Secular Christmas

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xenoview's picture
Secular Christmas

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Cognostic's picture
AR Celebrating Secular

AR Celebrating Secular Christmas... Ho! Ho! Ho!

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Tin-Man's picture
@Cog Re: "Ho! Ho! Ho!"

@Cog Re: "Ho! Ho! Ho!"

Hey! Don't be calling me a ho! I ain't gettin' paid for it.

Old man shouts at clouds's picture
@ Tin Man

@ Tin Man

"I aint getting paid for it!" well the direct debit from my account to you says different. 'Ho Ho Ho' and a bottle of lube.....

Tin-Man's picture
@Old Man Re: "...well the

@Old Man Re: "...well the direct debit from my account to you says different."

Hey, you said it was a donation. That doesn't count.

Fleeing in Terror's picture
The is an oxymoron. How do

That is an oxymoron. How do you have a secular celebration of the Christ Mass? Hallmark is getting hate reviews on its Jewish holiday movies.

I am already depressed. Advent was the 2 x week choir rehearsals and all the preparations and church decorations. I am down to sewing quilts for charity by myself. At least I had the quilting holiday party with my daughter.

At least my husband and I will be able to visit his friend in Baltimore who is dying of cancer. The dinner with my sister was advanced to today to compensate.

Cognostic's picture
RE: "That is an oxymoron."

RE: "That is an oxymoron." Only by virtue of the fact that the fucking Christians stole the holiday from the rest of us in the 4th Century. Eastern Christian Churches celebrate Christmas on December 25 of the older Julian calendar, why don't you go and bother the people in the East and leave our Christmas celebration alone. The fact that you think it is yours, does not make it so,. Top that with the fact that NO WHERE IN YOUR SILLY BOOK OF FAITH ARE YOU EVER TOLD TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS. IN FACT; IT IS EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. Happy Secular Solstice.

LogicFTW's picture
Reading that article, I found

Reading that article, I found a link to this: https://news.gallup.com/poll/248837/church-membership-down-sharply-past-...

Maybe there is hope for the future yet. The younger generations, (millennials) seem to be fleeing the christian church en masse.

boomer47's picture
Australia is on one of the

Australia is one of the most secular nations on earth. For the majority of us, Xmas is about having too much to eat and drink, followed by a nice lie down .

In my experience, family Xmases are over rated. In my family, as I was growing up, mum and dad would invariably have a fight some time on Xmas day.

It is my understanding that this quite common on occasions such as Xmas, and Thanksgiving in the US ; the whole family gets together and things can get a bit tense.

In my family there is always a bun fight when the four siblings are in the same room for more than about an hour., I try to leave before first blood. Plus , as a recovering alcoholic (17 years) I am very uncomfortable being the only sober person in the room . But that's my problem, not theirs.

I have no idea if my dysfunctional Bog Irish family is typical, but I suspect it might be just a bit.

---Wakes in my family need to be experienced to be believed;. The Irish wake may best be described as an occasion at which we all get sit around telling outrageous (often funny) lies about the deceased. Then everyone gets pissed and fights.

LogicFTW's picture
I have experienced several

I have experienced several irish wakes, and they are very similar to what you describe. Fortunately or unfortunately, everyone gets so drunk that even if the fight moved from verbal to physical, its more of a comedy routine then actual damaging fight. Everyone is also so drunk they forget 99% of what was said by the next day.

Alcohol does not interest me much beyond tastings,(especially drinking large amounts of it,) where, I like you, end up sitting back and observing rather then getting that drunk myself. I let them pour me 1 drink and I sip it for an hour until everyone is way to drunk to notice if I am drinking or not.

Besides, the things I learn that everyone else forgets the day after, you can learn a lot about a person when they are in mourning and very drunk.

boomer47's picture
@logic.

@logic.

I once did a very mean thing to my father. I recorded a great chunk of one of the parties at our place.

When I played some of it back to him, he was amazed to discover that neither he nor any of his friends were as sophisticated or as witty as they thought at the time.

I was 17 and an insufferable little prig.

Fleeing in Terror's picture
Ouch.Mine growing up were

Ouch.Mine growing up were more playing board games until school started again.

As an adult, it is trying to coordinate varying work schedules to be able to share a meal and actually talk to people I don't often get a chance to see otherwise.

I am enjoying the quilt guild parties and summer quilt bingo and the office Christmas party. (Engineers are not normally considered a wild and crazy bunch.)

Cognostic's picture
@cranky47: Ha ha ha ha ,,,

@cranky47: Ha ha ha ha ,,,,, Some of the Christmases in my house involved fights as well. No father, just mom telling us all to shut the fuck up and that there would be no Christmas this year. So, we would all go to bed Christmas eve without a tree or presents, no sugar plumbs dancing in our heads and certainly no thought of gifts to open in the morning. Then around 11PM there would be a knock at the door and about 10 burly men from the local fire department would invite themselves into the motel room where we had an annual lease. They would set up a small tree, put some presents with our names on them under the tree, take a precooked turkey with trimmings into the kitchen, wish us all a merry Christmas and say good night.

You know what...... Christmas was always a great time of year. I never remember having a bad Christmas but I certainly remember some bad days. A bit of luck and a bit of reality testing is enough to make anyone's Christmas much much brighter.

boomer47's picture
@cognostic

@cognostic

I loved Xmas until I was 11. That was when I began to understand the fights between mum &dad. Growing up, I just thought my father was an arsehole.

When dad was 70, he was finally diagnosed with PTSD from WW2. He was a navigator in a Lancaster and flew reconnaissance.
He had a hard war.

That poor man lived in fear for the rest of his life after 1945

The man inside was gentle and compassionate, and the most ethical man I've ever known. Dad died in 2006 at age 87, and that is how I choose to remember him. .

David Killens's picture
I wish everyone a happy and

I wish everyone a happy and prosperous holiday season.

Caution: strong and offensive language. Christians, please do not listen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz_qE925uJY

jay-h's picture
to some it's religion, to

to some it's religion, to others (like me) it's just a cultural thing. I know of one well known atheist writer, who had a Christmas tree up when I visited his home... just because it's fun.

Cognostic's picture
If I had kids, I would

If I had kids, I would certainly have a tree, Santa, and gifts. Like NH says. it's just tradition.

Then the adults would dress up in Halloween costumes, making sure no one could recognize us, wait for dark and go out Trick-o-treating. You get much better stuff in December than you do in October.

boomer47's picture
"If I had kids, I would

"If I had kids, I would certainly have a tree, Santa, and gifts. Like NH says. it's just tradition."

Me too.

I had no kids by choice. I dislike most small children intensely. I see them as a bunch of self absorbed little psychos.

However ,there is no doubt in my mind that MY children would not be like that. Nor that I would do anything I could to ensure they had a happy, safe and secure childhood.

I have have a female friend who has four children, all adults now. When they were children, she sacrificed her own life for her children .

I made two observations at the time .As a childless expert, I should have kept my mouth shut .

My observations;

"There is a limit to maternal sacrifice" She said "No, there is not"

"Your children will not thank you for your sacrifices" . She ignored that.

The result: 3 of her children are what Americans call 'over achievers", living in other cities, and she rarely sees them .

The youngest still sees his mother. He opted out of chasing the Cambridge scholarships, unlike his three siblings. Instead he went to a second level university. He spent his time there bonking his way through the female student body. I was so impressed. He's always been my favourite of the four.

CyberLN's picture
I raised four kids...they are

I raised four kids...they are now raising theirs. The grandkids (and their parents) are coming over tonight and we have a tree, presents, Santa, lights, fabulous food, a couple bottles of a gorgeous Petit Syrah, and my village...it is huge, is all lit up, and covers 10 surfaces in my home. There is a whore house (has a red light in it), a crack house (windows covered in tin foil), both on the other side of the train tracks, the rich people neighborhood, the forest, the ski resort, the business district, the farm, the pond (with ice skaters), and King Kong on a steeple.

Fleeing in Terror's picture
That is survival to keep them

That is survival to keep them occupied until school starts.

xenoview's picture
Happy Holidays AR!

Happy Holidays AR!

ayubeast's picture
As a child we celebrated

As a child we celebrated Christmas. A Wonderful meal, presents, A Christmas tree, Going out in snow covered roads to view Christmas lights.

The One Thing Missing was RELIGION, an I Thanked My Mother For This... If Fact I made sure She Believed I Appreciated this Fact.

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