'Tis The Season?

I'm sad that it's not merry christmas anymore... the country is overwhelmingly christian but it seems like any time we show it in public we get criticized...

AnnetteHamilton said:

I'm sad that it's not merry christmas anymore... the country is overwhelmingly christian but it seems like any time we show it in public we get criticized...

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Just because the majority is Christian doesn't mean that the minority should be ignored. Take us Pagans, for example. You never hear anything about Yule in public, yet it is just as important a holiday to us as Christmas is to you. So why should you Christians get the monopoly on the winter holidays, when you are absolutely not the only religion in this country? Seems a tad unfair to me...

seed757 said:

Being that that time of the year is quickly approaching us, a thought occured to me.

Does anyone think that Eid-ul-Adha(the Festival of Sacrifice) will be mentioned in the media as much as the other seasonal holidays(Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Year's Day, etc.)?

Even since Eid falls on December 31 this year?

Will it get equal exposure and coverage?

Your thoughts please.

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I doubt that an Islamic holiday will have much noteriety in America. Even Jewish holidays aren't popularized very much. The proximity of Eid to Christmas might gain it some popularity this year (since I'm aware that Islamic holidays follow a lunar calendar, and are at different dates every year). But I doubt it will gain more than a few mentions in the media.

Not that I have a problem with more coverage of Islamic holidays. I just don't think there will be much public interest.

GoddessGirl said:

Just because the majority is Christian doesn't mean that the minority should be ignored. Take us Pagans, for example. You never hear anything about Yule in public, yet it is just as important a holiday to us as Christmas is to you. So why should you Christians get the monopoly on the winter holidays, when you are absolutely not the only religion in this country? Seems a tad unfair to me...

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Well, I think the answer is that most Americans are at least nominally Christian. The majority of American Christians probably only think about their faith when Christmas and Easter roll around, but the fact remains that they call themselves Christians on at least a superficial level. Is America multi-religious? Yes, it is, and no one denies this. But since non-Christians are a numerical minority, it's only natural that your holidays would tend to be ignored (for better or worse).

GoddessGirl said:

Just because the majority is Christian doesn't mean that the minority should be ignored. Take us Pagans, for example. You never hear anything about Yule in public, yet it is just as important a holiday to us as Christmas is to you. So why should you Christians get the monopoly on the winter holidays, when you are absolutely not the only religion in this country? Seems a tad unfair to me...

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On the other hand, most christian holidays are "re-branded" pagan ones.

Also, I seem to remember that there are some christian sects (I just can't remember which ones) that prohibit/discourage the celebration of christmas.

And, don't forget that most of the media publicity about christmas is to do with the business opportunities this brings......

seed757 said:

Being that that time of the year is quickly approaching us, a thought occured to me.

Does anyone think that Eid-ul-Adha(the Festival of Sacrifice) will be mentioned in the media as much as the other seasonal holidays(Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Year's Day, etc.)?

Even since Eid falls on December 31 this year?

Will it get equal exposure and coverage?

Your thoughts please.

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If there were money to be made, of course. If not, forget it.

I am looking forward to ramadhan. Food alway's seem deliciouse during that period.

seed757 said:

Being that that time of the year is quickly approaching us, a thought occured to me.

Does anyone think that Eid-ul-Adha(the Festival of Sacrifice) will be mentioned in the media as much as the other seasonal holidays(Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Year's Day, etc.)?

Even since Eid falls on December 31 this year?

Will it get equal exposure and coverage?

Your thoughts please.

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The "long answer" is, of course far more complex than a one-liner:

Christmas, as it is known today is primarily a secular holiday.
Sure, there are those christians, for whom it will have religious significance. But, on the whole, Christmas is "celebrated" by secularists probably more so than by religiously inclined people: Time to get together with family and friends, have a few relaxing days off, etc etc.

New Year, to my knowledge has never had any prominence on the christian religious horizon. I heve always regarded it as a secular event. I am not too sure, but i would assume that it is of Roman origin.

As far as Hanukkah, Kwanzaa are concerned: I live in Australia, and I have never heard of them: What are they?

There is some publicity given to "chinese new year" here in Australia. But, again, that is really a secular sort of a holiday: Chinese (and other asians) are celebrating this regardless of their religion, be that Buddhist, Taoist, Chrstian, Secularist or whatever.
My guess would be that the publicity is due to the fact that the chinese (etc) are the largest non-caucasian ethnic grouping in Australia.

But why should we stop at festivals? We could say: Sunday is the holy day of the Christians, Saturday is the holy day of the Jews (and some christians) and Friday is the holy day of Islam.
So let's have a three-day rest period in every week.
Well, the consumerists and the neo-capitalists and the secularists have of course a very good answer to that one: Every hour that is not devoted to making profits is a wasted hour. So let's have no holy days, let the shops etc be open seven days per week......

GoddessGirl said:

Just because the majority is Christian doesn't mean that the minority should be ignored. Take us Pagans, for example. You never hear anything about Yule in public, yet it is just as important a holiday to us as Christmas is to you. So why should you Christians get the monopoly on the winter holidays, when you are absolutely not the only religion in this country? Seems a tad unfair to me...

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dont they have lots of chrismass cards with Yule on them?

Rusticus said:

Well, the consumerists and the neo-capitalists and the secularists have of course a very good answer to that one: Every hour that is not devoted to making profits is a wasted hour. So let's have no holy days, let the shops etc be open seven days per week......

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What? That's a completely unfair assumption. I am a secularist and I don't have that view at all. Try not to stereotype, please.

Catechumen said:

What? That's a completely unfair assumption. I am a secularist and I don't have that view at all. Try not to stereotype, please.

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Sorry, no offence meant. Thank you for pointing that out.
I'll re-phrase that:

"Well, the consumerists and the neo-capitalists (some or many of which would, paradoxically, regard themselves as adherents of one of the abrahamic religions) have of course a very good answer to that one: Every hour that is not devoted to making profits is a wasted hour. So let's have no holy days, let the shops etc be open seven days per week......"

seed757 said:

Will it get equal exposure and coverage?

Your thoughts please.

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Why would it? Muslims are something like 1-2% of the total US population.