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Every year someone starts claiming that there's a "war on Christmas" because people are saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas."
First of all, in case you didn't know, the word "Holidays" means "holy days." It refers to days that are holy. It is wishing someone a joyful set of sacred days. It encompasses not just Christmas, New Year's, Hanukkah, and any other religion's holy feast days, but Advent, St. Nickolous Day, and Epiphany, and any other Christian holy days that fall in the time frame.
Personally, as a Christian, it rubs me the wrong way when someone wishes me a "Merry Christmas" in November or early December. It is not Christmas yet. Christmas doesn't come until December 24.
And no, putting lights on an evergreen does not make it a Christmas Tree. This is not mentioned in the Bible anywhere. It is a Pagan tradition that Christians stole a thousand years later. I am not saying Christians should not celebrate with trees and lights; rather, I'm saying that if someone wants to put lights and decorations on a tree and call it a holiday tree instead of a Christmas tree, no Christian should be upset that they are celebrating a holiday that Pagans had thousands of years before Christians stole it in the first place.
Santa and snowmen and reindeer and all that .... it's perfectly fine, but that is HOLIDAY stuff, not Christmas. It has nothing to do with Christmas. Yes, I know we don't really know what day Jesus was born, but the Church set aside December 25 to celebrate as Jesus' birthday, so that's what we do. Christmas is about remembering that God gave us this precious gift, not as a mighty King but as a baby, not with a trumpet fanfare but with shepherds and angels. He was laid in a feeding trough, in the city called Bethlehem (House of Bread), telling us that he was the Bread of Life. He lived not as a warrior, but as a simple teacher.
Is there a war on Christmas? Perhaps. If there is, it is by businesses and consumerism telling me I'm not a good American if I don't put myself in debt buying things I can't afford for people I don't even like that much while ignoring the plight of the poor and hungry.
It is a war on Christmas when my Lord's name is associated with opulence and excess, with public drunkenness and debauchery, to the point of so-called Christians saying that we have to use His name when referring to such things. THAT is the war on Christmas.
First of all, in case you didn't know, the word "Holidays" means "holy days." It refers to days that are holy. It is wishing someone a joyful set of sacred days. It encompasses not just Christmas, New Year's, Hanukkah, and any other religion's holy feast days, but Advent, St. Nickolous Day, and Epiphany, and any other Christian holy days that fall in the time frame.
Personally, as a Christian, it rubs me the wrong way when someone wishes me a "Merry Christmas" in November or early December. It is not Christmas yet. Christmas doesn't come until December 24.
And no, putting lights on an evergreen does not make it a Christmas Tree. This is not mentioned in the Bible anywhere. It is a Pagan tradition that Christians stole a thousand years later. I am not saying Christians should not celebrate with trees and lights; rather, I'm saying that if someone wants to put lights and decorations on a tree and call it a holiday tree instead of a Christmas tree, no Christian should be upset that they are celebrating a holiday that Pagans had thousands of years before Christians stole it in the first place.
Santa and snowmen and reindeer and all that .... it's perfectly fine, but that is HOLIDAY stuff, not Christmas. It has nothing to do with Christmas. Yes, I know we don't really know what day Jesus was born, but the Church set aside December 25 to celebrate as Jesus' birthday, so that's what we do. Christmas is about remembering that God gave us this precious gift, not as a mighty King but as a baby, not with a trumpet fanfare but with shepherds and angels. He was laid in a feeding trough, in the city called Bethlehem (House of Bread), telling us that he was the Bread of Life. He lived not as a warrior, but as a simple teacher.
Is there a war on Christmas? Perhaps. If there is, it is by businesses and consumerism telling me I'm not a good American if I don't put myself in debt buying things I can't afford for people I don't even like that much while ignoring the plight of the poor and hungry.
It is a war on Christmas when my Lord's name is associated with opulence and excess, with public drunkenness and debauchery, to the point of so-called Christians saying that we have to use His name when referring to such things. THAT is the war on Christmas.