Opinion of incorporating the cross into Christmas celebrations?

[Keystone Phil]

Please keep that dour crucifixion nonsense out of our jolly and festive celebration of a baby's birth and the presents three strange men brought him that cold winter night.

Looks like some people have as much grasp on theology as Our Dear Friend...

[Keystone Phil]

Uh, how is the bolded part incorrect?

That's celebrated on the Epiphany. It's its own holy day/holiday shortly after Christmas.

[Keystone Phil]

Uh, how is the bolded part incorrect?

That's celebrated on the Epiphany. It's its own holy day/holiday shortly after Christmas.

Wooh, am I not the only psycho traditional family that has La Befana visit for the Epiphany?!

Both of my grandmothers are directly from Italy but never carried on the tradition (at least not with the grandkids) since we already do the gift giving on Christmas in U-S-A! U-S-A!

[Keystone Phil]

Very good.  Christmas is first and foremost about Christ, and it should be kept that way.

Please keep your religion out of our secular winter time holiday, thank you.

Is this thread not about Christmas?

Indeed it is.  A holiday for families and friends to come together and exchange gifts, as overseen by a jolly old fat guy.  You can keep all the boring stuff you were talking about, whatever it was, thank you.

This isn't about whether it's boring or not; Christmas is in all its intents a Christian liturgical feast. I celebrate the advent of snow, presents and mulled wine during European winter in a secular fashion, but to suggest that Christianity is not at the very heart of Christmas is absurd.

Hilfy, this is a troll thread. I only commented here to state that the celebration of the Wise Men bringing gifts to Jesus was a separate event/holy day. Lief's purpose here was to be mildly offensive, perhaps to lure Our Dear Friend back to The Update since the thread's inspiration was a BushOK Facebook post. Don't waste your time taking the bait and getting offended.

[Keystone Phil]

In general, it's in bad taste to inject religion into holiday celebrations.  If you're with your family and friends, it's just awkward to bring up religion.  The point of holidays is to eat and drink and be merry, right?

...not sure if adding to the trolling or genuinely that ignorant that this holiday has religious significance.

[Keystone Phil]

In general, it's in bad taste to inject religion into holiday celebrations.  If you're with your family and friends, it's just awkward to bring up religion.  The point of holidays is to eat and drink and be merry, right?

...not sure if adding to the trolling or genuinely that ignorant that this holiday has religious significance.

There's celebration and there's church.  Many people go to a church on Christmas.  I went once with some of my Christian relatives.  Unfortunately, it was pretty damn boring and I had to get out the book I was reading to pass the time during the talk the preacher or whatever gave. 

That's all fine though because people can skip those religious events if they don't like them.  But, if you're going to pray or bring up religion in a holiday party with your family.  It's awkward and out of place.

Here's a Christmas greeting for you: you're a dumbass.

[Keystone Phil]

In general, it's in bad taste to inject religion into holiday celebrations.  If you're with your family and friends, it's just awkward to bring up religion.  The point of holidays is to eat and drink and be merry, right?

Do you know why they call it a holiday?  

If there is a cross it should be discrete, nearly subliminal, as a hint of things to come.

Do you actually want to talk about religion with your family or have awkward praying in your house?  That seems like a perfect way to ruin a Christmas party.

Ignoring your painful ignorance for just a second...

This wasn't really about doing overtly religious acts like talking about the intricacies of religion or even praying. My original response to you was because you seemed to suggest there was no religious link to Christmas to begin with so we shouldn't go "mixing" it in because it's best to keep those "awkward" things away. Again, you might just be trolling but your comment seemedgenuinely moronic. 

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...maybe recognizing that the holiday has a religious origin? Spare me the "Winter Solistice celebration" nonsense. December 25th is observed in modern times (and by that I mean the last several hundred years, at least) because it is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. If overtly religious actions don't enter your celebrations, that's nice for you but if you can't even acknowledge the religious basis of the day/season, you're generally hopeless.

[Keystone Phil]

In general, it's in bad taste to inject religion into holiday celebrations.  If you're with your family and friends, it's just awkward to bring up religion.  The point of holidays is to eat and drink and be merry, right?

Do you know why they call it a holiday? 

If there is a cross it should be discrete, nearly subliminal, as a hint of things to come.

Do you actually want to talk about religion with your family or have awkward praying in your house?  That seems like a perfect way to ruin a Christmas party.

Ignoring your painful ignorance for just a second...

This wasn't really about doing overtly religious acts like talking about the intricacies of religion or even praying. My original response to you was because you seemed to suggest there was no religious link to Christmas to begin with so we shouldn't go "mixing" it in because it's best to keep those "awkward" things away. Again, you might just be trolling but your comment seemedgenuinely moronic. 

You must be logged in to read this quote.

...maybe recognizing that the holiday has a religious origin? Spare me the "Winter Solistice celebration" nonsense. December 25th is observed in modern times (and by that I mean the last several hundred years, at least) because it is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. If overtly religious actions don't enter your celebrations, that's nice for you but if you can't even acknowledge the religious basis of the day/season, you're generally hopeless.

Who would claim that Christmas isn't a Christian holiday?  Of course it is.  Christmas, as most people celebrate it, is part of the American culture, shaped by the fact that this is a Christian country.  But, the origin isn't the same thing as the practice.  The tradition of Christmas are for the most part secular and celebrating any holiday is always more about spending time with people you love more than any specific tradition. 

Again, I just think it's in bad taste to make a holiday party into a religious meeting and certainly decorating a cross or whatever is strange.

That's your and whoever else's choice to practice it in a totally secular way but your original comment about the holiday being "injected" with religion, as if the religiousness of the celebration was artificial, was what prompted a response.

Yeah, I personally would like to emphasize the celebratory tradition over the mythological tradition. But that's probably why this is all best left to the individual. When I think of Christmas, I think of hearth, home, tearing open presents as a kid, etc. Now it's a time to watch football and drink a lot of wine and see people I don't routinely see. So if it has mythological importance to you, fine, but it does not to me. I think secularists would probably just like for that to be respected.

Christmas songs are not religious?

Santa Baby, Jingle Bell Rock, Winter Wonderland, Frosty the Snowman, Up on the Rooftop, et. al. hundreds and hundreds routinely played on the radio right now are not, no.

Please. I really don't think secularists are struggling to be respected when an overwhelming majority of the holiday's celebrations are secular these days. And then there's the irony that you're calling for respect of your beliefs while labeling the religious aspect of Christmas as "mythological."