That whole debate is one of the dumbest things to come out of America.
The rest of the world doesn't worry about it, because Christmas is like 90% secular. The Christians do their thing today, and leave the rest of us to celebrate Christmas with friends and family and too many cold cuts of meat. You can say happy holidays and nobody's gonna get upset, but even as a non-Christian I'm more likely to wish you a merry Christmas.
(The poms and their "happy Christmas" are weird though. Just sounds wrong.)
The whole thing is tilting at windmills. Nobody gives a shit what you say but they want to fight this supposed force out there trying to control what people say. It doesn't exist in a way where it will ever matter.
In Scandinavia we never stopped calling the holiday by it's pagan name - jul.
We've been told for a thousand years now that it's somehow supposed to refer to the birth of Christ, but the celebration is older than Christianity and nobody knows for sure the origin of it's name. As far as me and my family is concerned, it's a pagan holiday.
Happy to celebrate with my Christian friends though, there's nothing wrong with being inclusive.
Woah, I'm guessing that's where yule as in yuletide in English comes from. A lot of Christmas traditions came out of Scandinavia so makes sense if true. Gonna look up some Jul info now.
One origin is The Wild Hunt on the solstice. I don't think I saw in this article, but I have seen mention of jul logs being associated with bonfires being lit on the solstice to guide Odin during the hunt.
I like to say that and blessed yule. I figure if Christianâs get to throw a hissy fit about it being their religious holiday my pagan ass gets to wish other people to have a nice version of my religious holiday.
There are some Christian denominations that celebrate Christmas in January.
Also for some countries, they do Christmas Day on the 24th. Poland for instance tends to have the big family get together dinner on the 24th.
But yeah, you can also have Hanukkah, Diwali, Kwanza, New Years, Eid/ end of Ramadan, you could even throw in Lunar New Year which can be early January. Also St.Stephens Day/Boxing day, Los Posadas. Even the Satanic Temple has the festival of Sol Invictus if you wanted to include that too lol.
In Italy we are split between terroni (24th evening celebration and 25th lunch celebration) and polentoni (25th lunch and 26 lunch)
At the end happens often that families are mixed so you do all the 3. On top of that you have friends to meet and what's best than another lunch/dinner?
In Germany, we usually have presents on the 24th in the evening, but the big family gatherings are often on the 25th (and 26th, as you're typically part of multiple families).
I'm in the US, and our family has always had the big get together on the 24th with extended family, then the morning of the 25th is a more personal thing where our individual families (and their children now) get together and exchange gifts.
So I don't know if there's any real generalization like that.
for some countries, they do Christmas Day on the 24th. Poland for instance tends to have the big family get together dinner on the 24th.
It's the same in Denmark, I wonder if it's a Northern European thing? I think Poland is mostly Catholic whereas Denmark is Lutheran protestant, so it's not just denomination.
I thought originally it meant like Merry Christmas + Happy New Year, bc professionals might take that whole week off so like "see ya next year Bob, enjoy your holidays!" (plural)
Then some people started using it to throw in like Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Eid al-Fitr / end of Ramadan, plus there's Buddhist, Hindu, Hispanic / Latin American (Las Posadas), Scandinavian (Lussinatta), German (Krampusnacht), Chinese (Dongzhi Festival), and in UK/Canada/Australia/New Zealand. there's Boxing Day afterwards, etc.
Okay so Diwali is a bit of a stretch, being more than a month earlier but it still feels like it fits:-). The rest all occur within about a month of one another, so saying "Happy Holidays" is by definition inclusive of others who may or may not share your particular religious belief structure.
Which ofc is why Faux News had to go to war against it, promoting instead the Christmasgasm that Jesus most definitely invented (/s btw bc rather, everything He ever said or did goes directly against what they are trying to claim it is all about). But fuck Fox, do what you want, and I wish you Happy Holidays (whatever form they may take for you:-).
Word usage changes over time, often not retaining its original meaning, as the article points out. I find it more interesting how the European use is more broad, where Americans separate the individual recreation from work or school into the term vacation.
Some of these, especially Valentine's day, could also be labeled "commercial" but I guess that's the nature of capitalism to commercialize any kind of festivities.
Tbf, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, and Father's Day at least were created specifically by Hallmark to sell cards. So they were created as capitalistic commercial scams...
Valentine's Day was originally a celebration of Saint Valentine. Like Christmas, it got rolled under the capitalist machine until the modern holiday became completely unrecognizable from its roots.
St. Valentine's day did not start as a secular celebration. St. Valentine lived in what is now Turkey, he became known as the patron saint of love because he used to marry Christians in secret when it was illegal to do so under Islamic rule.
According to Wikipedia St Valentine was a bishop in modern day Italy about 300 years before Islam even formed. So while that is a nice story I don't think it's true.
Happy Holy Days, which encompass both liturgical seasons, Advent and Christmas for a total of 36-37 Holy Days. And is the first liturgical season of the year.
Welcome: Now that you have come, I hope you are well.
LOL, and drop the war on Christmas stuff OP. That's been played out for years, no one's talking about it any longer. Not even Fox could keep up the stupidity.
Uhh, I think you're misinterpreting what the OP said. In the body of the post is literally "screw Fox News, let people celebrate what they want" which is the opposite of "war on Christmas".
Welcome: Now that you have come, I hope you are well.
LOL, and drop the war on Christmas stuff OP. That's been played out for years, no one's talking about it any longer. Not even Fox could keep up the stupidity.
Sean Hannity also literally just produced a movie about the war on Christmas (âJingle Smellsâ).
Iâm glad youâre not seeing it but there is a sizable number of people who think that way, itâs not pushed to the edges of society and without mainstream support.