Merry Christmas or Merry Mithras?

[funkycamper]

Originally posted by Stormyskies:
Jormy, I'm trying not to get upset about this, but it seems to me as if you really brought this over here so I could get ganged up on. After all, I am way out numbered here, which is why I don't post much. Since I so obviously don't mean what I say, I think I'll just back out of this whole board and you guys can all just have a government hating, Christian bashing good old time.[/QB]

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">None of us here are Christians? I'll stack up the intensity of my faith and my Biblical knowledge up against you any day.

Second, who here is government hating? Or is Bush synonymous with government to you?

Considering the Republican/conservative mantra is "smaller government" and that liberals and Democrats are accused of being for big government, I think you have it backwards about which side actually likes government. And I'll stack up my participation in the political process and doing volunteer work in government-appointed positions against you any day, too.

[space4dtime]

Bill O'Reilly is a tool.

I have always understood Happy Holidays to mean well-wishes to everyone for all of the many holidays between and including Thanksgiving and New Year's, to include the many celebrations besides Christmas that occur during that time. Like Yule. And Hanukkah. Sometimes Ramadan. Rohatsu. Kwanzaa. Etc. Etc.

It's culturally our holiday season because of the strong Christian influence on our society, but we've evolved so that we, as a culture, can celebrate all of these things without anyone feeling marginalized. Or at least we should.

It's a shame that some power-hungry and insecure so-called Christians have to see inclusion as exclusion and insist that everything always be about them.

[funkycamper]

Originally posted by space4dtime:
It's a shame that some power-hungry and insecure so-called Christians have to see inclusion as exclusion and insist that everything always be about them.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">[img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img] Very well said!

[Jeeperrr]

I clearly remember as a child in the 50's and 60's getting Christmas cards that said "Happy Holidays" or Seasons Greetings" on them. And they were often sent to us by devout Christians, too! What's up with that? How about nothing! No one thought anything of it then and nobody would now if Bill O'Reilly hadn't started this imaginary War in order to boost his ratings.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">You mean back in the era when people thought it was a good thing to be inclusive, and sensitive to the feelings of others? Those were the days!

[funkycamper]

Originally posted by Jeeperrr:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">
I clearly remember as a child in the 50's and 60's getting Christmas cards that said "Happy Holidays" or Seasons Greetings" on them. And they were often sent to us by devout Christians, too! What's up with that? How about nothing! No one thought anything of it then and nobody would now if Bill O'Reilly hadn't started this imaginary War in order to boost his ratings.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">You mean back in the era when people thought it was a good thing to be inclusive, and sensitive to the feelings of others? Those were the days!</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Actually, I don't think that's it. The 50's and 60's were hardly a time where people were sensitive to others or were inclusive. However, anybody with a smidgen of honesty and understanding of the English language should know that the word holiday devolved from "holy day". So, in reality, saying Happy Holidays means Happy Holy Days! Big whew....yeah, that's real offensive, isn't it?

It's just a non-issue that has been blown out of proportion by a bloviating Bill O and foolish people who unquestioningly swallow his BS get sucked into believing a non-existent war exists. Crazy!