Starise
 
The day is historically jaded.At one time it was a long drunken Roman orgy with human sacrifice... Then the Catholic church came along and decided to use the day for themselves calling it Christ-MASS. Then at some point the Protestants adopted it. Somehow over the years it has evolved , or maybe more accurately devolved into what it is now. A catholic saint became St Nicholas and evolved into Santa Claus...and he is the guy most kids resonate with lol. Merchants saw a money making opportunity and this was the catalyst for what Christmas has become.
 
 

Not trying to turn this into a religious debate, but historically speaking, the above italicized statement is incorrect. 
 
http://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/e031rp_PaganOrigins.html

I deleted a long post to just say...
 
 
BAH HUMBUG!
 
 

Mesh

Starise
 
The day is historically jaded.At one time it was a long drunken Roman orgy with human sacrifice... Then the Catholic church came along and decided to use the day for themselves calling it Christ-MASS. Then at some point the Protestants adopted it. Somehow over the years it has evolved , or maybe more accurately devolved into what it is now. A catholic saint became St Nicholas and evolved into Santa Claus...and he is the guy most kids resonate with lol. Merchants saw a money making opportunity and this was the catalyst for what Christmas has become.
 
 

Not trying to turn this into a religious debate, but historically speaking, the above italicized statement is incorrect. 
 
http://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/e031rp_PaganOrigins.html

Well the last thing I would ever want to do is get into any kind of a debate, especially with my friend Mesh....interesting info Mesh. I can certainly be wrong about how or why since I was going by the history as I read it. 
The fact that this time of year has so many holidays  can get confusing. I realize that Wikipedia isn't always correct
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas
 According to it, religious people started to use the same times that "pagans" used to honor Christs birth. This would have made sense because apparently the pagan festivals were already in place.  I can't really say how this went down exactly but I can say that a lot of things are and were happening at that same time of year. So I can see how someone might have thought the Catholics hijacked the day. 
This is the thing about history...the further back we go the harder it can be to really know how it went down, since we can only go by what we read and hope it was written correctly.
 
I personally think that some seen the day as an opportunity for their cause. You might say that they are two independent events, and this may be true, but then why is everything so intertwined? Christmas can be everything from christmas trees (pagan origins) to Santa, to Christ birth...we don't tend to separate those things. Even Christians put up trees and do all of those pagan things that everyone else does. I realize "Christians" is a blanket statement, since not all Christians do all of that. 
The fact that the time is a focus on Christ is a good thing IMHO. Yet I think  most of this is very superficial. How many 10 year olds do you know that think of Christ on Christmas morning? 
 
Man I remember Christmas and Easter when I was younger. I couldn't see past the easter eggs, candy and the gifts. The adults just want to get it all over with. If the "church" wants people to focus on Christ, then Christmas looks very counter productive to me.JMHO,YMMV...my .0000000002

jbow
Thank you! (BTW, you have friends.. here)
 
Julien

When I said 'no family, no friends' I guess what I should have said is that I do have family and friends - I just let them do their thing and don't interfere.
Some families are nice and good to be around - and some are not.
 
But I'm not a hermit or a living-under-the-bridge kind of troll - although I must admit, I've thought about that as an attractive option at times. LOL  

My granddaughter (pictured in my avatar, now 12, will be 13 next month) did something very unique for Christmas this year. Our church is hosting 'Safe Nights' this week. The churches in the local association rotate hosting folks who are homeless at night for a week at a time. In the morning, they feed them breakfast, they leave during the day, then return in the evening for a dinner meal and a safe place to sleep. Most of these folks are close to getting back on their feet, and some just need a place to land before getting back and moving on.
 
On Christmas Eve, and again this morning on Christmas Day, she got up at 4 am and went down to the church to help serve breakfast. She also helped pass out gifts to these folks. The church family had worked on creating blankets, got hats, scarves and gloves, plus a bunch of gift cards (in fact, we raised enough money to take these folks to a viewing of Star Wars as a special gift). My granddaughter talked to a number of these folks this morning. I can see where it has had an effect on her, most definitely for the positive.
 
No one talked her into doing this - in fact she came and told us she was going to do it. Don't know many kids that would get up that early on Christmas morning to do something other than to tear into their own gifts.
 
I am so very proud of her.

slartabartfast

sharke
I go in the laundromat about a week before Thanksgiving and the radio station they have on is playing non stop Christmas hits already. What is there, about 4 or 5 decent Xmas songs in existence? The very idea that people want to listen to endless Yuletide chuff 24/7 in November is just ridiculous, yet the media is convinced that it's what we want. 
 

Christmas music is to music as Santa Claus is to Christianity.
 

A lie?
 
(well, white lie, really!)

Christmas now will be the season for anticipating Sonar new renewal rates :-D

I like Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Christmas songs. 

@ Tim & Mesh
 
Very interesting stuff guys, especially that link you posted Mesh.
 
As you know, I'm an atheist, but to me, Christmas has always been, and always will be, the day Christians celebrate the birth of their saviour, Jesus Christ. Christians should never feel obliged to 'prove' or 'justify' the date and its links to their faith.
 
What an awful world it would be where freedom to practise and celebrate one's religion was outlawed.
 
I'm often accused of being a hypocrite for 'participating' in all things Christmas, especially as I don't believe. But I like to think I do go along with the 'spirit' of the season, without at the same time requiring the religious element to do so.
 
Live and let live
 

For some reason, where I used to work, they didn't seem to think it was ok to have Monday's and Friday's off as paid religious holidays... 

Festivus for the rest of us !!!

jbow
I try, I really do but by the time Christmas day gets here I am SO over it. Too much family that stays too long, talks too loud, makes ma mess (grown daughter) lives in Germany visits for three or four weeks... that is just part of it.. it all sort of piles together and I just want to hide or want it to all go away... then later I feel bad. I feel like I should like it all more. Like I should like being disrespected. Like it when grandkids ask for presents that cost 250 bucks, grown kids take everything the wrong way.. like walking on eggshells. Too many women in the house I think. I'll be glad to see January but at the same time I feel guilty for feeling this way.
Sometimes I just want to hide. Is anyone else like this or is it just me? Christmas wasn't like this when I was a kid, or even when I had little kids. I think maybe it is kids that never seem to act like adults... IDK. I really don't. Maybe it's just a mixture of everything.
Oh well, nothing I can do. At least the Falcons won a game, and the Lions are winning! It's not all bad.
 
Sorry...
J Eyore

Your right - Falcons won a game. Its not all bad! Chin up.