i dont know, I've always seen christmas as an excuse. Only to get presents and to have a good time. I mean I heard it was partly started by pagans or something with the trees and what not, but why do people celebrate it

I mean non christians too? its a waste of money.

Its totally sick, nothing to do with giving to people, or celebrating anything at all. It brings out the scum in everyone. Trying to nitpick at the poor or socially inept, by pointing out their problems and looking down on them as it makes people feel better about themselves and their own stupid insecurities.

So why do athiests do it. And beyond that why do christians have trees with lights and stuff in and on their houses when its a pagan ritual. What are all your guyses thoughts on this.

...look what I gotta put up with...

'Twas the night before Christmas,
And all through the house,
No food was a-stirrin',
Not even a mouse.

Stockings were hung round
Dad's neck like a tie,
Along with a note that said,
"Presents or die."

Children were plotting
All night in their beds,
While the wife's constant whining
Was splitting his head.

But daddy had money
This year in the bank,
Then they closed up early,
And now dad's in a tank.

All of a sudden,
Santa appeared,
A sneer on his face,
Booze in his beard.

"Santa," I said,
As he laughed merrily,
"You do so much for others,
Do something for me."

"Flamey," he said,
"You only sell shoes,
Your son is a sneak thief,
Your daughter's a floose."

"Ho ho," Santa said,
"Should I mention your wife?
Her hair's like an A-bomb,
Her nails like a knife."

He climbs up the chimney,
That fat piece of dung,
He mooned me two times,
He stuck out his tongue.

I heard him exclaim,
As he broke wind with glee,
"You're married with children,
You'll never be free." :D

...you don't wanna hear all that negative stuff. You need some cheering up..

Carols for the Psychologically Challenged

SCHIZOPHRENIA:
Do you Hear What I Hear?

DEMENTIA:
I Think I'll Be Home for Christmas

NARCISSISTIC:
Hark the Herald Angels Sing About Me

MANIC:
Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Busses and Trucks and Trees and Fire hydrants and . . .

PARANOID:
Santa Claus is Coming to Get Me.

PERSONALITY DISORDER:
You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, Maybe I'll tell you why.

DEPRESSION:
Silent Anedonia, Holy Anhedonia, All is Flat, All is Lonely.

OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER:
Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell,Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell
Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell,
Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock (better start again)

PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE PERSONALITY:
On the First Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me (and then took it all away).

BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER:
Thoughts of You Roasting on an Open Fire.
:D

Elbaz,

Some of us don’t celebrate Christmas; I don’t for example.

The only people who seem to have reason to celebrate Christmas are the big retail stores, they depend on it, and they have largely managed to convince most people in so-called Christian countries that YOU must buy and buy and buy.

I am sure devout Christians will worship their god, perhaps a little more than usual and many will follow the ideas represented by Jesus, e.g. giving and helping others, and that is as it should be. It is after all meant to be a religious celebration.

But for the most part Christmas has been hijacked by big business and for most people it is a very stressful period, especially if money is short. But others seem to be out of control – ah an xmas card received from person Y, hmm I had better send one to them as well, etc, etc. And relatives expect to be included when otherwise that would not be. This is often good but many we hear utter groans. They say that you choose your own friends but relatives are thrust upon you whether you want them or not.

I don’t send any cards. If I want to send someone a personal message then I’ll use the telephone and do it from the heart, but I don’t need to wait for Christmas to do that, I do that all year round.

I buy gifts when the needs arise. I bought my 17 year old a new car in June, and the 19 year old a new PC months ago, etc. I buy gifts only for the closest relations and friends; those I truly love. I don’t do things because it is expected of me, and Christmas seems to force people to do things not because they really want to but because it is expected of them – that seems to be very cynical. And if Christmas was once about a season of love and joy, then where is that? Much of what I see is commercialization, stress, and pressure to conform. The message has been largely lost.

Be free. Do what you will because you want to not because others expect it.

This Christmas I hope to get lot’s of work done and on Christmas day I shall probably go see a movie, there are some good choices out at the moment.

Oh yes, and Christmas time is definitely the worst time to go shopping, there are too many crowds and most malls and stores tend to insist on playing decades old dreadful Christmas music. Ahhhhh! Give me a break.

Cris

Christmas day is just another normal day to me. No gift, no card, no tree and no lights.

Christmas is celebrated by some aithiests to celebrate family. Christians celebrate it to recognize Christ's birth. Jews have Hannaka (sp?) to celebrate something else.

There's no reason not to celebrate at all just because not everyone thinks of it the way you do.

Ben

Only to get presents and to have a good time.

You're lucky. Santa has yet to deliver on my request for total world domination. I keep getting a lump of coal.. go figure. :rolleyes:

Luckily i dont celebrate christmas. I celebrate hannukah and it isnt a big deal, the parties are nice especially in israel, but its just considered a minor holiday, with no stress involved.

BTW KalvinB I'm not trying to discourage people from celebrating it, rather debate it, like the pagan christmas tree and stuff, retail, ya know.

I got nothing against it. Its just that I live around all these people who make such a big deal of it and everything gets all emotional and it makes me puke. I dont need to here people whine about what they didnt get for christmas, or how shiny the ass on their rooftop santaclaus is. Sure the lights are nice, but it looks sleezy.

Anyway the one good thing is boxing day. I dont think the americans have it though. Its when the stores sell really cheaply on christmas day to get rid of inventory and stuff. I can get really cheap stuff. Well now even boxing day is dying, the deals just aint what they used to be.

Originally posted by KalvinB
Christmas is celebrated by some aithiests to celebrate family. Christians celebrate it to recognize Christ's birth. Jews have Hannaka (sp?) to celebrate something else.

There's no reason not to celebrate at all just because not everyone thinks of it the way you do.

Ben

Quote: Ayn Rand;
(In answer to the question of whether it is appropriate for an athiest to celebrate Christmas:)
Yes, of course. A national holiday, in this country, cannot have an exclusively religious meaning. The secular meaning of the Christmas holiday is wider than the tents of any particular religion: it is good will toward men--a frame of mind which is not the exclusive property *though it is supposed to be part, but is a largely unobserved part* of the Christian religion.
The charming aspect of Christmas is the fact that it expresses good will in a cheerful, happy, benevolent, non-sacrificial way. One says: "Merry Christmas"--not "Weep and Repent." And the good will is expressed in a material, earthly form--by giving presents to one's friends, or by sending them cards in token of rememberance..
The best aspect of Christmas has been commercialized. The gift-buying stimulates an enormous outpouring of ingenuity in the creation of products devoted to a single purpose: To give men pleasure. And the street decorations put up by department stores and other institutions--the Christmas trees, the winking lights, the glittering colors--provide the city with a spectacular display, which only "commercial greed" could afford to give us. One would have to be terribly deppressed to resist the wonderful gaiety of that spectacle.

My father was an Atheist, he celebrated Christmas, he once told me it was a pagan ritual, to celebrate the profits of the harvest at years end.

Godless,

Thanks, that was very useful.

I must make that time to read rand's work. It keeps jumping up at me and helping.

I celebrate christmass in a pagan way , you could say.
in our country we have kept our ancient pagan traditions safe for 800 years in coesisting with christians. Those "fiestas" are still very popular. I will go to one of these fiestas this wednesday.

We do decorate our homes with pine trees also we have smth like carneval, but not the Brasilian way. There are the same characters every year. Mainly different animals.

There are loads of other traditions as well. In ancient Latvian religion christmass or winter solstice is not about presents, but about having a good time and wiping away all problems and bad fortune of previous year.
In country people go from house to house[not trick or treat] and have a party there, then the hoast join them and go to another house. At last staying at a pre-agreed house where the main party takes place.

Christmas is the day of Jesus' birth onto earth....It is a time to celebrate him and rejoice....there is no need to give gifts or presents...that idea was created from "santa clause" which is some fat 'ol guy who goes from house to house...totally made up for little children, and i guess people who have no religion to celebrate. The Jewish religion is alot like Christianity...and I believe that either religion will save you, but CHRISTmas is not about giving or getting gifts, but about the birth of Jesus

If you would like to learn about the birth of Jesus you should read the part of the Bible which tells the story of him becoming.

Originally posted by spunks239
Christmas is the day of Jesus' birth onto earth....It is a time to celebrate him and rejoice....there is no need to give gifts or presents...that idea was created from "santa clause" which is some fat 'ol guy who goes from house to house...totally made up for little children, and i guess people who have no religion to celebrate. The Jewish religion is alot like Christianity...and I believe that either religion will save you, but CHRISTmas is not about giving or getting gifts, but about the birth of Jesus

If you would like to learn about the birth of Jesus you should read the part of the Bible which tells the story of him becoming.

And the bible is TOTALLY UNRELIABLE!!!.

Can you tell me the date jesus was born?
Can you tell me the year jesus was born?
Can you actually tell me where he was born?

If you can, then you are the only one who can make such an assertion, cause there's no proof, that the guy was even born!.

Actually I believe he was born, not on dec 25, 0000, but he was born.

Its said in the torah that there will be a first false messiah, basically someone to take out the unfaithful and sortof purge the religion. It said the person would be very believable, and that many jews would take him as the messiah. So okay, he was born, tons of people believed he was the messiah, but in actual fact, he wasnt, Now there is supposed to be another false one on the way, and this 'messiah' is supposed to be way more believable than the first.

You see christianity is based on the belief that jesus was the messiah. He was actually a decoy. So now we have a huge psuedoreligion based on him. The actual messiah was supposed to bring peace on earth. He didnt. Therefore he was a fake. A decoy, and lots of people fell for it.

But when the messiah comes he is supposed to bring world peace, forever I've heard.....politics alone cannot bring world peace.