At the risk of finding a lump of coal in my stocking, I should point out that a) Christmas is no longer a "Christian holiday" and b) there are other gift-giving holidays during December.

Hanukkah, Festival of Lights

Hanukkah commemorates the rededication in 165 B C. of the central Jewish temple in Jerusalem following its capture from Syrian forces. The Syrians were driven out by Jewish forces led by Judah Maccabee. To celebrate the recapture of the temple, the Jews wanted to light the temple's golden menorah, or candlestick. But they only had enough oil to burn for one day. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days. Hanukkah is a joyous celebration that commemorates that miracle by lighting a candle each night for eight days—the festival of lights. [From 50.lycos.com] (Note: Jesus is recorded commemorating Hanukkah in John 10:22-23.)

Kwanzaa

The celebration of Kwanzaa, December 26 through January 1, is not based on religion, but was developed from African harvest festivals. "Kwanzaa" translates into "first fruits" in Swahili. Seven principles are featured over the seven days of Kwanzaa. Lit candles symbolize the principles of unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith. Black, red and green are traditional colors of decoration. Black symbolizes the race, red symbolizes the struggle of black, African and Pan-African populations and green represents hope, life and the land of Africa. [From 50.lycos.com]

Xmas

Click for my thoughts on Putting the X back in Christmas.

Yule

Also known as Yuletide and Alban Arthan, Yule is the time of greatest darkness and the longest night of the year. The Winter Solstice had been associated with the birth of a "Divine King" long before the rise of Christianity. Since the Sun is considered to represent the Male Divinity in many Pagan Traditions, this time is celebrated as the "return of the Sun God" where He is reborn of the Goddess. [From witchvox.com]

And for Seinfeld fans, there's the ficticious . . .

Festivus

Non-denominational alternate Christmas-time holiday featured on episode No. 158 "The Strike" on the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. Festivus was created by Frank Costanza (Jerry Stiller) after getting into a fight in a toy store when he and another man both grabbed for the last doll in the place. Frustrated at the commercialization of Christmas, Frank created Festivus. The pseudo-festival (celebrated on December 23rd) had a traditional undecorated eight-foot aluminum pole (no tinsel or ornaments), a father-son wrestling match ("The Feats of Strength") and the ("The Airing of Grievances") when each member at the gathering sat around the dinner table and insultingly counted down the reasons why other family members were such a disappointment throughout that year. [From tvacres.com]

I don't hear of Jews boycotting stores that don't feature Hanukkah in their advertising or witches having a spell that clerks don't wish them a happy Yule. There are much bigger battles to be fought, Christians!

© Copyright 2008 James N. Watkins



Comments

This has got to be one of the stupidest things that Christians do. I don't understand why some Christians want the secular world to celebrate Christmas. All that does is commercialize it. Do you want Walmart to share the gospel for you? They will get it wrong and turn it into commercial religion. Why don't Christians take responsibility for sharing the gospel themselves. All this is not to mention the fact that those that complain about X-mas don't understand the root of why we use X to signify Christ. Just plain ignorance. arshield (November 2008)

I can kind of see where they're coming from, in that Christmas really is the only major holiday during the "holiday season" (other religions now over-celebrate minor holidays that happen to fall around the same time as Christmas in reaction to the Christian nature of Christmas). The frustrating thing about this is that businesses are profiting from the gift-giving tradition of Christmas by making catalogs of toys, jewelry, decorations, and plastic trees, all without wanting to admit any relationship to a Christian holiday. Still, I don't want to patronize a "nice" store that uses "Christmas" in its advertising to get the money of the conservative religious any more than I want to buy from a store that uses "holiday" or "season" to avoid losing business from the less-religious and liberal. My solution? We hand-make our Christmas presents (Thankfully, my family is creative enough to come up with some beautiful, useful gifts.) and donate the money we would have spent to a charity of our choice (We have given to World Vision, Voice of the Martyrs, and American Cancer Society in the past.). Then, we go have a fun day out, usually hiking in a local state park. Since we started doing this, our Christmases have been more fun and memorable that ever. jjax (November 2008)



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