Study: Christmas Trees Make Those Who Don’t Celebrate Holiday Feel Excluded

Fox News New York ^ | 12/20/2010

[SeekAndFind]

(NewsCore) - So much for a holly, jolly Christmas.

A newly released study found that Christmas tree displays can “harm the emotional well-being” of those who do not celebrate the holiday.

Researchers at Canada’s Simon Fraser University (SFU) studied the psychological effect that Christmas displays have by asking test participants to work in a room that either contained a Christmas tree or did not.

The results showed that for those participants who did not celebrate the holiday, being in a room with a Christmas tree made them feel less sure of themselves.

The result was the opposite for those who did celebrate Christmas, as they reported feeling more positive after spending time in the presence of a decorated tree.

Participants with non-Christian religious backgrounds – Sikhs and Buddhists, for instance – reported less self-assurance and feeling less included at the university when they were in the presence of a Christmas tree.

[sheana]

I.
Don’t.
Care.

[freekitty]

BS. This isn’t about feeling excluded. It’s about control.

So go ahead and celebrate Christmas with all the Christmas trees you want.

[isthisnickcool]

I know how these people feel. I've been there myself. For example, I needed a certain a type of thing during a moment of passion one night. Unfortunately, my female friend had nothing safe for me to wear and neither did I after a quick check of my pockets.

In a panic she went in to her roommates room and brought back a package that said "Magnum" on it. It seems her roommates ex-boyriend had left them behind. I recall he was a nice guy and could dunk the basketball whereas I could not. I think they made a movie based on that notion.

Oh my I thought. This is a bit much. Like these people and the Christmas trees I looked at the package and felt less "self-assured". I was "less positive" and my "emotional well being" was draining fast. I suddenly found I did not want to be in the same room with that intimidating square package with "Magnum" on it.

What to do? What to do?

I was in a jam. In a corner. I took a deep breath and ripped open the package and darn if things did not work out just fine! No problem at all!

My suggestion is that these folks just give Christmas and Christianity a shot. Give it a try. They will find that it will fit them just fine.

Merry Christmas! I guess I can now say Happy Kwanzaa too!

[smokingfrog]

I don't buy it (the bogus study).

[jazminerose]

However did the republic survive all these years celebrating Christmas?

Suddenly, it’s a huge problem.

[meadsjn]

Click to Enlarge ???

What the heck ??? It's more than large enough already.

[Cymbaline]

Utter BS. I don’t feel left out in the presence of Menorah’s.

Exactly! Anyone, ANYONE, who chooses to be offended at a Christmas tree, or someone saying "Merry Christmas", has something seriously wrong with them. They should seek psychological help.

[devolve]

.

I was jus funnin’ you!

.

[ml/nj]

I guess I should say that what DOES make me feel sad are all the menorahs I see all over the place. They are where they are as a symbol of ignorance. Chanukkah has been over for two weeks now. It is a very minor Jewish holiday. No one is supposed to take any time off from their work because of it. There are no Chanukkah services at ANY synagogue. (There may be special made up events for children, and there are some Chanukkah insertions into the regular services during the eight days.)

ML/NJ

[jazminerose]

I have never in my life met a Jew who was offended by anything to do with Christmas. Never.

[Right Wing Assault]

Well that 7% need to be tolerant of the other 93% IMO.

Exactly. I am offended by these people who are always offended when I do things I have (at least today) a right to do.

But it's NOT okay if I am offended at gay militants kissing each other passionately in public? If I express disapproval, I am a "hater, homophobe, etc., etc."

I guess these "offended-by-Christmas-trees" people are being hateful by being offended.

[Teotwawki]

As a Christian I'm not comfortable with Halloween. If I thought like a liberal then I'd have to demand everyone else stop celebrating Halloween so as not to offend me. Fortunately I'm not a liberal.

[Brookhaven]

I’m more worried about people that don’t celebrate Easter other than with eggs and rabbits.

They are the ones that are going to someday find out what being excluded is really all about.

[paudio]

Maturity is one thing, and yes, if we're mature emotionally, we wouldn't be easy to get offended. This doesn't mean we will not be offended again, even for a same offense. Moreover, if we rely on maturity, it'd be difficult to prevent teenagers from acting stupid on the account of being offended as in general people accept that they're not yet matured. However, the society should be able to make them not to act (include whinny) on them being offended.

[B4Ranch]

>>Such BS!<<

That’s what I was thinking because our Jewish friends don’t tend to stay away from our home during the month of December when our Christmas tree is up.

[B4Ranch]

Obama is a Muslim wanabe or Wahabe

“One of the prettiest sounds on earth” is the Muslim call to prayer at sunset.
Barack Hussein Obama as quoted by Nicholas D. Kristof in the New York Times - March 6, 2007

• The FIRST thing Obama did as a newly elected Illinois State Senator was to attempt to declare a Muslim holiday. Obama sponsored Bill SR0110 in the 90th General Assembly to declare November 1, 1997 to be Islamic Community Center Day. It did not pass.
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/legisnet90/summary/900SR0110.html
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/legisnet90/srgroups/sr/900SR0110LV.html

• His biological father was a Muslim.
http://www.bing.com/reference/semhtml/?title=Barack_Obama%2C_Sr.&src=abop&qpvt=barack+obama+seniot&q=barack+obama+senior&fwd=1

• Because his biological father was a Muslim the Islam world thinks he is a Muslim.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/behind-the-numbers/2010/08/obama_is_a_muslim_18_24_or.html?hpid=topnews
http://www.indonesiamatters.com/2952/barry-soetoro/

• His stepfather was a Muslim.
http://www.indonesiamatters.com/2952/barry-soetoro/

• As a child Barry was enrolled in school as a Muslim in Jakarta Indonesia. An Indonesian Madrasa.
• Barack Hussein Obama’s first and middle names are Arabic Muslim names.
Barack was the name for Mohammad’s horse. Husein, enough said.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700246419/Barack-Muhammads-horse.html
http://sanooaung.wordpress.com/2009/01/22/will-be-obama-with-us-muslims-as-the-meaning-of-his-name-in-persian-language/

• Obama recited the opening lines of the Muslim call to prayer, which includes a vow of fidelity to Islam, in flawless Arabic on a radio program. - Nikolos Kristoff, NYTs, 3-06-07 (***this one is a gottcha moment***)
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.3413/pub_detail.asp
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/11679

• On that same program he said he thinks the call to prayer is “one of the prettiest sounds on earth.”
http://jewagainstobama.wordpress.com/2008/03/03/obama-muslim-call-to-prayer-one-of-the-prettiest-sounds-on-earth/
http://caosblog.com/archives/7373

• Obama belonged to Rev. Wright’s (a former Muslim) church for twenty years. Many congregants are Muslims.
http://infidelsarecool.com/2008/04/07/jeremiah-wright-former-muslim/
http://infidelsarecool.com/2008/03/20/rev-wright-got-his-masters-degree-in-islam-in-west-africa/
http://endtimes.yuku.com/forum/viewtopic/id/289

• Obama’s said that the U.S. is “one of the largest Muslim countries in the world.”
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyharnden/9959057/Barack_Hussein_Obama_US_one_of_the_largest_Muslim_countries_in_the_world/
http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/06/obama_america_one_of_the_large_1.asp

• Obama holds Muslim celebrations in the WH but canceled the National Day of Prayer.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1724544/obama_cancels_national_day_of_prayer.html?cat=9
http://www.exposeobama.com/

• President Obama’s religious adviser, Eboo Patel, once deemed the United States “the ideal place for the renewal of Islam.”

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2010/06/-obama-tells-egyptian-foreign-minister-i-am-a-muslim-stealth-coup-on-the-white-house.html

• Obama does not give gifts on Christmas.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0708/12035.html

• Obama doesn’t celebrate his birthday.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/04/a-tough-birthday-for-obama/

• Obama falsely attributes Muslim participation in the founding of America.
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.7041/pub_detail.asp

• Obama required that the cross be covered when he gave a speech at Notre Dame.
http://blog.acton.org/archives/9843-notre-dame-georgetown-and-president-obama.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/05/11/opinion/main5006203.shtml
http://dougpowers.com/2009/04/17/obamas-jesus-coverup/

• Christian symbol covered up during Obama’s Georgetown speech
http://myfaithspace.ning.com/profiles/blogs/obama-covers-christ-and-cross
http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=46667

• Obama’s first major speech in office was a “Muslim outreach” speech in Cairo Egypt.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-at-Cairo-University-6-04-09/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8083171.stm

• “The American President told me in confidence that he is a Muslim,” said Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Nile TV.
http://barenakedislam.wordpress.com/2010/06/12/bombshell-egyptian-foreign-minister-ahmed-aboul-gheit-says-on-egyptian-tv-%e2%80%9cthe-american-president-told-me-in-confidence-that-he-is-still-a-muslim-%e2%80%9d/
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=166905

• Obama gave strong support to the Cordoba House community center and mosque to be built at the Ground Zero site of Sep. 11, 2001 at a dinner celebrating the day’s end of the first day of Ramadan at the WH.
http://www.aolnews.com/surge-desk/article/president-obama-supports-ground-zero-mosque/19593492?ncid=webmail

• Obama tasked NASA with a mission of “Muslim outreach.”
http://technology.newsplurk.com/2010/07/nasa-and-islam.html

• Obama referred to his faith as “my Muslim faith” gaffe in an interview with George Stephanopolous.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQqIpdBOg6I

• Pushes Islamic freedom of religion but not Jewish or Christian freedoms. Several weeks ago he told Israel NOT to build settlements in East Jerusalem. But OK to build that Mosque at Ground Zero.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/7514285/Israel-spits-in-Obamas-eye-by-announcing-new-settlements-in-east-Jerusalem.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/24/barack-obama-israel-settlement-plan

Be wary, wary aware ....and wary, wary afraid...get prepared for more creeping sharia...more than what is coming out of the White House today.

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

What I would like to know is, when these supposedly offended and unself-assure Buddhists, Muslims, Sikhs, etc. left their home countries to come to the United States of America, an outpost of western civilization and a majority-Christian country, what exactly did they expect to find?

[meadsjn]

She was a big woman.
BIG woman.
Her name was Bertha.
Bertha Butt.
She was one of the Butt sisters.
He didn't care. He looked up at her and said:

[Jewbacca]

“How about Kwanzaa?”

As noted elsewhere, it’s only celebrated by white, middle-class, fat butted, white teachers.

[Piranha]

Funny...I grew up Jewish and never was anything but Jewish. I never objected to Christmas trees, and enjoyed the way that downtown Chicago was decorated for Christmas, with the hustle and bustle of people going into the department stores to do their holiday shopping. I never was bothered when someone wished me a Merry Christmas; I always understood it as well-meaning and as an expression of community and good will.