[Rufus]

See, this question is for Christians AND non Christians.

Jesus was born, probably in spring or summer.

Christmas is a replacement festival for Yule.
Christmas trees are a pagan tradition.
Present giving is too central to Christian's Christmas.
Many Christians only peer out of the woodwork at Christmas, aknowledging the festival in order to justify their festive antics.
Sex, greed, drunkeness and strife, are the main results of Christmas festivities.

:o


And you say????

[EnglishBob]

Christmas has unfortunately become the Commercial holiday.... any other significance has slowly been eroded away.

[jericho]

Can I assume then that you are getting me the same thing as last year but in a different color?

:-)

[Rufus]

No.

This year I'm buying everyone Scotch mist.

[slejhamer]

Christmas as is widely practiced today (and perhaps even historically) has no biblical foundation whatsoever. But the underlying spiritual meaning, however much avoided or glossed over, remains true IMHO.

I ordered this book but don't have it yet:

"In the Fullness of Time: A Historian Looks at Christmas, Easter, and the Early Church" by Paul Maier

[Rufus]

Interesting!

No doubt you'll come upon the Mithraic cult. Now there's a curiosity. :/

[slejhamer]

No doubt you'll come upon the Mithraic cult. Now there's a curiosity. :/

LOL; and I'm going to write a new book about it: "The Picasso Code."

[Cable Guy]

I'd hate to see Christmas removed as a public holiday... but then I hate having that feeling that you HAVE to give everyone a gift!

[slejhamer]

Welcome cable guy!

I agree with you, on both points. In fact, just yesterday my office decided that our annual holiday luncheon will now be a post-holiday get-together, and one of the reasons is that we've expanded staff and the intra-office gift giving was going to be a burden to some.

Cheers,

[shuttertalk]

Our (extended) family does what we call a Kris Kringle - each has to buy a gift for one person and there's a price limit too. So everyone gets a gift, and everyone is not made a pauper by having to buy everyone gifts.