Posted on 12/25/2013 12:13:14 PM PST by jazusamo
When I was a kid growing up in Detroit and Boston, there were multiple Christmas celebrations in public school. Everyone participated in the celebrations, including the Jews and the many individuals of Middle Eastern descent.
Christmas carols were sung, presents were exchanged and food was consumed in a partylike atmosphere. There were very few people stoking the fires of sensitivity or trying to make everyone feel different. There’s nothing wrong with diversity, but there is also nothing wrong with unity and enjoying overarching fun and good will. When someone said “Merry Christmas,” it was regarded as a salutation of good will toward everyone, whether they believed in Christ as their savior or not.
By the same token, if someone wished you a happy Hanukkah or a Muslim greeting, and you did not belong to that particular group, certainly no one saw a reason for offense or for ascribing hateful motives to the greeter. I believe most people say “Merry Christmas” because they want to invite others to partake of their joy.
City councils and other governing bodies that are so quick to order the removal of traditional reminders of Christmas — owing to a few vocal citizens taking offense — are often the very same people who support laws like Obamacare, even though that law offends millions of Americans who remain opposed to it. I guarantee you that these politicians cannot see the rank hypocrisy in their actions.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Please Freepmail to get on or off this list…
I went out to get some stocking stuffers yesterday. It was pretty obvious what I was buying and why. Long lines in the stores.
Not ONE cashier said Merry Christmas or even a secular Happy Holiday as they took my money.
So by the third store I initiated it and said Merry Christmas. That got a grunt and a cursory “Oh. Yeah”. I darn near threw the purchased item back at the clerk.
What the heck has happened to America???
May the clerks are just tired and depressed from staring into the abyss of 2014 and 0bamacare.
I hear you...Though I don’t do a lot of shopping I’ve had both happen in stores this year. Had a dentist appointment about a week ago and everyone in the office was into ‘Merry Christmas,’ it was nice.
I really hate leftists for making me feel like I’m making me feel like I’m making a political statement when I tell people “Merry Christmas” - when I’ve done it my whole life.
Hank
If you’ve seen thousands of customers on the several week run-up to Christmas, you would get burned out on Christmas, too.
I understand what you’re saying, it’s the PC leftists that are the radicals on this but I won’t change for them.
It’s one of the results of deconstructionism. Merry Marxmas.
Nor do we need to respond or apologize
Screw them who are “offended”
That’s their effin problem
What happened in America ... is that, by and large, a large segment of the population has forgotten the REAL REASON for Christmas and what it’s really about. These people don’t have the “basis” for it anymore nor the “worldview outlook” that comes from it. All they have is the commercialization of it.
One can accommodate the commercialization of Christmas, as long as one knows the real basis for Christmas and has the worldview of the Bible and Jesus.
But without it - it’s just another day and one in which some people are making a lot of money and others are spending a lot of money.
BUT ... we know the real reason for Christmas and the Gospel Message that comes from it.
We’re going to say “Merry Christmas” regardless what the atheists, pagans and anti-Christians think about it!
SO ... Merry Christmas to one and all ...
Matthew 1:18-25
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.
19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.
20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:
23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife,
25 and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.
Luke 1:26-35
26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.
30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.
32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.
Luke 2:4-20
4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,;
5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.
6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.
7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.”
16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.
17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.
18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.
20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.
John 1:1-18
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ “
16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.
17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
Everywhere I went shopping here in North Dakota, I was greeted with Merry Christmas. I guess it depends on where you live.
I agree. I’m a Christian from NYC and it never bothered me when I was growing up if people wished me a Happy Chanukah. Heck, it doesn’t bother me if Indians wish me a Happy Diwali, or whatever. I just smile and say thank you. It’s a good thought and well-intentioned, so why should I be upset?
It is different here. Even when the clerk wears a “Happy Holidays” tag they wish me “Merry Christmas”.
I think that's the answer. Western Washington. Home to a couple million PC snorting secularists (all liberals, of course).
That’s good to hear. I had the same experience while doing some last minute shopping yesterday here in Arizona. Everyone said Merry Christmas to me everywhere I went. I don’t think that the war on Christmas is going well for the “progs” in this state. I even got a couple Feliz Navidads.
Somehow, this good man, Ben Carson, has to be in the next administration.
Perhaps in the HHS Sec. job, to disembowel Obamacare from the horror that it’s going to be. Put a stake through its heart!
Amen...He is certainly more than qualified to be HHS Sec. and what a difference it would be to have a competent person running it.
Down South, there’s still plenty of folks who say “Merry Christmas” (or at least hear it when i’m talking to them.)
Christmas is not a happy time for everybody. There are some people that are dealing with financial difficulties in this economy. This is usually the season that people look back on the previous year and count their blessings.
To those people who are struggling and haven't really had any blessings to speak of, all the cheerfulness of others happily buying gifts just make their feeling of despair worse.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.