What attacks and negativity?
What “many other” Orthodox countries?
The following countries celebrate Orthodox Christmas on “our” Jan. 7: Belarus, Bulgaria, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Russia and Serbia — and some in Greece, such as the monks on Mt. Athos. (And the Armenian Apostolic Church observes Christmas Day on January 6.) Many Orthodox Churches here in the US also do.
The only Orthodox majority countries who do not are Greece (since the 1920s — and with some holdouts) and Ukraine (since 2023).
You ignored my statement that I don’t care which calendar a church chooses to go by.
I don’t think much of politicians deciding church matters for political reasons or appointing themselves head of the church in their countries, whether it was Henry VIII crowning himself head of the Church of England or Zelensky breaking one thousand years of tradition to be “more like us” for political reasons.
You seem to think everyone should be “more like us”. Well, that’s your opinion. Mine differs. I don’t like our strong arming Sierra Leone on abortion (be “more like us and kill more babies”) or pushing various African countries to be “more like us” and accept gay marriage. Being “more like us” isn’t necessarily a good thing.
As for which day they celebrate Christmas — does it really matter what day it is, so long as it’s a Church decision, and not a political one? I respect their traditions, and in my experience they respect ours.
Also, on a practical note, it was kind of nice having Orthodox in the office who didn’t mind working around or even on Dec. 25, and the rest of us happy to work around and on Jan. 7 when they wanted time off with their families.
Anyway, you seem to see it all through a political lens: “more like us and our allies” vs “like those dastardly Russians”. I consider it purely a Church matter.
Again you don’t read my posts well, I didn’t ignore your statement about you not caring, I pointed out how much you actually do care by quoting your negative and critical attack on Ukraine and their Orthodox church changing the date.
““That is, until Zelensky decreed Christmas would henceforth be celebrated on December 25 last year. Yes, in 2023, for the first time in history going all the way back to the 10th century, Ukraine celebrated Christmas on Dec. 25th. I guess he figured if Henry VIII could appoint himself head of the Church of England ...”