<Begin rant.>
I get cranky this time of year. Not bah humbug type of cranky, because I love the holidays but cranky at all the self righteous Christians who berate people for saying an inclusive Happy Holidays or who tell me to keep Christ in Christmas when I use Xmas. I'm sure you've seen something like this on Facebook or perhaps shared it yourself:
I do not agree. It is Merry Christmas if I'm talking to a Christian. But saying Happy Holidays does not condemn me to hell or assume that I'm a terrible Jesus-hating Christian. I would hope it would assume something completely different, for instance, respect of other traditions like Kwanza, Winter Solstice, Hanukkah...
Know where the word "Holiday" comes from? HOLY DAY. Even Wikipedia knows this. "The word holiday comes from the Old English word hāligdæg (hālig "holy" + dæg "day)." Wikipedia even has an entire article about the Christmas controversy or War on Christmas.
And really, to many non-Christians, all these posts are just annoying. We, as Christians, do not have a monopoly on the winter season. And we miss out on a lot if we don't look at the beautiful traditions that surround other faith traditions and practices. Furthermore, Jesus didn't have a Christmas tree. Do you know how many great stories I hear that involving picking out the perfect tree and decorating it with family? And that's got zilch to do with Jesus. Officially. Ditto snow. Cookies. Sleighing. Caroling....
So, Christians, dear friends, stop being self righteous about the holidays. If you want to be on a high horse and show how great a Christian you are, pick something else. Invite a friend to a Xmas eve worship with you. Do a daily advent devotion. Donate $ to a cause you love. But stop complaining about Happy Holidays and Merry Xmas.
Oh, and in just in case you missed it, X stands for Christ. Xmas does not take Christ out of Christmas. X is is the first letter of the name of Christ, Christos, from the Greek. Half my notes in seminary have X's written in them as shorthand. Xmas is Christian. But this message seems to have gotten out fairly widely and people post less about this.
<Rant over.>
I get cranky this time of year. Not bah humbug type of cranky, because I love the holidays but cranky at all the self righteous Christians who berate people for saying an inclusive Happy Holidays or who tell me to keep Christ in Christmas when I use Xmas. I'm sure you've seen something like this on Facebook or perhaps shared it yourself:
I do not agree. It is Merry Christmas if I'm talking to a Christian. But saying Happy Holidays does not condemn me to hell or assume that I'm a terrible Jesus-hating Christian. I would hope it would assume something completely different, for instance, respect of other traditions like Kwanza, Winter Solstice, Hanukkah...
Know where the word "Holiday" comes from? HOLY DAY. Even Wikipedia knows this. "The word holiday comes from the Old English word hāligdæg (hālig "holy" + dæg "day)." Wikipedia even has an entire article about the Christmas controversy or War on Christmas.
And really, to many non-Christians, all these posts are just annoying. We, as Christians, do not have a monopoly on the winter season. And we miss out on a lot if we don't look at the beautiful traditions that surround other faith traditions and practices. Furthermore, Jesus didn't have a Christmas tree. Do you know how many great stories I hear that involving picking out the perfect tree and decorating it with family? And that's got zilch to do with Jesus. Officially. Ditto snow. Cookies. Sleighing. Caroling....
So, Christians, dear friends, stop being self righteous about the holidays. If you want to be on a high horse and show how great a Christian you are, pick something else. Invite a friend to a Xmas eve worship with you. Do a daily advent devotion. Donate $ to a cause you love. But stop complaining about Happy Holidays and Merry Xmas. Oh, and in just in case you missed it, X stands for Christ. Xmas does not take Christ out of Christmas. X is is the first letter of the name of Christ, Christos, from the Greek. Half my notes in seminary have X's written in them as shorthand. Xmas is Christian. But this message seems to have gotten out fairly widely and people post less about this.
<Rant over.>
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