Would you cancel Christmas?

minislim

i wouldnt cancel christmas. thats just a bit too far.

but what i would certainly do is ban christmas from starting until the 1st of december.
its lost its magic and become far too comercialised.

christmas now seems to start in september when the kids return to school after summer.

so then you have three months of christmas before its even december.

by the time its actuall here im fed up of it.

Tinwhistler

:snow_grinI would maybe transfer it for 12 months 0% interest

notanewuser

billbennett wrote: »

As someone who works in retail, my Christmas starts in mid-September.

Endless team meetings, preparation, extended opening hours, enforced festive cheer, and by December swings around, I'm sick of the whole thing.

But then again, if I had the choice, I'd also make Sunday trading illegal again. It would make family life so much better to have a mandated day each week where the whole family can get together without someone having to go off to work, or someone running off to "just pop into town for a few bits".

Lets hope you don't need a taxi/public transport/medical treatment/firefighters/police/plumber/locksmith/gas, water or electricity engineers on those golden Sundays. I assume you'll be happy never to visit a pub/restaurant/hotel/holiday camp/cinema/ theatre/church on a Sunday as well.

janiebquick

ringo_24601 wrote: »

It's a shame there isnt a British versions of Thanksgiving; something secular that people can use as an excuse to get together and share a meal with their extended family

But Christmas is secular. It was originally the midwinter festival and was hijacked by the christians.

And please, let's not import yet another American tradition .....

[Deleted User]

janiebquick wrote: »

But Christmas is secular. It was originally the midwinter festival and was hijacked by the christians.

And please, let's not import yet another American tradition .....

The Germanic-style trappings of Christmas may be kind-of secular, but it is ultimately all about the birth of a religion ~2000 years ago. It would be unlikely to be as popular now had it not been for the rampant spread of Christianity.

If it was truly secular, my family might get involved, further than a December 25th family-get-together-dinner with crackers. No presents or trees/decorations in our household

Torry_Quine

janiebquick wrote: »

But Christmas is secular. It was originally the midwinter festival and was hijacked by the christians.

And please, let's not import yet another American tradition .....

It may be for some people and that's up to them. However for me and my fellow Christians it is very much a religious festival of great importance. I don't get caught up in the secular idea of purey it being about food and excess.

mumps

We don't drink, we have a meal that is not unlike a normal Sunday roast. I only spend what I can afford on presents, just buy for immediate family husband, children and grandchildren. Sometimes I have to work. I love midnight Mass, getting the whole family together. It doesn't have to involve over spending, over eating and lots of alcohol. In case you haven't guessed I wouldn't cancel Christmas.

Retrogamer

I grew up celebrating Christmas, but i haven't done so now since i was 16.

It was for lots of different reasons. No money and felt pressurised to buy gifts and felt that wasn't in spirit with the traditional Christmas i was taught about at school.

Then i justified it as people of different religions didn't always celebrate it, so neither did i.

Nowadays i try and put some time aside to reflect on the less fortunate people in the world.
Last year i took a random figure on how much most people spend at Christmas and donated it to a charity instead.
Probably do the same this year, but not participate in any of the festivities.

Retrogamer

Torry_Quine wrote: »

It may be for some people and that's up to them. However for me and my fellow Christians it is very much a religious festival of great importance. I don't get caught up in the secular idea of purey it being about food and excess.

This is in no way intended to be offensive, but why do Christians put up a tree?

The "Christmas tree" is a Pagan symbol and tradition
Same a lot of other stuff
The evergreen was seen as a special tree as it didn't lose it's colour in winter.
Pagans used to take it indoors to decorate it with bells and other stuff.
They believed that if the tree spirit / god was happy it would jingle to let them know.

One of the 10 commandments is don't worship other gods and some Christians don't put it up due to this, but others do.

[Deleted User]

Retrogamer wrote: »

This is in no way intended to be offensive, but why do Christians put up a tree?

The "Christmas tree" is a Pagan symbol and tradition
Same a lot of other stuff
The evergreen was seen as a special tree as it didn't lose it's colour in winter.
Pagans used to take it indoors to decorate it with bells and other stuff.
They believed that if the tree spirit / god was happy it would jingle to let them know.

One of the 10 commandments is don't worship other gods and some Christians don't put it up due to this, but others do.

Well it's still a 400 year old Christian tradition. It may have its roots prior to that, but it's a pretty good historical precedent for counting it as a Christian tradition.