How to save Christmas -- and promote church/state separation

[LuckyTheDog]

:think: :think: :think: :think: :think:

Let's face it, folks, Christmas has become a mainly secular holiday. But here is a way to get the "Christ" back in Christmas and also satisfy those of us who favor the separation of church and state:

I'd get behind a move to move the national holiday to the last Monday in December -- call it "Winter Celebration Day" -- and Christmas to the last Sunday in December (in which case, there'd be no need to make it a national holiday).

That way, Christmas would always be a day off for most people and always be a "church day." And the secular national consumer binge could be disconnected from the religious holiday because people could (if they like) say they are buying Winter Celebration gifts, while keeping Christmas holy.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

1. I love it!

They want a holy day? Let them spend it at church. However, as we know, they don't really want that, judging from the fact that the mega-churches will be closed this Christmas Sunday so as to not interfere with Christmas, all of which indicates that Christians see church and Christmas as two separate and unrelated things. Well, not *all* Christians. The only Christians I know that involve church as part of the Christmas holiday are the Catholics, as they celebrate midnight mass as an integral part of Christmas. The fundamentalist right wingers apparently want no part of church stuff on Christmas. It gets in the way of their pagan tree/ornaments/gift-giving celebration. Yet it's the fundamentalist right wingers accusing "liberals" of destroying Christmas. (Buncha hypocrites).

[realisticphish]

3. actually

the VAST majority of churches, my own included, will in fact have church service on sunday

[Nevernose]

2. Unless you're Church of Christ

In which case you don't believe in Christmas (or Easter) anyway.

And, as everyone already knows, Jesus was born on the 25th of December, regardless of historical fact or Jewish calenders.

[mwooldri]

4. England already does it: Boxing Day.

Though England doesn't have church-state separation and Christmas Day is a national holiday, so is Boxing Day. If Christmas Day is the 25th, Boxing Day is the 26th, then most likely government workers will want to book the 25th off anyway... Christmas is saved and the national holiday is separated from the "religious" one.

Unless of course you're Russian Orthodox. Christmas is January 6th.

Mark.

[PatriotGames]

8. When will the USA realize that other countries do have good ideas?

[realisticphish]

5. the only problem IMHO is

what the fuck is winter celebration day? yay for snow?

sorry. that sounded mean, and i didn't mean that. i like the idea, but when it's clearly just "christmas 2" it won't change anything at all. why would you arbitrarily get a day off in winter, except for a celebration of some sort. know what i mean?

for myself, i totally seperate christmas the celebration of christ's birth from the mithraist holy day on which you give presents. as a christian, i see christmas as a personal observation of a part of christ's life.

and as an american, i like gettin' stuff :D

so for me, i have no problem with secularizing christmas. I don't care if you say merry christmas, happy holidays, Feliz Navidad, or merry third week in december. what do i care what other people think and do? i'm my own person.

Ok, that got a LITTLE off topic. sorry :)

[Strong Atheist]

6. .

Let's face it, folks, Christmas has become a mainly secular holiday, which is fine with me!:evilgrin:

[msongs]

7. why an offical government holiday based one set of religious myths?

should the government celebrate other religious myths with a holiday?

how about the birth of zeus, or the birth of Thor? The birth of the great turtle upon
who's back the earth rests (sorry, cannot recall who's myth that is). These are at least as valuable as any
other mythological birth, expecially one whose primary tenets come from preexisting mythologies.

How bout a national holiday for george w bush? at least we know he is real :-)

Msongs
www.msongs.com/political-shirts.htm

Ps - the more holidays the better IMO. Only let's restrict the promotion to one week before the actual
event to reduce the button pushing brainwashing advertisements.