In process of "saving" Christmas, many aren't very "Christ-like"

[PUGalicious]

[QUOTE=fromdust]

Thanks Scribe.

The "attack on Christmas" bloviating morons like Bill O'Rielly made it up!

i know he totally made it up! like he would say put down the kool aid. i'd like to see you prove that he made it up. youve been reading too many news papers, man.

every one have a happy ramahaunakwanzmas!

I'm not sure if you're referring to okieopus or myself, but I'll chime in anyway.

Yes, yes... you are right from dust. We are all better off sticking our head in the sand than "reading too many news papers." Ignorance is bliss, as they say. Here's a sampling of some of what I learned the past couple of weeks from "reading too many news papers," as demonstrated in the Bill O'Reilly thread:

• "Bill O'Reilly is making the claim that Saginaw Township officials banned residents from wearing red and green during the holiday season. Local officials say he's dead wrong." (Read story here)
  
  
• "Bill O'Reilly falsely claimed that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) no longer offers Christmas postage stamps with a "spiritual" theme... In fact, in addition to the "Holiday Cookies" stamps the caller cited, the USPS continues to offer the commemorative "Madonna and Child" stamp." (Read the story here)
  
  
• "On December 9, Bill O'Reilly falsely claimed on both Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor and the nationally syndicated The Radio Factor with Bill O'ReillyPlano Independent School District (Texas) "told students they couldn't wear red and green because they were Christmas colors." He labeled the alleged ban "fascism." On December 12, the school district released an official statement by Superintendent of Schools Dr. Doug Otto refuting O'Reilly's contention: "The school district does not restrict students or staff from wearing certain color clothes during holiday times or any other school days," noted Dr. Otto, who said that the school district's attorney has requested that Mr. O'Reilly retract the statement." (Read the story here)

I, for one, am not claiming that there is not effort by a few non-Christian secularists to remove religious symbols and overt religious expression from public places; it's nothing new. However, I am challenging Bill O'Reilly's crusade against a vast conspiracy to "take Christ out of Christmas." There may be a small minority who is doing just that, but IMHO there is no massively coordinated "War on Christmas." And, indeed, Bill O'Reilly is making much of it up, as illustrated in the above three examples.

[Midtowner]

Scribe, with characters such as the one below, how can you possibly contend that there's no war on Christmas?

[PUGalicious]

Touché

[GrandMaMa]

It's pretty easy to take the Christ out of Christmas when it wasn't a Christian holiday in the first place. Shepards bringing gifts to the baby Jesus? Come now, when he was purported to have been born, there were no shepards in the fields with their sheep. If you want to celebrate whatever you wish to celebrate on Dec 25, go for it, just don't expect everyong else to just fall in line if they don't agree. No, the stores are not filling their tills on the backs of Jesus, Jeesh!!!!!!!!!!

[Midtowner]

I noticed today on some standardized court-type paperwork from Cleveland County that they now referred to the Christmas Holiday as the "Winter Break."

[GrandMaMa]

I know that I am new here, and I don't want to rock any boats, but I have to say something about the post that Scribe made. I know many of you thought it was a funny story, but I think it was very distasteful and disrespectful.

The foul language in the story was very offensive, especially making it look like it came from a Christian. I am assuming that since Scribe posted it, that the foul language in the story doesn't bother him. Making fun of Christmas is not a funny thing. Many people take Christmas very seriously, however, it looks like others don't.

No, Scribe, the story wasn't funny, it was very rude and crude.

Methinks someone should be asking Santa for a sense of humor next Holiday season..

[Jack]

Shepards bringing gifts to the baby Jesus? Come now, when he was purported to have been born, there were no shepards in the fields with their sheep.

You make a claim here. Have any facts to back it up?


I didn't think so.

[GrandMaMa]

You make a claim here. Have any facts to back it up?


I didn't think so.

Actually Jack, In your honor, I will find some definite references for you, but just off the top of my head, common sense. That was not the season for the sheep to be out doing what sheep do, it was coooooooooooold and they were put up so the shepards could be home in their warm beds with their wives.

[GrandMaMa]

You make a claim here. Have any facts to back it up?


I didn't think so.

In What Month Was Jesus' Born?
The month and day of Jesus' birthday is also unknown. However, we can be fairly certain that it was not DEC-25.

THE SHEPHERDS: Luke 2:8 mentions that shepherds were living in their fields keeping watch over their flocks during the nighttime (and, one would assume, also during the daytime.) This is a good indication that Jesus' birth did not happen in December when the flocks would have already have been moved from the fields to pens. They were only in the fields during the hotter months. There is a remark in the Talmud that flocks were put out to grass in March and brought in during the beginning of November. During the Jewish month of Heshvan (our October/November) the fall rains hit and the animals are penned up. At best, the passage narrows down the birth month to one of 7 months in the late spring, summer, or early fall. Actually, there more references on this subject that any one person has the time or fortutide to explore, but if you are so inclined, hre are a few reference. These references will lead to other references and so on:
http://petragrail.tripod.com/page5.html
http://www.new-life.net/chrtms10.htm
http://www.christiananswers.net/q-abr/abr-a012.html
http://www.gotquestions.org/Christmas-traditions.html
http://www.religioustolerance.org/xmas_date.htm

I do hope that this post at least shows that I genuinely attempted to respond to your post. If you will notice, not one of these urls are of a non-biblical origin, I could have offerred many more that were not, but if the Bible is your reference for your beliefs and practices, I felt that it would be a good place to begin.