Charles T. Posted December 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2004 Please, try not to take this so seriously, Zoso. I have no intention of petitioning Congress to legislate changing the name of Christmas. All I asked was: if you could re-name the day, what would you call it? So far, I like Giftmas, though the New Year Holiday idea sounds good to me, too. Dump Christmas altogether and celebrate an actual event. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIJamesHughes Posted December 8, 2004 Report Share Posted December 8, 2004 Why should the government recognize holidays anyways? It will be refered to by the name that the particular group recognizes it as. (christians christmans, jews.... , muslems....) I like to call it December 25th. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Poppycock Posted December 8, 2004 Report Share Posted December 8, 2004 Mas(s) has it’s roots in religion too. I’m for Capitalism Day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
visaplace Posted December 8, 2004 Report Share Posted December 8, 2004 Ok so you are married with kids. How do you celebrate the holidays? To you have a Christmas tree? Do you light the Mehnora (if your Jewish)? Do you exchange gifts? What do you tell the kids when they ask about the meaning of the holidays? Their friends are "real" Christians and Jews. How does one have an Athiest Chirstmas and/or Chunuka? What PRACTICAL tips can you all ofter those parents who want to celebrate something with their kids this holiday season but don't know how? And saying that Chirstmas was originally a pagan holiday just won't cut it and no I do not want to put a dollar sign at the top of my Christmas tree Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Eurocentric Male Posted December 8, 2004 Report Share Posted December 8, 2004 Abolish Christmas and make the New Year the grand holiday of the year. That's the holiday my family always celebrated around. We had the New Year tree, New Year decorations, a New Year Santa Claus bringing wonderful gifts for me to find on New Year's morning, etc. There's also a considerable emotional, solemn, charge attached to the New Year celebration - remembering the year past, celebrating all the good things that happened, thinking about the coming year, receiving gifts to help us and inspire us in this new year, etc. Or make it Old Year and leave New Year as it is. Old Year, 25 dec as a day for looking back, coming together. The days between 25 dec and 1 jan can be a sort of launch pad for the New Year, kind of 1 week going from letting go the old to preparing for the new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capitalism Forever Posted December 8, 2004 Report Share Posted December 8, 2004 Folks, how can you claim the intellectual authority to rename one of the world's greatest holidays if you aren't even capable of coming up with a sufficiently jazzy name for it? Anyway, I'll be generous and help you out: Since it is the holiday for showering your loved ones with gifts, why not call it Thofsylowg. Merry Thofsylowg! (If you insist on sounding even goofier than those who want "African" Americans to celebrate "Kwanzaa," that is...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inspector Posted December 8, 2004 Report Share Posted December 8, 2004 no I do not want to put a dollar sign at the top of my Christmas tree I do. Anyone know where to get one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizabeth Posted December 8, 2004 Report Share Posted December 8, 2004 Ok so you are married with kids. How do you celebrate the holidays? To you have a Christmas tree? Do you light the Mehnora (if your Jewish)? Do you exchange gifts? What do you tell the kids when they ask about the meaning of the holidays? Their friends are "real" Christians and Jews. How does one have an Athiest Chirstmas and/or Chunuka? What PRACTICAL tips can you all ofter those parents who want to celebrate something with their kids this holiday season but don't know how? And saying that Chirstmas was originally a pagan holiday just won't cut it and no I do not want to put a dollar sign at the top of my Christmas tree Michael We celebrate Christmas and call it Christmas. When our children were old enough to recognize the difference between how our family celebrates Christmas compared to friends and other family members who are religious - we explained we celebrate the tradition of Santa Claus, enjoy Christmas music and other holiday tunes, and love spending time with friends and family over the holiday season. Now that our children are older we've used the opportunity to explain the differences between altruism, egoism, egotism and so on. -Elizabeth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles T. Posted December 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2004 I got a dollar sign snowflake Giftmastree decoration from the ARI several years ago. You might check with them to see if they are still available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Capitalist Posted December 9, 2004 Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 <FC: "The Holidays?" Moved from History to Culture, and merged with "Re-name Christmas"> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yes Posted December 9, 2004 Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 What would you re-name Christmas, if you could? Why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inspector Posted December 9, 2004 Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 Why? Speaking for myself, because it has Christ in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citizen Publius Posted December 9, 2004 Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 I generally ignore Christmas. When enough people do this, it will become passe. However, in the interest of having a nice holiday at this time of year, I celebrate Isaac Newton's birthday. It even adds to the festivity because his favorite color was bright red. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darko Posted December 9, 2004 Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 Looks like someone had a better idea!? http://newswww.bbc.net.uk/1/low/uk/210672.stm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles T. Posted December 10, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2004 "Winterval". That's worse than "Festivus". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betsy Posted December 11, 2004 Report Share Posted December 11, 2004 Speaking for myself, because it has Christ in it. Do you object to Thursday because you don't worship Thor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betsy Posted December 11, 2004 Report Share Posted December 11, 2004 no I do not want to put a dollar sign at the top of my Christmas tree I do.  Anyone know where to get one? I made a dollar sign tree topper out of cardboard and gold foil for the tree we used for eight years at the Southern California Objectivist Association Christmas parties. The tree topper on the Speicher Family Tree for more than three decades has been a "California Sun" I made and our tree is decorated with unique ornaments I made, some our son made, some were gifts from friends and family, and some are of personal and historical interest like the ARI dollar sign ornaments, silver tinsel, and hundreds of red, white, and blue lights. We definitely celebrate Christmas at the Speichers and it is very important to us. As for what the Christians do, who cares? ** MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR ** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yes Posted December 11, 2004 Report Share Posted December 11, 2004 Do you object to Thursday because you don't worship Thor? I object to Monday because it has moon in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Rexton Posted December 11, 2004 Report Share Posted December 11, 2004 I object to Monday because it has moon in it. and I object to Sunday because it's named after the Sun God! and I object to Tuesday because it's named after the Tiw, the god of War! and I object to Wednesday because it's named after Woden, the god of Wisdom! and I object to the Friday because it's named after Frigg, the godess of love! and I object to Saturday because it's named after Saturn, the Roman god of Weather! My point? Let's let Christmas Day be Christmas Day. Like Betsy said, who cares what the Christians do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Faulkner Posted December 11, 2004 Report Share Posted December 11, 2004 I object to Monday because it has moon in it. I don't object to Thursday because Thor was not in essence anti-man. With his hammer he broke the ice covering the earth so that plants and crops could grow. If Christmas was called Marxday I would object, and what is the essential difference between Marx and Christ? Or what if it was called Anti-man Day? If Christians can change "Saturnalia" (the old Roman festival) to "Christmas", surely Objectivists can change it to something else. Just think if you're in Galt's gulch discussing this: would John Galt say, "Well, let's leave it at 'Christmas', after all, it's just a name." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Rexton Posted December 11, 2004 Report Share Posted December 11, 2004 I don't object to Thursday because Thor was not in essence anti-man. With his hammer he broke the ice covering the earth so that plants and crops could grow. If Christmas was called Marxday I would object, and what is the essential difference between Marx and Christ? Or what if it was called Anti-man Day? If Christians can change "Saturnalia" (the old Roman festival) to "Christmas", surely Objectivists can change it to something else. Just think if you're in Galt's gulch discussing this: would John Galt say, "Well, let's leave it at 'Christmas', after all, it's just a name." Many names in English have Biblical origins. Must I change my first name if it is Mathew, David, Paul, John, Adam, Isaac, Jacob, etc...? Or if a girl, Rebecca, Eve, Mary, etc...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citizen Publius Posted December 11, 2004 Report Share Posted December 11, 2004 I generally ignore Christmas. When enough people do this, it will become passe. However, in the interest of having a nice holiday at this time of year, I celebrate Isaac Newton's birthday. It even adds to the festivity because his favorite color was bright red.On a more fundamental level, how about having a Solstice Day celebration? It could last several days, gifts could be exchanged, feasts could be gulped down, "yule logs" could be burned, decorative lights could be placed everywhere. It would have nothing to do with faith or religion, though various religions could celebrate their beliefs then, and it would mark the astronomical beginning of winter for the entire northern hemisphere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Faulkner Posted December 12, 2004 Report Share Posted December 12, 2004 Many names in English have Biblical origins. Must I change my first name if it is Mathew, David, Paul, John, Adam, Isaac, Jacob, etc...? Or if a girl, Rebecca, Eve, Mary, etc...? No, but I would certainly change it if it were "Christ"; wouldn't you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redfarmer Posted December 12, 2004 Report Share Posted December 12, 2004 Let's put the "X" back in "X-mas"! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alon Posted December 13, 2004 Report Share Posted December 13, 2004 Saturnalia! What beats orgies & buffets? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.