Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Christmas does not belong to Christians, is not a specifically Christian holiday, and essentially never has been.

The date, trees, wreaths, Santa, gift giving, and caroling are all 'pagan' traditions.

Everyone I know, almost none of whom are Christian, celebrates at this time of year in a completely secular way.



I started to write a point-by-point response but realized I just don't want to spend the time on it.

It's possible my grasp of the history here is wrong, but I'm fairly convinced yours is.

I sing Christmas carols with explicitly Christian lyrics that date back at least centuries.

Santa is certainly secular at this point, but he's a young figure, and there's a case to be made that he's rooted in Bishop Nicholas of Smyrna, a.k.a. "St. Nick".

Many other Christmas traditions do have their roots in pagan holidays, yes. Current observance is largely secular, yes.

But, anything that's been observed by Christians for centuries is clearly Christian at least in part. Claiming the holiday has never been Christian is absurd and shows that you've never bothered to study Church history (which of course you don't have to, but if you haven't you should not pretend you know it).


Christ - Jesus of Nazareth, held by Christians to be the fulfillment of prophecies in the Old Testament regarding the eventual coming of a Messiah.

Mass - Mass is the main eucharistic liturgical service in many forms of Western Christianity.

Christmas.

Furthermore, the top comment was mentioning Christian Christmas activities, ignoring the derailment of the discussion into secularity, the answer is most likely a plain yes.

Furthermore, I’m willing to bet that (especially in a large city) there are already Facebook events that are not related to religion that give you something do for Christmas.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: