tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9257988.post110391596567164606..comments2023-07-27T06:00:23.360-04:00Comments on Not the Country Club: The usual Christmas story...Al S. E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/16053409030033484578noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9257988.post-1104434572151853272004-12-30T14:22:00.000-05:002004-12-30T14:22:00.000-05:00Nice job done in summarizing the struggle undergon...Nice job done in summarizing the struggle undergone every year in relation to Christ and Christmas.<br />I grew up without Christianity, and now am a Christian who 'wears the religion on their sleeves' (loosly quoted). In other words I can appriechiate both points of view. Mine lies somewhere in the middle.<br />I would want to say "merry Christmas" to people when I am shopping, or moseying Laurenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06526791118113282294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9257988.post-1104338934164152942004-12-29T11:48:00.000-05:002004-12-29T11:48:00.000-05:00I grew up loving Christmas without any mention of ...I grew up loving Christmas without any mention of Christianity - just love and joy and snow and helping the poor and getting and giving presents. This is how I continue to celebrate. I don't think anyone can "make" Christmas anything. It's up to the individuals who celebrate.<br /><br />That being said, I'm leaning towards calling it Xmas.This is probably partly because I'm so alienated by Stryderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08881620467550867418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9257988.post-1104105596753622082004-12-26T18:59:00.000-05:002004-12-26T18:59:00.000-05:00Thinking outside the box has led me away from adhe...Thinking outside the box has led me away from adhering to any political party. The difficulty for me lies in the fact that there not only aren't any candidates running that I respect, but that neither the right nor the left embraces exactly what I think, but I'm definitely not an extremist, either. So while I not only recycle, use cleaning products that contain no petroleum products, etc that Karinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08955201042525800045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9257988.post-1104096114643527102004-12-26T16:21:00.000-05:002004-12-26T16:21:00.000-05:00Thanks again, Karin. If American Christians could...Thanks again, Karin. If American Christians could be made to understand that Christianity's real message is exactly the values you have mentioned (thinking outside the box, looking at all sides of an argument, logic and reason), we would have a much better world. Regrettably, most people who call themselves "Christian" in the US seem to have shut their eyes and ears to the real message of this Al S. E.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16053409030033484578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9257988.post-1104093671552432532004-12-26T15:41:00.000-05:002004-12-26T15:41:00.000-05:00Yes, it is, but it's also stimulating to some peop...Yes, it is, but it's also stimulating to some people who are on the right, or, perish the thought, apolitical. I'm actually a Christian, but my Christian beliefs are not all mainstream Christian views, and I love discussion. I'm an advocate of thinking outside the box, of looking at all sides of an argument, and of logic and reason.Karinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08955201042525800045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9257988.post-1104093380771188592004-12-26T15:36:00.000-05:002004-12-26T15:36:00.000-05:00Thanks very much for your comment, Karin. As much...Thanks very much for your comment, Karin. As much as I enjoy having people agree with me, I find disagreement just as stimulating, possibly more so. After all, disagreement and "healthy discussion" is the lifeblood of the Left (or the "liberals," to use the US word).Al S. E.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16053409030033484578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9257988.post-1104091441626976812004-12-26T15:04:00.000-05:002004-12-26T15:04:00.000-05:00This is an ironic debate, since the origins of Chr...This is an ironic debate, since the origins of Christmas are not Christian at all. Even most Christian scholars concur that Jesus could not possibly have been born in the winter (shepherds would not have been tending their sheep in the fields at night in the winter, for one thing,)not to mention the fact that Christmas trees, mistletoe, yule logs and Santa Claus have other origins. I am new to Karinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08955201042525800045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9257988.post-1104086322994918002004-12-26T13:38:00.000-05:002004-12-26T13:38:00.000-05:00Thanks for your comment, Gerald. As we are in agr...Thanks for your comment, Gerald. As we are in agreement on the original issue, I'll just add that I wish the religious right's polemics on this issure were in fact, as you put it, "pointless." In reality, the things that they say always cover a hidden agenda. When they talk about the perceived dilution of Christmas, for example, they are actually talking about their oppostion to immigration, Al S. E.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16053409030033484578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9257988.post-1104035033957589342004-12-25T23:23:00.000-05:002004-12-25T23:23:00.000-05:00Thank you. I'm also tired of the pointless religi...Thank you. I'm also tired of the pointless religiosity from people who wear their faith on their sleeves. It is more important to me at this time of year that ethics be lived than a simplistic morality be displayed.Sanguine Onehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09478699288010832702noreply@blogger.com