re: Does it offend you when people say/write 'Xmas'

No. I'm not fricking retarded

Let's keep the Chi in Christos this Xmas season.

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Christmas is not about the birth of Christ?

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Society did not always value birthdays as our society does. Nobody knows exactly when Christ was born, because it wasn't really an important thing to write down. It was about as important as knowing when Jesus went through puberty. Both historical records and Biblical clues agree that it was likely a much earlier birth.

When Christ was born the Romans were obviously the reigning power in that part of the world, and the Romans had two winter celebration holidays -- Saturnalia, in honor of the god Saturn, and Natalis Sol Invictus, in honor of the Sol, or the sun. Outside of the Romans, pretty much every other civilization on Earth had their own winter celebrations too. It is a convenient time to do so when you consider the agricultural calendar--the fall harvest is over and now is the time with nothing to do and plenty of time to be merry and relax.

When the early Christians tried to convert the pagans, very few pagans wanted to give up their fun and enjoyable pagan winter celebrations. So began the mythology of the nativity, Jesus's birth, and so forth. Instead of "hey, give up your awesome winter celebrations!" the conversion tactics became "hey, stop worshiping false gods and celebrate the birth of Jesus instead!"

And so here we are today. Atheists and others may not believe in Christ, but just like the pagans before, no matter what the religious significance behind the celebrations might be, people just want to have an opportunity in the winter to take it easy. To drink and be merry. To be with their relatives. To spend time with the kids. To give and be generous. After all, during the Roman pagan holiday of Saturnalia, the Roman masters and slaves would reverse roles, the masters would serve the slaves instead.

It's really an an awesome time of year, and we should embrace loving each other and having a good time versus bickering with each other over what the significance behind any of it is.

Awesome post

It offends me that most people believe a human was born without the mother having intercourse. I admit, i was not a science major, but that sure does seem physically impossible to me. Guess im a scrooge.

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having a good time versus bickering with each other

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Why do these two have to be mutually exclusive? Perhaps bickering is a good time for some of us. Especially now, in the coldest time of year, it's important to hold on to your hate because it keeps you warm.

So whether you're anti or pro Christmas, please keep the war going. After all, the war on christmas IS the reason for the season.