the word Christmas

[teko]

Do you agree that the word Christmas should be in retailers' holiday marketing?

[tbabi20]

Agreeing with adgal..

"In all honesty, I really don't care one way or the other.  To me any religious celebration, be it Christian or otherwise is a personal one and should be honored accordingly.  In my house it is about celebrating the birth of Christ, and that is how it shall remain."

I recognize though that that's just the way the world is going. I don't think it's any surprise as many do not feel Christ is very important. The Bible says things will get worse and worse. I do feel it's sad though that Jesus can't be honored anymore publicly. It's just feels weird because I remember that it used to be ok, my children one day will not know that. I just think that little compromises lead to greater problems - something we don't really realize.

[iam1butterfly]

We have a annual celebration here, in San Diego that used to be called "Christmas on the Prado"... until 5 years ago when the politicos officially changed it to "December Nights." Guess what? Everyone who's lived around here long enough still call it "Christmas on the Prado"... why? Because that's what it is! It's a annual Christmas celebratory extravaganza  held in the Prado of our beautiful Balboa Park... nobody buys into this PC baloney.
"December Nights!" ... bah humbug!

[adgal]

In all honesty, I really don't care one way or the other.  To me any religious celebration, be it Christian or otherwise is a personal one and should be honored accordingly.  In my house it is about celebrating the birth of Christ, and that is how it shall remain.  If retailers want to cover all their bases by keeping their holiday marketing neutral, I have no problem with it.  There is more then one religion that celebrates something around the same time..for example Hanneuka for the Jews.  It makes business sense I guess.  

I do find it very unfortunate that it has become so commercialized.  It shouldn't be about the gifts anyway...it should be about family, friends and just loving each other.

[April2]

I think Christmas should be what it originally was meant to be, a celebration of Christ's birth, just like Easter is a celebration of Christ triumphing over the cross and death.
I don't mind Santa and Easter bunnies so much as long as the original meaning and celebration is understood. I always made a point of reminding my children of what we are truly celebrating. Sure, it's exciting to get gifts, etc., but I don't want the to forget what the true meaning is.

What makes me sad is going into the stores and hearing the piped music that's all Santa (very rarely religious), and seeing how commercialized the holiday has become. Retailers try to convince you through commercials, ads, etc., that you must buy the latest gadget or toy to be "happy" or to make someone else "happy". It's a lot of pressure, especially for those who are strapped financially.

This year we are scaling back big time. We simply don't have the money to buy a lot of gifts. We will keep it small but I'm so grateful that I will have my whole family together! In the past, my oldest son used to work a lot of holidays, even my daughter worked the last two holidays, both at Thanksgiving and part of Christmas. They now both have different jobs where they get the holidays off so that means more to me than any present! We will have goodies to eat, a few gifts to open, and maybe play some games. All in all, it will just be good to be together.

My daughter and I each chose a boy and girl to buy gifts for the Operation Christmas Child and sent the boxes out last Sunday. Some years we've picked names off the trees for children with parents in prison, so that they can have a little something to help bring some light to their Christmas. They have these trees in the malls, usually, and they're run by the Salvation Army.

There are so many out there who don't have a good Christmas, or who are lonely at Christmas time. I'm thinking about visiting a nursing home this Christmas with some cookies or something. There are so many lonely elderly people in these homes who don't have anyone to visit them or family nearby. It breaks my heart how many lonely people there are out there.

This Thanksgiving we are looking to find someone who would like to share a meal with us who may not have the money to have a big meal or maybe don't have family around to share it with. As tight as money is with us, we are grateful that we have enough to buy a nice meal and spend with our family.
I am so glad that Thanksgiving has not been commercialized! It's one of the few remaining holidays that hasn't.

[brice1967]

By the way, I like the way you folks are celebrating.  I think that says alot about humanity, (atleast around your ranch) and it should be inspiring to the rest of us.  

My family is already too far into this holiday season to change, but I'll offer this as a suggestion for next year.  Children aside, especially the little ones.... Family getting together is what this used to mean to my family back in the day.

[brice1967]

Again, political correctness at its best.  Someone is not being acknowledged so somebody else can???  Christmas is Christmas, Hanukkah is Hannukkah, Kwanzaa is Kwanzaa.....  

I am not a religious man, but I am rather spiritual.  If one does not like Christmas, do not celebrate it.  Celebrate what you want in this country...you have that right.  What I hate to see is someone protesting anothers holiday.  There just really isnt a need for it.

Keep Christ in Christmas, keep thanks in Thanksgiving.  Everyone in this country has plenty to be thankful for, and being able to celebrate whatever you want when you want should be at the top of that list!

[teko]

I read somewhere that the reason retailers say Happy Holidays and not Merry Christmas specifically is that their are multiple religions celebrating during this time of the year so to not offend anyone they say Happy Holidays.

As a Christian this offends me greatly. Looking at it from a merchants point of view, I can understand it.

I guess this goes with us being a nation of different cultures and religions, and the problem of including all and offending none is getting impossible. It kind of makes you wonder what the future will bring. Times sure have changed.

I am not exchanging gifts this year. My family is all getting together to spend the day with each other for togetherness and the money spent is going to the travel expense of getting together. I will buy one gift. I do this each year. I go to perkins, get a tag off the tree, buy a gift for someone I do not know, usually in a nursing home. I will never know who got it. Then for me and my house we are gonna eat like you wouldnt believe, laugh and be happy with seeing each other and celebrate our Lord.

[ILADVOCATE]

  Yes because each culture/religion has their own celebration. The cards that I buy as well as the gift wrap are for Hanukkah so Christmas cards and anything else being noted as for Christmas makes sense. I used to get a greeting card from someone I knew who was atheist as celebrating the winter holiday or whatever it was and I took it as kind of strange.

[Sarajmt]

Absolutely it should.  Although it most likely isn't the actual date that Christ was born, it does replace a pagan celebration as the recognized date of birth.  Without Christ, there would be no Christmas!