Christmas - out of hand?

Jester Minute

Has Christmas got out of hand?

Quite frankly, I think it has become something of an abomination. With all the buying and selling, and eating and drinking, I think there is precious little spiritual preparation by participants and little to be said for the excesses which take place and harm souls.

I think it is good to have a nice dinner, but by its very nature the eating and drinking around Christmas time is unregulated and un-moderated. Even in my own home, there was so much to eat and drink (I don't drink as it happens but I have a weakness for sweets, biscuits and cakes).

What do you think about the way we celebrate Christmas? What was your Christmas like? What reforms do you think Christians need to make to make home at Christmas a holy season rather than an indulgent one?

dvae

I read somewhere if aliens arrived here on earth on Christmas day
they would probably think it was the birth day of Santa.

JimiTime

It was never about Jesus to begin with. IMO, what we are witnessing now is probably the short sightedness of, shall we say, the usurping of a Pagan custom by Christendom back in the day. I certainly don't condemn those who celebrate it, but I don't think this idea of 'Christifying' pagan ritual is wise at all. I always use the example of the false gods and their worship in ancient Israel. The prophets of God never took the customs and trinkets of Ba'al worship and rebranded them. They obliterated them.

I'd say Christmas is the reaping of that which was sowed.

neuro-praxis

Christians can prepare for Christmas with personal faith observances during advent, in the same way that you can prepare for Easter with faith observances during Lent. Me and the husband unit went veggie for advent and attempted to pray whenever we wanted meat. We failed somewhat, often replacing prayer with meat.

Once Christmas arrives it is possible to have lots of feasting and merriment without making an absolute pig of yourself.

Christians worry too much that everyone's not being holy enough. Speck of dust in your neighbour's eye and log in your own etc. etc. Life is hard enough; let's enjoy each other and the good times while we have them.

PDN

neuro-praxis wrote: »

Once Christmas arrives it is possible to have lots of feasting and merriment without making an absolute pig of yourself.

It's possible - but not nearly as much fun.

Blueboyd

Christmas is our most successful Export. It is even more successful than NOKIA.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAkxDdUEHaY

Soul Winner

I enjoy Christmas as much as the next guy, and have done ever since I was a kid, but every year the novelty of it is blatantly being exploited by big business for their own ends. What would otherwise be a nice time of year has turned into a feeding frenzy by all the big business who operate in countries that celebrate it. And they are feeding on our hard earned and promoting the idea of buying, buying and buying all the time. Get this for your loved and get that for your loved one, you need this and you need that.

I'm not against any of these per sé, I just know that Christmas would just be about family coming together and for some celebrating Jesus' birth, but the big boys need to make a buck and they wield the most powerful weapons through the media to keep Christmas being more about everyone spending money on their products than about spending more time with loved ones. And before you accuse me of being a Scrooge let me tell you that every year Christmas cleans me out and it takes me a about 3 months to recover from it financially.

liamw

Soul Winner wrote: »

What would otherwise be a nice time of year has turned into a feeding frenzy by all the big business who operate in countries that celebrate it.

What are you trying to say, that all the 'big business' manipulate the general masses into buying stuff at xmas? No, they serve the demand of consumers.

What do you suggest to 'fix' this?

Zombrex

Soul Winner wrote: »

I enjoy Christmas as much as the next guy, and have done ever since I was a kid, but every year the novelty of it is blatantly being exploited by big business for their own ends. What would otherwise be a nice time of year has turned into a feeding frenzy by all the big business who operate in countries that celebrate it. And they are feeding on our hard earned and promoting the idea of buying, buying and buying all the time. Get this for your loved and get that for your loved one, you need this and you need that.

I'm not against any of these per sé, I just know that Christmas would just be about family coming together and for some celebrating Jesus' birth, but the big boys need to make a buck and they wield the most powerful weapons through the media to keep Christmas being more about everyone spending money on their products than about spending more time with loved ones. And before you accuse me of being a Scrooge let me tell you that every year Christmas cleans me out and it takes me a about 3 months to recover from it financially.

This is why I don't get why some Christians (not you) complain that Christmas is not used by companies, preferring the term "The Holidays".

Its like they are saying "NO! You should continue to use our religious holiday to manipulate people into buy crap they don't need! How dare you not use the birth of Jesus to try and sell stuff" :P

Soul Winner

liamw wrote: »

What are you trying to say, that all the 'big business' manipulate the general masses into buying stuff at xmas? No, they serve the demand of consumers.

What do you suggest to 'fix' this?

I'm not suggesting that at all. I know there is more of a demand for things at this time of year, but that novelty is overexploited IMO. Thats all. As for a fix? Well for starters I would suggest to people not to get too caught up in the whole thing. It is after all just a pagan festival that was Christianized early on in the history of the church. Christ was not born in December, this can be proven from a closer analysis of scripture. That being the case, why all the fuss at this time of year? There shouldn't be any, yet there is, and the more people buy into it the bigger its going to get, with the result that those who don't have much to begin with will be left with even less after the fat cats in business have lined their pockets with the money ordinary people feel pressured into spending at this particular time of year.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against businesses making money, we need that in order to create jobs and son on and I'm all for that, but there just seems to be an over exaggeration in the psychology of spending at this time of year. It is pumbled through our TV screens at a constant rate even before Halloween and its just getting worse every year. Its madness really. I'm glad Christ wasn't born at this time of year because if He had been I'd be ashamed at the modern circus that is made out of celebrating His birth. Thankfully this festival was widely celebrate long before Christianity appeared on the scene. The reason the Church put Christ into it was because they couldn't do anything to stop the party. Hence the old saying: "If you can't beat em join em." And that's what happened, they joined with the heathen and put Christ into what was then called the Saturnalia. Plus, I like griping about it :pac:

Soul Winner

Wicknight wrote: »

This is why I don't get why some Christians (not you) complain that Christmas is not used by companies, preferring the term "The Holidays".

Its like they are saying "NO! You should continue to use our religious holiday to manipulate people into buy crap they don't need! How dare you not use the birth of Jesus to try and sell stuff" :P

I don't like them using any reason to make you think that you need to buy more of anything at any time of year. Christians who believe that Christ was born in December need to do a little bit more digging into the books than what they evidently have been doing. Even scripture can clear that simple fact up. The Pope knows that Christ wasn't born on December 25th, all the Popes knew that.


Love the new artwork in your sig btw, where can I get one of those?

neuro-praxis

Soul Winner wrote: »

And before you accuse me of being a Scrooge let me tell you that every year Christmas cleans me out and it takes me a about 3 months to recover from it financially.

Don't do this anymore, seriously! You are propping up the whole sordid system.

Google "Advent Conspiracy" for a few ideas. You can get your church and family on board. We spend very little on Christmas now, only buying plenty of food for merry-making and the things we need for our home-made gifts for everyone, and we give the rest to Charity Water.