NationStates Jolt Archive

As an Agnostic, I do not celebrate Christmas, Christianity's anniversary of the day Christ's Birth is supposed to have taken place (Here I am not expressing my religious beliefs but simply commenting on the fact that the actual day of Christ's birth is a mystery to everyone).
Luckily for me, there is a secular holiday on the same day: X-mas, the annual orgy of commercialism. Some may still confuse the two holidays, since the latter was once part and grew out of the Christmas tradition. However, it seems that few of the people who celebrate X-mas nowadays are recognising Christ as well.
No, I am not trying to mock Bill O'Reilly's stupid point about a "War against Christmas." I am pointing out that two holidays, one secular, one religious, inhabit the same space on the calendar. Which one are you celebrating?

I hate them both, but I'm forced by my parents to celebrate Christmas.

Neither. I normally stay in bed on Christmas. :)

Isn't the 'X' in x-mas to do with the Greek alpabet or something?

Festivus, the holiday for the rest of us!

Try that one.

...whoa, this is the message that earned me the tag "sometimes deadly"! Time to celebrate! With grain alcohol!

I hate them both, but I'm forced by my parents to celebrate Christmas.Something similar here. I actually really hate the whole thing, but for a quiet life the rest of the year, it is politic to tag along to the bloody family meals.

Which one are you celebrating?Neither it's the 4th of april!

Something similar here. I actually really hate the whole thing, but for a quiet life the rest of the year, it is politic to tag along to the bloody family meals.

Too bad you can't bring Chuck Norris.

Too bad you can't bring Chuck Norris.

If the turkey got burnt he could swallow another and regurgitate it fully prepared.

Neither it's the 4th of april!

I was actually asking which of the holidays you observed, but you are right; my wording is vague.

By the way...
No one alive knows for sure the actual date of Christs birth. For all we know, it could be today.

This is going to be a little long so bear with me.

When the Christians were being persecuted by Rome, they formed an underground society that met in different person's houses. To identify the houses of Christians, a fish was painted near the door.

The ancient Greek word for fish is ichthus. This was code. Each letter stood for a word that identified Jesus.

I (i [iota] using Greek alphabet) for Jesus
Ch (an x [chi] in the Greek alphabet) for Christ
Th (a strange symbol in Greek [theta]) for God's
U (a y/u [upsilon] in the Greek alphabet) for Son
S (another trange sign [sigma]) for Savior

So by saying X-mas, you're essentially saying Christmas, just in a shorter way.

Interesting.....though Christmas sounds better. X-mas sounds like it may be used by some athesists. :P

I'm atheist, but I'm culturally Italian and Catholic. That means I either participate in the family Christmas things or I get talked about even more than usual behind my back. On the bright side the seafood is good.

This is going to be a little long so bear with me.

When the Christians were being persecuted by Rome, they formed an underground society that met in different person's houses. To identify the houses of Christians, a fish was painted near the door.

The ancient Greek word for fish is ichthus. This was code. Each letter stood for a word that identified Jesus.

I (i [iota] using Greek alphabet) for Jesus
Ch (an x [chi] in the Greek alphabet) for Christ
Th (a strange symbol in Greek [theta]) for God's
U (a y/u [upsilon] in the Greek alphabet) for Son
S (another trange sign [sigma]) for Savior

So by saying X-mas, you're essentially saying Christmas, just in a shorter
way.

That was it :)

I was actually asking which of the holidays you observed, but you are right; my wording is vague.

By the way...
No one alive knows for sure the actual date of Christs birth. For all we know, it could be today.
Christmas by the way is the one I observed and will observe.

Festivus, the holiday for the rest of us! ...

Yep, that's my holiday.

Isn't the 'X' in x-mas to do with the Greek alpabet or something?
*looks up Greek aphabet*
Nope, the letter that looks remotely like 'X' is pronounced 'khee' or 'khi' depending how anal one is about the pronunciation of the English letter 'I'. My recommendation is go with 'khee'.

By the way...
No one alive knows for sure the actual date of Christs birth. For all we know, it could be today.
For all the none christians out there, we can because it says in the bible that at the time of jesus birth caeser augustus commanded a census. So you just trace the census and get an approximate date.:p

No one alive knows for sure the actual date of Christs birth. For all we know, it could be today.

Based on the Bible we are pretty sure it wasnt in december though.

What by the way is wrong with just celebrating the holiday itself ? Christmas is not a purely Christian holiday - it is a mixture of festivities for many different religions. The tree, presents, dinner and the grand get together with family all are pagan in origin and have nothing whatsoever to do with the birth of Christ.

Based on the Bible we are pretty sure it wasnt in december though.

What by the way is wrong with just celebrating the holiday itself ? Christmas is not a purely Christian holiday - it is a mixture of festivities for many different religions. The tree, presents, dinner and the grand get together with family all are pagan in origin and have nothing whatsoever to do with the birth of Christ.
The reason it's in December anyway is because the Chirstians wanted a celebration like the pagans, and it was the middle of winter and everyone wanted an excuse to eat lot of food and intoxicate themselves. So that's way christmas is in December!
The End




Aren't you going to clap?:confused:

The winter solstice.

Why, what did you think Christmas was celebrating?

The reason it's in December anyway is because the Chirstians wanted a celebration like the pagans, and it was the middle of winter and everyone wanted an excuse to eat lot of food and intoxicate themselves. So that's way christmas is in December!
The End

The date for Christmas - Dec 24th - was the birthday of Mithras celebrated in the Mithras cult. Christmas was moved to that date to familiarise Christianity to the pagans they wanted to convert.

EDIT: The Mithras worhshippers may have had the birthday in the middle of winter as an excuse to eat and get drunk loads though :D