Posted on 11/20/2005 12:28:19 AM PST by stm
"I have never minded "Happy Holidays" either as a greeting, but tend to use "Merry Christmas" to Christians and "Happy Chanukah" to Jews.
"
I say Happy Holidays to people whose religious beliefs I do not know. I think that's the reason the retailers do the same thing. They have no way of knowing the religion of a customer, so they play it safe with the generic greeting.
I really don't know why this is so hard to understand. If someone wishes you Happy Holidays, you can respond with a Merry Christmas. The point is that you are receiving a friendly greeting appropriate for the season.
The overwhelming majority of Christmas shoppers are precisely that, Christmas shoppers. They are the reason for the decorations, for the huge sales effort, stores open late, etc. I don't see why that's hard to understand. Nor do I don't think that most non Christians are offended that retailing is directed at Christmas shoppers during a time when billions of dollars are up for grabs. I think they even enjoy the Christmas season.
Deliberately not recognizing Christmas while scheming to make billions in Christmas sales is deliberately offensive.
Put up the "Happy Holiday" stuff to include everyone if you like, put up "Happy Chanakuh" too (though I'll bet that would offend a fair number of Jews) but don't get rid of "Merry Christmas" while you're at it. The reason for the holiday season is not Chanukah, or God knows what, but Christmas.
Hell, I'm not even religious, or even Christian, but I can't help but be saddened by this rather sudden abandoning of the recognition of Christmas by not just public officials, but also those who hope to profit by it.
Hit the streets yes! Lawsuits, no! Lawsuits only politicize the matter and take it from sincere belief to dogmatic or rigid adherence for other than sincere purposes.
AS soeone else said, this was predicted. Even though 80-some% of Americans are "christian," they are not true Bible believing Christians taking what they want to believe yet discarding the rest. This entire thing is very clearly laid out in the Scriptures as what will precede the return of Christ.
One of those things is that people will "hold to a form of godliness but deny its power." Well, that's where we are today. People by and large are christians more by upbringing, geneology, or ethnicity than they are in practice. This displeases God. Ergo the judgement. You see what's happened in Europe. While perhaps not a direct apostasy, it's indirect at minimum.
The bottom line is that if you are going to be a real Christian, "you" being meant generically, then it's impossible to do so without a firm belief that the Scriptures, all of them, are God's Word and need to be heeded and held to ultimately.
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There are those who say they are Chriatians, and those who are. Which catagory do you fall into? My Guess is the first, since you like to call people names. I would put up with the likes of Dr. Falwell, than be around pretend Christians any time.
O Well to attach Christ's name to this happening seems blasphemous anyhow.
Good idea. Too bad Falwell is heading it.
Like Pat Robertson he's been a PR disaster for Chritianity.
The man not only puts his foot in his mouth on a regular basis, he's TV appearances are always disasters.
Like Bauer, they should either stay off TV, or learn how to use the medium.
Bizarre? LOL!! That's just me being me LOL!!
I've been taking some knives in the back from DUmmies over my politically motivated music. They hit my message board over at soundclick with such filth that I had to take the message board down. And now they've found me at download.com and they've started leaving bad reviews on my artist page there. They're trying to make me look bad to keep people from even listening to my music.
The only good thing about it is the DUmmies can't post the foul mouthed messages. But they can still post reviews that trash me. I just tell myself that I must be doing something right because if I wasn't, then they wouldn't mess with me LOL!!
I guess "bizarre" was really not the proper word. As a musician I guess the time seemed a little unusual to me, what time was it written in?
120 beats per minute. I'm a one woman band so to speak LOL!!
I used Sony's Acid and sang and played my acoustic guitar along with the drums. Then I added an electric guitar loop to fill in over me, and then added a bass loop and the bells.
I have an electric guitar and a bass but the loops are much better then I am and it's easier then me recording each individual track.
It's not as good a quality as you could get in a studio with a band but I'm all I have LOL!! Just me and my computer.
Oh cheap shot!
They understand the bottom line. Eliminating the word Christ from the public arena is offensive to many.
Rev Falwell is far from being an idiot. The so called pastors who claim it's ok to be homosexual as long as you're celibat are a much larger embarassment to Christianity.
People today want a feel good religion.
Falwell isn't the man for that.
1Tim 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
I wholeheartedly support Falwell on this. The article I saw on here about Sears "wishing trees" was the last straw.
and Falwell may have had his less than stellar moments(9/11), but he's a good guy and sincere in trying to do good, I believe. That bitter little nitwit, Pat Robertson is an alltogether different story. He's a media ho, Luddite, and has never gotten over people rejecting his candidacy for president.
"I think he is the biggest embarrasment to the Christians...I wish he would just crawl in some hole and not come out. There are many other Christians that we should be looking to for representation not this idiot!!!!"
I'm not a big Falwell fan but I think Pat Buchanan fits your description better. Falwell has his heart in the right place, I don't think Pat has his brain in gear.
"Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Al Gore" All great So. Baptist leaders.
Not even close to being correct. Southern Baptists do not count them as leaders within the denomination.
"No one is telling us we CAN'T celebrate it"
Oh but they are.
You all can not be falling for The Gay Gate's prejudicial editting.
They put a few quotes from Falwell mixed with a diatribe about boycotting Target, and it sounds like Falwell is calling a Jihad on all secular holiday celebrations.
His "For Us /Aginst Us" quote was saying, "You either celebrate Christmas as the birthday of Jesus Christ, or don't celebrate it."
Celebrating Christmas without Christ is like celebrating Kwanzaa as White Power Day.
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