Religion.....I love this topic!!!

[travelinman]

To bad the big sexy has never experienced life outside of the US.

The problem here is exclusion of one to include the many. Instead of celebrating diversity like they claim, liberal organizations such as the ACLU are destroying people?s traditions. You want to combat the Christian right then celebrate all Holidays.

If it were up to me we would have sales for all of the following holidays this month.

December 2005
6 - St. Nicholas Day (International)
8 - Bodhi Day - Buddha's Enlightenment (Buddhist)
12 - Virgin of Guadalupe (Mexico)
16-24 - Las Posadas (Mexico)
25 - Christmas (Christian, Roman Catholic, International)
26 - Boxing Day (Canada, United Kingdom)
26 - Jan 2 - Hanukkah (Jewish)
26 - Jan 1 - Kwanzaa (African-American)

The shopping district in Singapore is the largest ?MALL? I have ever been to. It is the shopping center for all of Southeast Asia and they celebrate all of these and it is wonderful. Walking down Orchard Road with Christmas trees sitting next to Menorahs sitting next to statues of Buddha while Asian children are singing Christmas carols next to Monks in yellow robes chanting Hindu chants and everyone having a good time celebrating everything.

Step out sometime and expand your horizons.

<font color="#FFFFAA" size="1">[ December 07, 2005 04:10 PM: Message edited by: travelinman ]</font>

[LanDroid]

Sure I have faith in some things. As we have moved away from certain Biblical ethics such as slavery, killing homosexuals, etc. our morality has improved and I have faith that will continue. I just don't have faith in the existence of Gods.

Your contention that you have faith in God but aren't religious while all atheists have religion is absurd. Few atheists literally state "there is no God", they simply lack a belief in Gods. There isn't any compelling evidence for them and they aren't necessary to explain anything.

I don't see how one makes a religion out of a lack of belief in Gods. As to Stalin and Mao, those were power/personality cults, another variant of religion, not atheism.

Who is messing with your Christmas? Is anyone attempting to change the way you celebrate it in your home or church? I see it all over the place, hear Christmas carols at work, etc. I'll celebrate it in my home too, like you said: tradition.

The way you describe Singapore, "Happy Holidays" is the perfect greeting for this season. So why should anyone be criticized for saying that instead of "Merry Christmas"? Probably because it has something to do with weakening the wall of separation between church and state. By linking holidays with sales, it seems you don't think Christmas has been commercialized enough, that sales should be associated directly with Christmas, not generic "holidays".

"How can any religion proclaim that they speak for god. Assholes"

I agree with you there.

[cincygreg]

Church fests are great.
Drinking and gambling on church grounds, gotta love that. LOL!

[Dulcinea]

Originally posted by The Big Sexy:
The Big Sexy was thinking more in terms of a mixture of Catholicism and Rastafarianism to create a bodacious mixture of drinking and smoking. The Big Sexy will have some awesome church festivals.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I am intrigued by your ideas and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

[gae]

Holiday

Main Entry: 1hol?i?day
Pronunciation: 'h?-l&-"dA, British usually 'h?-l&-dE
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hAligd?g, from hAlig holy+ d?g day

[reason]

Who is messing with your Christmas? Is anyone attempting to change the way you celebrate it in your home or church? I see it all over the place, hear Christmas carols at work, etc. I'll celebrate it in my home too, like you said: tradition.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Exactly. While the holiday has changed over the years in the manner it is celebrated on a mass basis, personal traditions are just that: personal. No one is changing that for trav, for Lan, for the Big Sexy, for anyone.

The Big Sexy is extraordinarily shocked...SHOCKED...that the usually free market trav is wanting to force retailers into proclaiming "Merry Christmas" in advertising. One can presume that retailers know their customers better than do trav and The American Family Association.

While it's fun and inflammatory to say the atheists, liberals and ACLU are forcing merchants to remove "Christmas" from their adverstising, the reality is Christians themselves have done this by turning the holiday into a spectacle grossly separate from its true meaning.

[travelinman]

Originally posted by gae:
Holiday

Main Entry: 1hol?i?day
Pronunciation: 'h?-l&-"dA, British usually 'h?-l&-dE
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hAligd?g, from hAlig holy+ d?g day

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I have no problem with Happy Holy Days.

[travelinman]

HOLIDAY BLUES
Christmas carols banned,
but Hanukkah songs OK
District axes 'dogmatic religious statements,' yet suggesting Jewish themes more cultural


Religious-liberty attorneys have contacted a Wisconsin school district that consistently forbids Christian Christmas carols from being sung in music programs but finds nothing wrong with Hanukkah songs.

According to law firm Liberty Counsel, the Glendale-River Hills School District of Glendale, Wis., has a written policy saying songs with "dogmatic religious statements" are strictly forbidden.

A statement from Liberty Counsel tells the story of Barbara Wheeler, whose 9-year-old daughter attends school in the district. In 2003, when the district's music programs excluded religious Christmas songs, Wheeler complained about their absence. School officials said they would get back to her, but they reportedly never did. Last year, Wheeler voiced complaints to the district in mid-November, but school officials said the songs already were set.

This year, when the school's music program contained Hanukkah and secular Christmas songs but no religious Christmas songs, Wheeler again objected.

That's when the mother was referred to the district's written policy:

"Music programs given at times close to religious holidays should not use the religious aspect of these holidays as the underlying motive or theme. No songs should be sung which contain dogmatic religious statements."

According to Liberty Counsel, Frances Smith, the district administrator, says the Hanukkah songs are more cultural than spiritual and thus are OK to sing.

On behalf of Wheeler, Liberty Counsel has written a demand letter to the district, stating that the school's policy is unconstitutional. Included was the law firm's Friend or Foe Christmas memo, which addresses the legality of celebrating Christmas.

The letter requests that the district immediately change its policy and include religious Christmas songs. Failure to respond favorably will subject the district to a lawsuit, Liberty Counsel says.

"The intent of the school district's policy is clear ? 'Frosty the Snowman' is in, 'My Dreidel' is in, 'Silent Night' is out," said Mat Staver, Liberty Counsel president and general counsel. "How much more ridiculous can it get when 96 percent of Americans celebrate Christmas, but the school district pretends like Christmas is merely a ghost of Christmas past."

The organization's Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign urges churches to run Friend or Foe ads in their local newspapers.

Controversy over Christmas and its celebration in the public square has reached a fever pitch this year with battles raging over everything from what to call evergreen trees to whether or not retailers allow their employees to wish customers a "merry Christmas."

[jumper69]

I love the direction this thread has taken because a lot of you espouse ideas similar to my own. But I started this thread because I was interested in the views of the religiously <s>brainwashed</s> faithful, namely Lake. She believes the Church. Why?

All discussion of the commercialism of Xmas or lawsuits and whatnot aside.....IS religion the triumph of faith over intellect?

[cincygreg]

So we arent going to get into the Bingo as a gambling addiction thing LOL!

It seems to me that many who are dep into the faith thing were brought up that way. Not like puritans or something, but more or less in a house where it was a part of everyday life.

I was raised catholic, confirmed and all that stuff, but I didnt go to a catholic school or anything like that and really never got into it wholeheartedly.

I dont think that faith wins over intelect, but in some cases I think that faith may be used in it's place. Sometimes as a persons way of finding a reason for things that happen. The unexplained is often looked at as some form of "miracle".
I guess, in all honesty, the biggest thing about faith is the afterlife. Whether there is a heaven and/or hell. Intelect tells you that the only way to find out is to die, but then you cant really come back and tell anyone about it. Faith tells you to just beleive it's there and that all will be better when you arrive.

I guess in reality, it's all perspective.