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Is it "Cheating" to celebrate christmas while not being a christian?

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<< One girl said if ur not christian its cheating to celebrate christmas. >>


Pi...okay okay, I know better. 😀

I don't know about 'cheating' in the formal sense of the word, but yeah it does seem to have become less of a religious holiday than a nice excuse to get time off school/work and exchange presents with the people you care about. And isn't that what holidays are REALLY all about, getting time away from work? 😉
 
I remember hearing that some Roman king or ruler or somebody who thought he was important decreed that his birthday, which was Dec 25th be associated with Jesus', to make him seem more God like or something. I guess if you're gonna get associated with someone, Jesus is a pretty good choice. Couple that with eshrai's:



<< christmas isn't really even jesus's birthday. its a pagan celtic holiday that was altered to be christian to convert celts >>



and you get a pretty good picture that Christmas as Jesus' birthday is a manufactured holiday. Merry Christmas.
 
sorry never gave feedback but ive been bizzy, yeah i think she ment u were cheating ur own religion or ur atheism...i thought what she said was stupid anways...since i see not one person thinks its cheating.
 
hmm....side note....why is it "X"mas tree, if it's usually like X roads...like cross roads.....it's not cross-mas tree...just curious.
 
I dont' recall why it's acceptable for it to be called xmas... i'm positive if you really are interested you can find that kind of information on the web though.

But is it cheating yourself or your own religion if you celebrate xmas? I don't consider that. Would it be 'cheat' if white people celebrated Chinese New Year? Or for non-football players celebrated their city winning the Superbowl?

We're not Christian, but in my family Christmas was celebrated because it was fun, and because us kids should have a regular western upbringing. I've never been denied xmas by my family, but i would imagine if i did i would have felt really left out... all these other kids getting all sorts of presents, getting pictures with Santa, have big family get togethers, and you're without that? That'll be hard on a kid. Thankfully my parents had the insight to know that us kids should have it like everybody else.

 


<< Is it "Cheating" to celebrate christmas while not being a christian? >>

If you don't celebrate Christmas you're certainly cheating yourself out of a good time!

Sure secular folk and share the goodwill, too. It just means something different for christians. Peace, love, charity, giving...all of that is universal in its appeal. 🙂
 
cheating?

christmas is a great holiday for everyone to get into the spirit of community, appreciation and general happiness.
actually i think its just another excuse to boost sales in this secular commerical country of ours.

my two cents yo.

darren
 
No such thing as cheating on celebrating good will and charity (love).

<< I don't celebrate christmas, instead I celebrate the holiday that Christianity copied christmas from, the Zoroasterian Feast of the Dark>>

Not sure where you got that idea...

In 354, the Bishop of Rome started to observe December 25th as the date of Christ's birth. Four major Roman festivals were held in December, including Saturnalia which celebrated the returning Sun-god. It was easy to adapt this to the Christian celebration of the coming of the Son of God. LINK
 


<< hmm....side note....why is it "X"mas tree, if it's usually like X roads...like cross roads.....it's not cross-mas tree...just curious. >>



X is the greek letter "Chi" . . . it has always been a symbol for Christ, even during his life (from what I hear). Christians who are offended by it are just ignorant of this fact.
 


<< Is it "Cheating" to celebrate christmas while not being a christian? >>


Yes, get your own god, you cheap fsck! 😉
 
"One girl said if ur not christian its cheating to celebrate christmas."

Then she doesn't even know the roots of the holiday she celibrates. And to say that others shouldn't celebrate christmas if they arn't christian goes completely against the entire christmas spirit and everything jesus taught (the spirit of giving, acceptance, and love your neighbor). She is only being selfish and blind, 2 things her religion teaches not to be.

"Is it "Cheating" to eat a French fry if you're not French?"

Perfect line RagingBitch!!
 
Absolutely not. Mom and I are Buddhist but we celebrate Christmas with dad, non-practicing Lutheran. I don't see the problem. Heck, she even tells me I should goto church so I can learn something good.
 
Hmmmm. I'm an athiest, and I've developed my own once-a-year celebration of my lack of religion.
The only thing which I consider to be a temple is my body, so once a year, I ravage it with food, drink and presents.
And this celebratory occasion just happens to fall on the 25th of December.

If you think about it that way, it's not a problem...
 
<<You can celebrate the sprit of Christmas without being Christian. Peace on earth and goodwill to men.>>

Wait, should he had peace on earth the rest of the year?
 


<< Im chinese and budist and my relatives and family celebrate christmas. Sad thing is that we only care about the gifts. >>



yep me too. Thanksgiving with gifts 🙂 and of course the decorations.
 


<< Im chinese and budist and my relatives and family celebrate christmas. Sad thing is that we only care about the gifts. >>




Yep that's the sad part alright. The original idea is great but we need to get back to it.

Just my $.02
 
<< Is it "Cheating" to celebrate christmas while not being a christian? >>

Nope. One of the advantages of being an atheist is that you can celebrate all your friends' holidays with them. 🙂 I think it's sad we can't remember things like the spirit of giving and compassion all year around.
 
In my opinion, Christmas is forced upon us by the major department stores. Who are we to decline their special offers?? !!! 😀
 
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