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So you are just giving an fu to commercialism right?

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Trust me, The answer to that is definately NO.

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Resident Board Socialist
IM me at stickysituation2

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"...and everything it has become"

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Claim: The day celebrated as Christmas (December 25) is the actual birthday of Jesus.
Status: Undetermined.

Origins: The biblical narrative of Jesus' birth gives no date for the event, though it more likely occurred in spring than in winter. Saint Luke tells us that shepherds were "abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night" -- shepherds guarded their flocks day and night only at lambing time, in the spring; in winter, the animals were kept in corrals, unwatched.

The idea of celebrating the Nativity on December 25 was first suggested early in the fourth century, a clever move on the part of Church fathers, who wished to eclipse the December 25 festivities of a rival pagan religion, Mirthraism, that threatened the existence of Christianity.

It is important to note that for two centuries after Christ's birth, no one knew, and few people cared, exactly when he was born. Birthdays were unimportant; death days counted. Besides, Christ was divine and his natural birth was deliberately played down. In fact, the Church even announced at one point that it was sinful to contemplate observing Christ's birthday "as though He were a King Pharoah."

On December 25, pagan Romans, still in the majority, celebrated Natalis Solis Invincti, "Birthday of the Invincible Sun God," Mithras. The Mithras cult originated in Persia and rooted itself in the Roman world in the first century B.C.E. By the year 274 C.E., Mithraism was so popular with the masses that Emperor Aurelian proclaimed it the official state religion. In the early 300s, the cult seriously threatened Christianity, and for a time, it was unclear which faith would emerge victorious.

Church fathers debated their options.

It was well known that Roman patricians and plebians alike enjoyed festivals of a protracted nature. The Church, then, needed a December celebration.

Thus, to offer converts an occasion in which to be pridefully celebratory, the Church officially recognized Christ's birth. And to offer head-on competition to the sun worshipers' popular feast, the Church located the Nativity on December 25. The mode of observance would be characteristically prayerful: a Mass; in fact, Christs's Mass. As one theologian wrote around A.D. 320::


We hold this day holy, not like the pagans because of the birth of the sun, but because of him who made it.



Although centuries later, social scientists would write of the psychological power of group celebrations -- the unification of ranks, the solidification of collective identity, the reinforcement of common objectives -- the principle had long been intuitively obvious.

The celebration of Christmas took permanent hold in the Western world in 337, when the Roman emperor Constantine was baptized, uniting for the first time the Crown and the Church. Christianity had become the official state religion in 313. And in 354, Bishop Liberius of Rome reiterated the importance of celebrating not only Christ's death but also his birth.

Last updated: 23 October 1999

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This space for sale.

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I can't stand X-mas now.

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Av8er Radio
[ AIM  ] [ ICQ ] [ E-Mail ]
Two faced! I feel you crawling under my skin.Sickened by your face.By the way, to think that your so fucking kind? You ain't! Hard to find how I feel, especially when your smothering me. Hard to find how I feel, please someone help me! I knew when an angel whispered into my ear, You gotta get him away. Hey little bitch! Be glad you finally walked away or you may have not lived another day. Hard to find how I feel, especially when your smothering me. Hard to find how I feel, please someone help me. Hard to find how I feel, controlling me every step of the way. Hard to find how I feel, you greedy little baby!!

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...and everything it has become.

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I try to sleep, they're wide awake, they won't leave me alone.
They don't get paid to take vacations, or let me alone.
They spy on me, I try to hide, they won't let me alone.
They persecute me, they're the judge and jury all in one.

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Why I hate Christmas.

1. First off the religious crap is so much more visible (yeah like it's not any other time of the year) and I HATE religion.

2. Second you have to put up with all of this stupid "christmas shopping" shit everywhere. When I need a part to fix my sink and the hardware stores are closed I have to wait in line at Wal-Mart (damn them for being the ONLY department store in town) for 45 minutes to check out because I am in a line with "christmas shoppers". Fuck you. Don't wait till Dec. 20th to buy gifts for the whole damn family. You also always seem to get the checker with the Santa hat and bells on. God, these people piss me off more than the shoppers.

3. Everything is closed on Dec. 24th and 25th. Those happen to be my only days off that week and damn it I want to go somewhere (to get away from my family) but I can't because nothing is open.

4. Every fucking person you meet, be it at work or just in normal life, says "Merry Christmas" to you. I hate that crap. Leave me ALONE.

5. Santa. Isn't is evil of us to make our children believe in something that will only break their hearts in a few years. I think it constitutes "psychological torture". Also it lets kids think in an illogical way. For Santa to do what he does in the span of one night he would have to spend 1 1000th of a second at each home and I am giving him the benefit of the doubt here. It makes kids think that Reindeer can fly (I can't wait to see a defense in court someday where a guy is charged with pushing a Reindeer off of a cliff because he thought it could fly. Hey, this is america and you know some nut will try it). This line of thinking makes children look at the world in an illogical way and america's youth is screwed up enough without this garbage.

6. Getting Gifts. You never get what you want. You get bath products, or a year pass to the apple factory or something else you don't give a shit about. You want DVD's, CD's, Movies, Porno, a new car, MONEY but you never get that stuff. You get a stack of books from the $1 bin at the used book store. You get a John Denver record from your grandma because she can't understand that you don't listen to that kind of shit. You get Don Carvello's Putting Challenge for the basic Nintendo from your mom because "the man behind the counter said it was the coolest game that all the kids wanted".

7. Buying Gifts. Why must I buy gifts for relatives that I don't like and never see anyway? Screw my loser family, I can use that money to pay a bill. They never give me anything useful anyway so fuck them (see above complaint).

8. Traffic. Traffic is SO much worse this time of year. I spend more time yelling at the dumbass in front of me than anything else in my car. The speed limit is 25 so we are doing 20, it's 55 so we all get to do 49. Fucking speed up. Don't you hate it when you pass some jerk for going slower than the speed limit and HE gives you the finger? He was the problem and I get flicked off. God that puts me into a road rage.

So to summarize "I hate christmas".

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I'm Deep Inside Your Children.
They Will Betray You In MY Name.
She-Mail Me Here

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"Norton played santa at my gradeschool christmas party (crinkle crinkle)"

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try celebrating hannukah!!!

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I still love Christmas. I love to buy gifts I know the person will like, if not love. I love to see the people open the gifts.

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I mean christmas is the time of year when people are a little nicer and have a little more bounce in their step.

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If you can't appreciate that, then maybe you should look at yourself and not the holiday itself.

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I try to sleep, they're wide awake, they won't leave me alone.
They don't get paid to take vacations, or let me alone.
They spy on me, I try to hide, they won't let me alone.
They persecute me, they're the judge and jury all in one.

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Well Face, I have looked at myself & I'm a miserable fuck right now...and you know why... I'll tell you... it's because it's FUCKING CHRISTMAS TIME!!!

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