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[Scorched Eartha]

I understand what everyone has said about Christmas being about the concepts and ideas behind the holiday, not necessarily Christianity itself, but I feel I need to clarify my question. I'm not talking about being wished a "Merry Christmas" from people who realize that we might celebrate in different ways, I'm talking about the people who vehemently refuse to use the "politically correct" phrase "Happy Holidays" instead, and proclaim that they are putting Christ back in Christmas. Sometimes I just want to wish these people a "Happy Solstice!"

It's not the fact that these people wish me a Merry Christmas, it's the fact that they refuse to show tolerance for the beliefs of others. I see words as having power, and the intent behind those words having much greater power. So when the intent behind the words (shown through their previous interactions with me) is for me to have a merry Christian Christmas and accept Jesus as my savior, I feel obligated to show the other point of view to them through my words (Happy Holidays!)

Just my 2 cents. Sorry for the rant!

"Happy Holidays" is never used here. (Australia) Everyone says "Merry Christmas". It's actually quite a godless country, where fewer than one in 5 people regularly attend any form of formal worship. I'm not sure that any but the dedicated church goers ever give any thought at all to any religious significance the date might have. They're too busy cleaning out the beer fridge and ordering the prawns in. But we get three paid public Holidays over Christmas and as most of the country shuts down between 24th December and 2nd January, it's mid summer and we have the largest unbroken coastline on earth upon which to fling ourselves, we're all in a holiday mood. On Boxing day they'll begin yelling "Happy New Year" to randoms they pass. It's just the Silly Season.

I do tell people "Happy Solstice" in response to their "Merry Christmas." It's elicited a few funny looks and a couple of requests to know what the feck I'm on about, but no worse reactions than that.

[KissTheMiMes]

"Happy Holidays" is never used here. (Australia) Everyone says "Merry Christmas". It's actually quite a godless country, where fewer than one in 5 people regularly attend any form of formal worship. I'm not sure that any but the dedicated church goers ever give any thought at all to any religious significance the date might have. They're too busy cleaning out the beer fridge and ordering the prawns in. But we get three paid public Holidays over Christmas and as most of the country shuts down between 24th December and 2nd January, it's mid summer and we have the largest unbroken coastline on earth upon which to fling ourselves, we're all in a holiday mood. On Boxing day they'll begin yelling "Happy New Year" to randoms they pass. It's just the Silly Season.

I do tell people "Happy Solstice" in response to their "Merry Christmas." It's elicited a few funny looks and a couple of requests to know what the feck I'm on about, but no worse reactions than that.

Why is this!? Because, IMO, in the states not believing in the Christian God or having No Religion would be UNEXCEPTABLE! Lol! I think everyone would go crazy.

[Scorched Eartha]

Why is this!? Because, IMO, in the states not believing in the Christian God or having No Religion would be UNEXCEPTABLE! Lol! I think everyone would go crazy.

Maybe because we just don't get so bent out of shape by petty doctrinal semantic shyte as Americans seem to. No one is overly concerned with it being a Christian holiday here...so why the hell get offended by what they call it.

I cannot feel oppressed and dictated to by what amounts to less than 20% of the population who practice some kind of a Christian faith. If they call it Christmas and pay me to have the days off...hell...I'll call it Pumpkin Patch Day if they ask me to. As I said I'll often say Happy Yule or Have a great Solstice...and no one is much put out by it. It's not an issue here.

It's just another Holiday weekend to most of us. At Easter/Samhain we get 5 paid days off. Fri/Sat/sun/Mon/Tues.

That too is just another excuse for a long national pissup to most people. Honestly. I've known Australians who thought you ate Fish on Good Friday because fish tastes bloody good on a bbq and its a long weekend so you can drink more beer as you've longer to recobver from the hangover. It's what we all eat every long weekend. It's Australia. We go to a bbq with beer and fish. religious holidays. Australia Day. ANZAC Day.New Years eve....It's what we do. Beer and bbq'ed fish taste bloody excellent. Who needs a religious reason to consume it, right?

OK so it's not much of an excuse for a cultural pursuit...but it's all we've got (oh that and a lack of the some of the nastier social tensions you seem to have there.) It's all pretty relaxed here really about stuff like that.

Maybe it's the space. I dunno. But I can see it's a pleasant atmosphere in comparison to a lot of places for lack of religious extremism...on the part of any faith really.  We laugh at YEC's openly for a start. It's a joke theory here. It's a joke theory period obviously,  but we can say so here without them crying about how they feel persecuted.

I say Eid Mubarrak to my Muslim friends too...I don't know any Jews but if I did I'd wish em Happy Hanukkah. But what we mostly say is "Want to come to the beach?" quite frankly. and "How hot is it going to be today?"

lol

[dark magus]

Besides, it's damn hard to get happy about snow and fat men in red suits when it's 68 degree F. and humidity of 58%.

[gingerberrycc]

LOL tell me about it. I live in TEXAS (hence the rant about "CHRISTmas")! But I do seem to be more in the spirit this year than I have been in a long time.

[C_A]

LOL tell me about it. I live in TEXAS (hence the rant about "CHRISTmas")! But I do seem to be more in the spirit this year than I have been in a long time.

Well....I live in Maine.  One of the most attractive things about "up heah" is the level of tolerance.  People use "Happy Holidays" not because of some "P.C." issue, but more as a way of saying: "you celebrate yours and I celebrate mine" type of ethos. 

Moreso...I'm not even sure if it's "tolerance", per se....more like a commitment to a life of leave alone / be left alone...

[Scorched Eartha]

I've just been listening to the News on ABC Public Radio and they tell me that the most complained about public religious issue in 2011 in Australia was a Billboard campaign, run by the Australian Islamic Council. There were a series of 10 Billboards placed around Sydney and its suburbs. They proclaimed JESUS: A Great Prophet of Islam.

There were 58 complaints lodged in reference to it.

There are 20,000,000 people in Australia. Just over 4 million of them live in Sydney, the city where the series of billboards appeared.

That's not a lot of people looking to get offended by someone else's faith, is it? See...Spiritually speaking, we just want to chillax, most of us. They don't call it "The land of the long weekend" for nothing, you know.

 

[dark magus]

But the Billboards are correct.
The Qur' an refers to Jesus and the Arch Angles by name. As Islam is a faith of Abraham, Jesus is seen as a prophet, just not some almighty savour. Even Muhammed (PBUH) is seen as a prophet and not a saviour.

By and large, they worship the same god as Christians. The difference they have again deals with the concept of Christ and the masiya.

[Scorched Eartha]

But the Billboards are correct.
The Qur' an refers to Jesus and the Arch Angles by name. As Islam is a faith of Abraham, Jesus is seen as a prophet, just not some almighty savour. Even Muhammed (PBUH) is seen as a prophet and not a saviour.

By and large, they worship the same god as Christians. The difference they have again deals with the concept of Christ and the masiya.

I know that. You know that. They know that.

It's only the Christians who don't know that. And here apparently...only 58 of them don't know it enough to pick up a phone and complain. lol.

But, unfairly in the extreme I think, a few years ago an atheist Billboard and bus ad campaign was banned.

All it said was
Do something useful...Sleep in on Sunday Mornings.
Australian Atheists Foundation. and it had a piccy of Charles Darwin napping in a chair on it.

They were outraged. And the complaints were upheld and the ads taken down. Now explain that to me?

[dark magus]

Insecurity?

[oldghost]

The churches of the world especially the catholic church have all the money to put their people into powerful government postions that's how they keep control ,at least there are some people trying slowly to educate people to the truth of what is going on. I hope I live long enough to see some major enlightenment come upon the people of this world.

[C_A]

But the Billboards are correct.
The Qur' an refers to Jesus and the Arch Angles by name. As Islam is a faith of Abraham, Jesus is seen as a prophet, just not some almighty savour. Even Muhammed (PBUH) is seen as a prophet and not a saviour.

By and large, they worship the same god as Christians. The difference they have again deals with the concept of Christ and the masiya.

Where is Mal...erm...Passer Urbanus...when we need him?

Anyhow, similar billboards have been spotted in various areas of the U.S.  Both Islamist and Atheist.  Numerically, however, I think they've come in far behind the "Keep Christ in Christmas" and the "I'm gonna get you, sucka" campaigns...You've seen them...the ones that say things like "Keep taking my name in vain and I'll make rush hour longer!"

Insecurity?  i don't think so.  I think it's more a slant on "The Great Commission".