The Mother Board

[MrG]

Here's a debate...

Christmas is meant to be the anniversary of the birth of Christ. However for non-Christian/non-believers, what does it mean?

As a non-believer I stopped acknowledging Christmas and Easter years ago, and for me it's just another day, so why do so many people go mad for it? It just seems to me to be an excuse for shops to have a sale. Apart from the religious beliefs which although I do not follow, I whole-heartedly respect, I cannot see any reason for it, or am I missing something?

[hunter1801]

Because it's fun and it brings family's together? I can't imagine how boring it would be for Christmas to be just like any other day.

[MrG]

[Karlsweldt]

The day set aside to celebrate Christmas is like those special days for July 4th, Veteran's Day or Thanksgiving.. plus others. While Christmas Day is deeply rooted in Christianity, it is celebrated by many other faiths. It is most probably a true historic account of a person who did bring together many classes of people, in unison against those who would enslave or defame the masses.
True, present life is all too commercialized toward merchant profit from sales items related to these "special" days. But the practice does give satisfaction of 'giving unto others' and also in receipt of gifts.. however large or small. Children are the ones to most benefit from such special days.
Some people may be overly indulgent with their faith, others decline practice of it. And still others deem their "faith" (or Deity) as the only belief, any other being blasphemy.
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F@H.. to solve mankind's maladies.. in our lifetimes!

[fussnfeathers]

I'm going to move this over to the 100 year war, just in case.

Pre-Christian background
Dies Natalis Solis Invicti
Main article: Sol Invictus
Dies Natalis Solis Invicti means "the birthday of the unconquered sun".

Modern scholars have argued that the festival was placed on the date of the solstice because this was on this day that the Sun reversed its southward retreat and proved itself to be "unconquered".[citation needed] Some early Christian writers connected the rebirth of the sun to the birth of Jesus.[8]"O, how wonderfully acted Providence that on that day on which that Sun was born...Christ should be born", Cyprian wrote.[8] John Chrysostom also commented on the connection: "They call it the 'Birthday of the Unconquered'. Who indeed is so unconquered as Our Lord . . .?"[8]

Although Dies Natalis Solis Invicti has been the subject of a great deal of scholarly speculation,.[citation needed] the only ancient source for it is a single mention in the Chronography of 354, and modern Sol scholar Steven Hijmans argues that there is no evidence that the celebration precedes that of Christmas:[22] "[W]hile the winter solstice on or around the 25th of December was well established in the Roman imperial calendar, there is no evidence that a religious celebration of Sol on that day antedated the celebration of Christmas, and none that indicates that Aurelian had a hand in its institution."[22]

Winter festivals
Main article: List of winter festivals
A winter festival was the most popular festival of the year in many cultures. Reasons included the fact that less agricultural work needs to be done during the winter, as well as an expectation of better weather as spring approached.[69] Modern Christmas customs include: gift-giving and merrymaking from Roman Saturnalia; greenery, lights, and charity from the Roman New Year; and Yule logs and various foods from Germanic feasts.[70] Pagan Scandinavia celebrated a winter festival called Yule, held in the late December to early January period.[citation needed] As Northern Europe was the last part to Christianize, its pagan traditions had a major influence on Christmas.[citation needed] Scandinavians still call Christmas Jul. In English, the word Yule is synonymous with Christmas,[71] a usage first recorded in 900.

Throughout the holiday's history, Christmas has been the subject of both controversy and criticism from a wide variety of different sources. The first documented Christmas controversy was Christian-led, and began during the English Interregnum, when England was ruled by a Puritan Parliament.[107] Puritans (including those who fled to America) sought to remove the remaining pagan elements of Christmas. During this period, the English Parliament banned the celebration of Christmas entirely, considering it "a popish festival with no biblical justification", and a time of wasteful and immoral behavior.[108]

In other words, Christmas is originally a pagan celebration, and in fact, the puritans who founded the first US colonies sought to change Christmas to remove those remaining traces. At any rate, Christmas is simply a winter holiday, celebrated by many cultures, Christianity just hijacked it (since the best we can figure is Christ was born on January 6th, give or take. Dec 25th is the Winter Solstice, and the Summer Solstice has been used to celebrate John the Baptist
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Faster than the speed of snot

[Karlsweldt]

[c327]

[Hardware Junkie]

Christmas is the time of year when children pretend to be good for a week or two in hopes that you don't remember what little sh*ts they were during the rest of the year so they can get more presents
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"Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality." -Jules de Gautier

[bdub]

[fussnfeathers]