Quote:
Originally posted by irateplatypus
sipsake,
i see what you are saying (and perhaps what cnor is saying), but the fundamental difference is that we don't name Christmas as a solstice celebration or Saturnalia.
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I get where you're going and to an extent I agree. "Christmas" is the traditional day set aside by Christians for the celebration of Christ's birth.
But it seems to me there is some grey area here.
For example, who is the "we" you refer to? Not all Christian denominations celebrate Christmas. And, as has been pointed out, many of the traditions we most closely associate with Christmas have origins outside of the faith.
Christmas is what we bring to it. For you and I it's a celebration of an extraordinary life. For others it may be a time of family and reunion and joy and peace and all the others things the television networks tell us the season is about.
Christ never viewed himself as more important than the message he was bringing. A message of universal peace, love, forgiveness and salvation. So, I have a hard time condemning those who, with an honest heart, celebrate the ideals contained in the message of Christ if not his birth.