What is Christmas about?

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

What is Christmas about?

[Dr. Cynic]

Well, for awhile it was mainly about not trying to kill myself in some dark corner of my apartment.

These days for me, it's mostly about giving people I care about gifts and spending time together as much as possible.

[ZuWo]

The birth of Jesus and spending time with my loved ones - in that order.

[John Dibble]

Anywhere from all of the above to none of the above. What Christmas ultimately means is a personal thing.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Anywhere from all of the above to none of the above. What Christmas ultimately means is a personal thing.

This.

I voted, for me, for all except the second and third options. (Both of the last two because I've bitten the bullet on my religion's history of, shall we say, 'syncretism to the point of hostile buyouts' since a long time ago.)

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

I accidentally put hijacking instead of birth.

I've decided to eschew this whole "Christmas Spirit" thing once & for all. It's about Jesus & me getting presents. If celebrating Jesus' birth entails being jolly nice, & following I'm His way then sure, but I ain't doing it in the name of some media invented Christmas Spirit.

[greenforest32]

Shopping, Santa, and snow

[memphis]

Anywhere from all of the above to none of the above. What Christmas ultimately means is a personal thing.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

It's a lot like the Confederate flag, in a way. Means different things to different people. Although I am very partial to the explanation in Dibble's signature

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Anywhere from all of the above to none of the above. What Christmas ultimately means is a personal thing.

I always liked the answer given in the cartoon subverted by Dibble.  While the other things are mixed in with it, without the birth of Jesus, the celebration certainly wouldn't be Xmas.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Family, specials, and Santa

[Jackson]

Mindless consumerism.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

It is about the presence of God with us, joining with us in our experience, manifest in the Divine Child -- the Incarnation.  In Christianity there have been some who have seen all incorporation of pagan traditions as a sinful perversion. It's no surprise that Cromwell banned Christmas celebrations. But in another perspective, Christ is the full expression of what the myths only hinted at.  (See for example Chesterton's Everlasting Man, influential for C.S. Lewis). Therefore, there's a certain beauty in syncretism - but I feel like consumerism and vapid feel-good-ism (that only further depresses those who don't feel good already) is a greater threat.

[Yelnoc]

Giving and getting things, but most importantly, spending time with family.

[afleitch]

Doctor Who

[Filuwaúrdjan]

What Christmas ultimately means is a personal thing.

There's not much you can't say that about.

[Joe Biden 2020]

It's all about the celebration of the first coming of Christ and it prepares us to celebrate his death, burial, and resurrection during Holy Week, the week leading up to Easter.  It is also a good opportunity to take pause and realize that the manger is vacant, the cross has nobody on it, and the tomb is empty and that He is coming again to take His church home.  We do not serve a dead prophet as other religions do, we serve a Risen Savior and King.  The Christ Child is the foundation for EVERYTHING that's good, including family, friends, comraderie, fellowship, serving the poor and the needy.  There will come a day where every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:10-11).  Plus, Christmas is not just on December 25 every year, but the spirit of Christmas should be prevalent the other 364 days, as well.

[Alcon]

It's all about the celebration of the first coming of Christ and it prepares us to celebrate his death, burial, and resurrection during Holy Week, the week leading up to Easter.  It is also a good opportunity to take pause and realize that the manger is vacant, the cross has nobody on it, and the tomb is empty and that He is coming again to take His church home.  We do not serve a dead prophet as other religions do, we serve a Risen Savior and King.  The Christ Child is the foundation for EVERYTHING that's good, including family, friends, comraderie, fellowship, serving the poor and the needy.  There will come a day where every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:10-11).  Plus, Christmas is not just on December 25 every year, but the spirit of Christmas should be prevalent the other 364 days, as well.

I don't understand the bizarre practice of lapsing into formalized religious language and Biblical references when describing fairly simple concepts, like "someday everyone's going to believe in my savior nyah."  On the other hand, it's the only time I ever see in-line citations on an Internet forum.  Maybe I should be ambivalent about this instead?

[RIP Robert H Bork]

The birth of Jesus, only. If someone wants to, say, give/receive gifts for Christmas, that's fine too, but that's not what Christmas is about.

Yes, we don't know that Jesus wasn't actually born on some other day, but we do celebrate it on December 25.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Presents.