"happy holidays" vs. "merry christmas" Options

[Mulder]

ok, i know that people are talking about this in the lounge, so i understand if a mod closes this, but i wanted to know how everyone felt about saying "happy holidays" or "merry christmas"

saying merry christmas can be offensive to non-christians. im not saying it offends everyone, but i'm sure there are some that don't like it.

how is "happy holidays" disrespectful to anyone? it encompasses all the holidays in winter.

december is not christmas. christmas is one day. hannukah is 8 days. i believe (and im sorry if im wrong) that kwanzaa is 7 days??.

so why is christmas so important, and why are some christians making such a big deal out of saying "merry christmas"?

[mzislandpinay]

okai first of all.. not all christians are always saying "merry christmas". They only make is a big deal b/c its the birth of Jesus Christ. and so on for the story of it.

I my self am a christan. and i say "happie hoilidays" cuz lyk you said. Not all of december is about Christmas.

[stryker76]

okai first of all.. not all christians are always saying "merry christmas". They only make is a big deal b/c its the birth of Jesus Christ. and so on for the story of it.

Im Sorry to say that Christmas is only the Celebration od the Christ Child. Not his birthday. And here is a lil story i found on CB around Christmas time Last year.


The True Chrisatmas Story

Merry Christmas, boys and girls!
THIS is the story of Christmas and how it all began!
A long, long time ago, Germanic, Roman, and Celtic people celebrated the Winter Solstice. Once a year, they dressed their homes up with Holly, mistletoe, yule logs, and wassail bowls and even decorated a tree! Today, we call these people Pagans. The word "Yule-tide", meaning "wheel time" (the cycles of time) is a term that refers to these old Pagan celebrations.

During the 3rd and 4th centuries B.C.E., the Persian Mithras would sacrifice a bull on December 25 to celebrate the Sol Invictus (the Invincible Sun). The ceremony signaled the birth of a young Sun God who sprang from a rock or a cave in the form of a newborn infant.

The ancient Romans celebrated the festival of the Saturnalia from December 17th to the 24th to honor Saturn, the god of grain and agriculture. The festival consisted of a period of goodwill, devoted to visiting friends and the giving of gifts. Then, on December 25th, the Romans would celebrate the Winter Solstice in a ceremony of the annual renewing of the Sun.

On December 25th 354 C.E., Pope Liberus introduced the Nativity - a celebration of the birth of the Christ Child. He chose December 25th in order to Christianize the Pagan rituals of the time. Thus, Pope Liberus began the custom of celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, and this celebration grew in popularity as the Pagan rituals of Mithra and Saturnalia that were formerly celebrated on the 25th of December slowly faded in popularity.

Today, we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ with ornaments on trees, with mistletoe, and with the giving of gifts. And THAT, boys and girls, is the story of how the Christians stole the perfectly good Pagan holiday of the Winter Solstice, stuck it up the *** of a 300 year old dead guy named Jesus who probably wasn't even born on the 25th, and called it Christmas. Merry Christmas! The End.