Would you ban Christmas

PLTTS.  Now THAT's science!

out_of_time said:

I would ask you to get your baubles out but I won't. 

Time to lay off the eggnog methinks...

I would ask you to get your baubles out but I won't. 

Sorry. I think I've got Pervasive Lowering The Tone Syndrome.

Well said

I have no interest in Christmas, so it wouldn't bother me if it disappeared. But I know that a lot of people (predominantly children, I guess) get a lot of joy from it, so I wouldn't wish it cancelled on the rest of the world.

Personally, I find the rushing about, panic present buying, the feelings of various obligations etc completely unnecessary - If you want to see someone , see them. If you want to buy someone a gift , buy them it. And why we all "Have to" do 'this' and 'that' is beyond me 

Number said:

A very good thread Debbie (as always.)

Many thank yous Mr N.

A very good thread Debbie (as always.)  Thank you for pumping things up for us.

Thank you everyone for your replies.

I think that Christmas without its religious context/meaning has become too much, and I feel a lot of people here agree with that.

I hadn't intended or wanted a debate on the meaning or truth of the Bible, but threads tend to have a life of their own.

So that I'm not seen as a total grump, I just wanted to say that I love Christmas decorations.

Last year I went to Petworth House and photographed the decorations there to post on a thread here - it's really quite magical.

Maybe we need a 'show your Christmas decorations' thread

Enjoy where you can, everyone.

 i ithink Christmas can be difficult for some people, but I wouldn't like to see it banned.

One of my conditions can make Christmas a bit harder for me, but I still try and keep it going for me.

As an autistic I think I like  the lights and family festivie part of it and I am a Christan as well also.

i know it happens, but I find it sad as well like places no longer decorate anymore for trying to be impartial as they serve other religions through the year.

I tend to go food shopping early to avoid the mad rush but even then, the noise is too much. I plan to wear ear plugs and ear defenders to try and block the noise.  

Thanks!

I love "out of the box" / independent thinking.  Thank you for being here.

Arise said:

But the book doesn’t need to be a manual for life for it to still have value, nor does its history weaken the central message and wisdom of that faith, in my opinion. 

I wholeheartedly agree with this point and would like to add my tuppence as below;

A typical Bible translation runs to roughly 800,000 words.

The number of "typical Bible translations" runs into the dozens and some vary greatly in their inclusions, exclusions, interpretations and particular wording.

Based on these two facts alone, I am always surprised and confused by folk who suggest that either;

a) "The" Bible is a manual.  [My opinion = no useful manual can be 800,000 words long and I can't understand the conceptual basis of saying "The" before the word Bible in that context.]

b)  Minuscule extracts are used (invariably, no more than a few hundred words - ie 0.003%(ish)) to suggest that ALL of the words (and their purpose or meaning) are somehow fairly represented by that surgically selected and minuscule percentage.

The sheer volume of words, surely, preclude simple proclamations of "this or that."

Just my opinions - and hopefully not too contentious for any school of thought on these matters?

I always phone my Mum & Dad and wish THEM happy birthday when I grow a year older, you're right celebrating the existence of a person is a very important thing to acknowledge.

I'm the non conformist of my family, so they are pretty used to my "out of the box" thinking and know not to challenge them as I won't change my mind and they may be subjected to what I now know as "info dumping" on any of my "out of the box" thoughts!

I love a mince pie! 

lawlozuk said:

Since last year I only celebrate birthdays

I like that as I've always felt birthdays are important - they are celebrating the existence of the person.

lawlozuk said:

I told my family that I had deleted christmas so no presents required or given! They took it in good faith

Well done.

It's not always easy to make things easier for ourselves.

Enjoy the mince pies (I'm about to have one actually with a cup of tea).

I'm a born again Christian since 2012.

I agree that christmas is a Pagan "tradition" dressed up as quasi religious, much like easter which is actually Passover, add in that the date itself is not the birth date of the Messiah.

You can add in all the commercialy viable days like mother's day, father's day, valentine's day, etc, etc.

Since last year I only celebrate birthdays, I told my family that I had deleted christmas so no presents required or given! They took it in good faith but still managed to supply me with an endless stream of unwrapped mince pies! 

I've just come back from shopping and the shop was playing 'It's the most wonderful time of the year'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFtb3EtjEic

So, as it's become an earworm, maybe I will end up believing it after it's played in my head for days or weeks on end.

No, I wouldn't outright ban Christmas. For one thing, it is a genuine religious holiday for a lot of people. I'm an atheist, but I can respect other people's beliefs.

I generally don't mind it, though as a parent I've realised it can be somewhat stressful in terms of preparation. There seems to be a lot to do, not just getting presents for my children but going to school events and so on. It does seem a lot for just one day, but I now get satisfaction from seeing my children being happy and excited like I used to be. I'm was never really bothered with presents for myself. Things like my younger children writing a note for Father Christmas the night before just make me happy.

It probably also helps that I get on well with my family, so when we have to host lots of people then it's about tolerable. I can just about manage one day of it and accept that.

I suppose I also like all the lights visible in the dark, because after Christmas it's another 2-3 cold months of darkness before spring again.

Pixiefox said:

Thank goodness for the internet at this time of year!

I do as much internet shopping as possible at Christmas.

I will drink to that sentiment!

Yeah, Christmas adverts are annoying, although I find most adverts annoying. It's why I pay a small.subscription to C4 to watch their programmes on catch up without adverts.

I also hate most Christmas songs, so I avoid shops in December.

Thank goodness for the internet at this time of year!