn't have to mean the same thing to everyone. For a non-Christian of any faith or a person who isn't religious at all, Christmas can still be a beautiful celebration of light, love, family, and community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a Christian and a minister. The things you listed are pagan in origin. Christianity adopted them in an effort to combine the nativity with well-established pagan winter festivals. Lights and festivities make the celebration of the birth of Jesus much more fun! So anyone can celebrate the winter holiday and more importantly, Christ would welcome all to the celebration regardless of spiritual path.

Thank you!!!i wish many of the"christians" I met had your attitude.

Exactly, the Christian minister has a good attitude about non-Christians celebrating Christmas, but it's the minister's personal opinion, with no basis in Christian history or teachings.

Jesus thought he was King of the Jews -- their long-awaited Messiah. He did not know that a new religion would be formed around him - that was Paul's doing - and certainly did not envision his supposed birthday becoming a major holiday.

Dear friend, may I gently suggest that you are missing the point? I am the minister you keep quoting. We know that Jesus had no idea that thousands of years later people would be celebrating his birth with decorated trees, beautiful lights, cookies, and gifts. However, Jesus the Christ (whatever that means to you) would certainly welcome everyone to the table on Christmas! His entire message was one of love, inclusivity, tolerance, compassion, and friendship. We are called to love one another. Period. No descriptors or exclusions followed that statement. Just love one another. Christmas is a time of love and light, of family and friendship, of giving and receiving, regardless of faith tradition. Those who practice other religions often choose not to participate in Christmas and that is certainly understandable. However, should they choose to participate in the non-religious traditions associated with the holiday, they should always feel more than welcome to do so. The Jesus I know would never exclude - he would add more chairs to the table.

I think the point that you miss is that many people who celebrate Christmas, including Christians, former Christians and never-Christians, don't care much if at all about how Jesus would feel about what they are doing. They are just enjoying themselves as people have at this time of year for centuries, including long before Jesus' birth.

No. I am not missing the point. You have responded to several people in the same way. It is you who seems to be missing the point. Go back and read the OP's very first post. She specifically asked about non-Christians and Christmas. There are basically two points being made (1) Many of the things we associate with Christmas are not Christian in origin. They are pagen traditions that the church combined with the celebration of the nativity. And (2) Jesus, the very reason Christians celebrate "Christ's-Mass" would welcome all to participate.

Most people do acknowledge that a guy named Jesus was born many years ago and spent most of his life teaching about compassionate, tolerance, and forgiveness and encouraging people to love each other. As a Christian, I believe he was sent by God to our earth as an example of God's perfect love. A Messiah. I celebrate the nativity on December 25th. However, Christmas doesn't have to mean the same thing to everyone. For a non-Christian of any faith or a person who isn't religious at all, Christmas can still be a beautiful celebration of light, love, family, and community.

And those people needn't have any interest in how "Jesus" would feel about whatever enjoyment they are having. They also may or may not care about the centuries-old tradition of Yule logs, the Roman empire holiday of sol invictus (victory of the sun) or Mithras - a more ancient god whose birthday is also celebrated on Dec 25th. Christians may like the idea that Jesus would welcome sinners (not non-believers as earlier stated), but non-christians may or may not care or be very impressed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Christmas is a national holiday. Why wouldn't every American celebrate it?

I agree. The lights on houses, Santa, Christmas tree, presents... these are all non religious things.

My nativity, advent calendar and going to church are all Christian things.

Our advent candles are Christian. Our advent calendars really aren't. It's a countdown to Christmas that starts December 1, not the first Sunday of advent.

[Anonymous]

because we grew up celebrating it, and it's a fun tradition. I love decorating my house and getting a xmas tree and buying my family presents.