Hey! Where'd Pastor Dan go?- Max
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Uh, sorry. Been kind of off about all this, haven't I? All right, back in the saddle! I've had a bunch of Holiday related questions the past couple of days so I'll see what I can do to hit a bunch of them in quick succession.
What's the big deal with the whole X-Mas thing? -Jake
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Sigh. Ok. The first letter of Christ in Greek is chi, which looks an awful lot like a latin X, as well as looking a bit like a cross on it's side. Using chi as shorthand for Christ is old, certainly older than the anglicized word Christ itself. So the X in X-mas is not some variable designed to remove Christ from Christmas, if anything, it's closer to the source than anything we could do in English.
That doesn't stop some Christians from being offended by it, though.
Since Jesus wasn't actually born on December 25th, why do you keep celebrating Christmas Day?- Dune Buggy
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You're right, Jesus probably wasn't born on December 25th. Of course, that is because there are 365 days in the year, and he could just have easily been born on any of them. No one was ever under the impression that December 25th was the right day when the choice was made. The point was to celebrate it, period. The fact that there was a handy pagan holiday that new converts were familiar with (and wanted to keep the reason to celebrate during Winter) likely helped.
The day isn't the point. The birth is.
I get pretty fed up with all the "merry Christmas" wishing. I kind of feel like tossing a "Happy Festivus" or something like that, just so people stop shoving their religion around. -Anonymous
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Funny you should say that. "Christmas" has not been a distinctively Christian holiday for some time. For awhile, now, it's primary role (at least in North American Culture) has been worship of the family and consumerism, not necessarily in that order. Sure, the day and accordant feast was once a distinctly Christian holiday, but track backwards far enough and you have a pagan holiday that would eventually get co-opted when the people turned Christian.
So having someone wish you a merry Christmas hasn't meant, "This is my faith, I hope you share it too," for awhile now. Most people, when they wish you a merry Christmas, are simply choosing a seasonal version of "have a nice day."
So feel free to wish people a happy Festivus. If the subtext of doing so is, "I hope you have a nice day!" then good on you and no harm to anyone. But if your subtext is; "Screw you, religious oppressor!" then you're probably just being an asshole.
So people are always saying to remember the real "meaning" of Christmas. Other than the simple fact of a baby being born, what would you say that is? -Whovian Drax
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A lot of people throw around the term "the REAL meaning of Christmas," without considering what they are talking about. In general, the theme of such talks boils down to, "it's not REALLY about what you can get, it's about peace on earth and being with people you love."
And you know, that's not a bad place to be. Christians will (hopefully) celebrate it in celebration of the life of Christ, but of the fulfillment of promise, but the call to be with people you care for, and to not be a total jerk to the people you don't, isn't bad, as messages go. Plus, treats and presents, and a general boost to charitable giving, so everyone wins, right?
The "real meaning of Christmas" is an amorphous mass that changes based on who holds it. We Christians can gripe about how it doesn't mean necessarily Jesus anymore, but given that we stole a lot of our traditions from other faiths, we don't really hold the moral high ground when we do so.
So to my Christians, don't get too up in arms when other people "miss the REAL reason for the season." If they are being more positive to others than they normally would be, I think that will please Christ.
And to my Atheists, whatever the season means to you, if anything at all, have a happy one.
To my readers in general, I'll try to get back on the ball with these blog posts!
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