Does anyone here actually believe in "THE WAR ON CHRISTMAS" garbage.

[LittleNipper]

Wal-Mart has a lack of holiday spirit? That's odd, because I was just in Wal-Mart last night and I saw the following:

1) The exterior of their garden department was festooned and lit holiday decorations fill the front sidewalk that serve as both a decoration and a sales disply.

2) A twelve foot tall lit and decorated tree at each entrance.

3) Employees wearing holiday themed lapel pins and Santa hats.

4) Each cashier line light is wrapped like a present.

5) I was wished a "Happy Holidays" by my cashier.

6) The entire garden department has been transformed into a Christmas decoration showroom complete with strands of lights in every color imaginable, tree ornaments, tinsel, bows, tablecloths, doilies, tea towels, tree skirts, outdoor and indoor decorations, holiday apparel and much more. There are also four aisles that have been cleared and re-stocked with gift baskets of every kind.

It appeared, to me, that Wal-Mart was in true Christmas fashion.

It may depend on the particular store. Christmas merchandise does not count, because they want you to buy it. The rest sounds like the particular store is a pleasant place to work and shop.

 

[loriersea]

It may depend on the particular store. Christmas merchandise does not count, because they want you to buy it. The rest sounds like the particular store is a pleasant place to work and shop.

I think knowing a bit more about the salaries, benefits, and workplace policies for the employees would more determine whether it's a "pleasant place to work" than what kind of holiday decorations it has.

 

[LittleNipper]

I think knowing a bit more about the salaries, benefits, and workplace policies for the employees would more determine whether it's a "pleasant place to work" than what kind of holiday decorations it has.

Well, I donate my time for some church functions. I have acted in several staged performances free of charge. The last one being I'll be Home for CHRISTMAS. My time is worth something and yet I attended numerous rehearsals, provided my own costume changes and fretted over memorizing my lines. I would not do it if I thought those involved were all jerks and I was treated as dirt. Of course any working environment can be no better then those working there.

 

[Followers4christ]

No, the war is being waged by the religious right to change our traditionally secular country into a christian theocracy.

First of all the United states was founded on the Christian faith.Heres what some of the founding fore fathers said about this nation:

George Washington :"... Let me live according to those holy rules which Thou hast this day prescribed in Thy holy word ... Direct me to the true object, Jesus Christ the way, the truth and the life. Bless, O Lord, all the people of this land."

George Washington's farewell address: "Don't let anyone claim to be a true American. Don't let them claim the tribute of American patriotism if they ever attempt to remove religion from politics."

Abraham Lincoln: "No book in the world deserves to be so unceasingly studied, and so profoundly meditated upon as the Bible." "Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the Foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity?"

First chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, John Jay, wrote: "Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty ... of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers." (1816)


Supreme Court chief justice, Earl Warren, wrote in 1954: "I believe no one can read the history of our country without realizing that the Good Book and the spirit of the Savior have from the beginning been our guiding geniuses ... Whether we look to the first Charter of Virginia ... or to the Charter of New England ... or to the Charter of Massachusetts Bay ... or to the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut ... the same objective is present ... a Christian land governed by Christian principles. I believe the entire Bill of Rights came into being because of the knowledge our forefathers had of the Bible and their belief in it: freedom of belief, of expression, of assembly, of petition, the dignity of the individual, the sanctity of the home, equal justice under law, and the reservation of powers to the people ... I like to believe we are living today in the spirit of the Christian religion. I like also to believe that as long as we do so, no great harm can come to our country."

James Dobson says, "Fortunately, those who would rid us of our spiritual heritage have an impossible task on their hands. To sanitize our history, it would be necessary to expunge all official records, burn old textbooks, close the Library of Congress, destroy the existing diaries and letters and sandblast half the buildings in Washington, D.C. And still the evidences of our faith would exist. An image of Moses faces the Speaker of the House of Representatives; our coins proclaim, 'In God We Trust'; our Pledge of Allegiance declares that we are 'one nation, under God'; our Declaration of Independence asserts that we are 'endowed by the Creator with certain unalienable rights;' the oath of office for the presidency ends with the phrase, 'so help me God'; and on it goes."


The atheist agenda is destroying the principles of this nation.First it was the pledge of allegiance then it was the 10 commandments in Alabama,now its Christmas.I also heard some atheist is also trying to remove "in God we trust" from the money.Is there an attack on the Christian faith to remove our Christian heritage from this nation?Sadly yes there is,but its sadder that some people are just to blind to see it.God Bless

 

[xMinionX]

First of all the United states was founded on the Christian faith.Heres what some of the founding fore fathers said about this nation:

George Washington :"... Let me live according to those holy rules which Thou hast this day prescribed in Thy holy word ... Direct me to the true object, Jesus Christ the way, the truth and the life. Bless, O Lord, all the people of this land."

George Washington's farewell address: "Don't let anyone claim to be a true American. Don't let them claim the tribute of American patriotism if they ever attempt to remove religion from politics."

Abraham Lincoln: "No book in the world deserves to be so unceasingly studied, and so profoundly meditated upon as the Bible." "Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the Foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity?"

There are just as many influential American leaders who said otherwise. Don't have time to hunt them down now, but I'm sure someone else will.

Supreme Court chief justice, Earl Warren, wrote in 1954: "I believe no one can read the history of our country without realizing that the Good Book and the spirit of the Savior have from the beginning been our guiding geniuses ... Whether we look to the first Charter of Virginia ... or to the Charter of New England ... or to the Charter of Massachusetts Bay ... or to the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut ... the same objective is present ... a Christian land governed by Christian principles. I believe the entire Bill of Rights came into being because of the knowledge our forefathers had of the Bible and their belief in it: freedom of belief, of expression, of assembly, of petition, the dignity of the individual, the sanctity of the home, equal justice under law, and the reservation of powers to the people ... I like to believe we are living today in the spirit of the Christian religion. I like also to believe that as long as we do so, no great harm can come to our country."

You know why he said that, right? Atheist communism. That's why "In God We Trust" is on money.

James Dobson says, "Fortunately, those who would rid us of our spiritual heritage have an impossible task on their hands. To sanitize our history, it would be necessary to expunge all official records, burn old textbooks, close the Library of Congress, destroy the existing diaries and letters and sandblast half the buildings in Washington, D.C. And still the evidences of our faith would exist. An image of Moses faces the Speaker of the House of Representatives; our coins proclaim, 'In God We Trust'; our Pledge of Allegiance declares that we are 'one nation, under God'; our Declaration of Independence asserts that we are 'endowed by the Creator with certain unalienable rights;' the oath of office for the presidency ends with the phrase, 'so help me God'; and on it goes."

What on earth is he doing in here? Ick.

The atheist agenda is destroying the principles of this nation.First it was the pledge of allegiance then it was the 10 commandments in Alabama,now its Christmas.I also heard some atheist is also trying to remove "in God we trust" from the money.Is there an attack on the Christian faith to remove our Christian heritage from this nation?Sadly yes there is,but its sadder that some people are just to blind to see it.God Bless

No.

 

[Electric Sceptic]

First of all the United states was founded on the Christian faith.Heres what some of the founding fore fathers said about this nation:

George Washington :"... Let me live according to those holy rules which Thou hast this day prescribed in Thy holy word ... Direct me to the true object, Jesus Christ the way, the truth and the life. Bless, O Lord, all the people of this land."

George Washington's farewell address: "Don't let anyone claim to be a true American. Don't let them claim the tribute of American patriotism if they ever attempt to remove religion from politics."

Abraham Lincoln: "No book in the world deserves to be so unceasingly studied, and so profoundly meditated upon as the Bible." "Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the Foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity?"

First chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, John Jay, wrote: "Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty ... of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers." (1816)


Supreme Court chief justice, Earl Warren, wrote in 1954: "I believe no one can read the history of our country without realizing that the Good Book and the spirit of the Savior have from the beginning been our guiding geniuses ... Whether we look to the first Charter of Virginia ... or to the Charter of New England ... or to the Charter of Massachusetts Bay ... or to the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut ... the same objective is present ... a Christian land governed by Christian principles. I believe the entire Bill of Rights came into being because of the knowledge our forefathers had of the Bible and their belief in it: freedom of belief, of expression, of assembly, of petition, the dignity of the individual, the sanctity of the home, equal justice under law, and the reservation of powers to the people ... I like to believe we are living today in the spirit of the Christian religion. I like also to believe that as long as we do so, no great harm can come to our country."

James Dobson says, "Fortunately, those who would rid us of our spiritual heritage have an impossible task on their hands. To sanitize our history, it would be necessary to expunge all official records, burn old textbooks, close the Library of Congress, destroy the existing diaries and letters and sandblast half the buildings in Washington, D.C. And still the evidences of our faith would exist. An image of Moses faces the Speaker of the House of Representatives; our coins proclaim, 'In God We Trust'; our Pledge of Allegiance declares that we are 'one nation, under God'; our Declaration of Independence asserts that we are 'endowed by the Creator with certain unalienable rights;' the oath of office for the presidency ends with the phrase, 'so help me God'; and on it goes."

The atheist agenda is destroying the principles of this nation.First it was the pledge of allegiance then it was the 10 commandments in Alabama,now its Christmas.I also heard some atheist is also trying to remove "in God we trust" from the money.Is there an attack on the Christian faith to remove our Christian heritage from this nation?Sadly yes there is,but its sadder that some people are just to blind to see it.God Bless

What nonsense.

 

[AmabaelRose]

Luckily for us our government and politics have evolved to the point where we recognise that Christianity is not the only religion out there.
Why is it so important for Christians to shove Christianity down everyone's throat and attempt to force the secular world to conform to the Bible? And then you complain that people are hostile towards Christianity. Maybe instead of worrying about politics, and what the secular world does, you should try, oh I don't know, living your life by example as a witness for Christ instead of trying to force feed the world the Bible.
I also have to wonder why Christians are so concerned with what happens in the secular world, when they're not supposed to have anything to do with this. If Christians are not supposed to be a product of the secular world, why is there so much political effort to make the secular world a Christian one? Is that some sort of loophole or something?
People who force thier beliefs on others through politics and religion disgust me. That's why I'll never set foot in an evangellical church, or vote anything other than 3rd party.

The attitude of Christianity today is so un-Christ-like it's sickening.

 

[Lokisdottir]

George Washington's farewell address: "Don't let anyone claim to be a true American. Don't let them claim the tribute of American patriotism if they ever attempt to remove religion from politics."

George Washington's farewell address says no such thing. If you're going to use his words to try to undermine the First Amendment, at least do it right:

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice ? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."

Sheesh. I'd investigate the source (or lack thereof) for those other quotes, but I'm not going to do all your work for you. You said 'em, you support 'em.

Edit: Oh, hell, I can't resist.

"No book in the world deserves to be so unceasingly studied, and so profoundly meditated upon as the Bible."

I've seen this quote variously attributed to Abraham Lincoln, John Quincy Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington. No source is ever given. This leads me to doubt that any founding father ever said it.

 

[AmabaelRose]

The atheist agenda is destroying the principles of this nation.First it was the pledge of allegiance then it was the 10 commandments in Alabama,now its Christmas.I also heard some atheist is also trying to remove "in God we trust" from the money.Is there an attack on the Christian faith to remove our Christian heritage from this nation?Sadly yes there is,but its sadder that some people are just to blind to see it.God Bless

First of all, have you noticed that no other religious groups have put thier tomes and symbols on government buildings?

And, when they removed the 10 Commandments "plaque", did the world end? The the local government of Alabama crumble because they couldn't look at it when they came to work? Did the federal government suffer because they choose not to endorse a particular religion? Did the earth suddenly split so that Satan could rise up and take over the world and make Nazi's ride on dinosaurs?

I didn't think so.

So, what did happen? Probably a bunch of Christians got ****ed off, spent a lot of money on lawyers trying to get thier selfish way, they lost again, and the rest of the world didn't care one way or another.

 

[saami]

It's silly from every angle, but there is a concerted effort to replace "Merry Christmas" with something more PC.

America is always the forefront of political correctness.

not PC- I have antique Christmas cards that say "Season's Greetings" and "Happy Holidays"

Some folks just want to fell important - and by being persecuted "in their minds" that makes them important. They should go out and feed the poor and be anonymous instead.

 

[AmabaelRose]

You know, has any Christian ever stopped to think that maybe the reason people are much more hostile to Christian images and Christianity than other mainstream (or non-mainstream) religions is that Christians make it a point to try and force as much Christianity down as many people's throats as possible? I do understand the great commission and that it's a loving thing, but Christians seem to have an attitude that the rest of the world doesn't like. I don't know too many people who actually enjoy visits from the JW's, and fewer who even talk to them at all. Now, Christians may not go door to door trying to sell Christianity, but they do seem to want Christianity and Jesus everywhere, like some sort of global marketing device for the church. It's as if Christians don't care about love, compassion, and those other things Jesus taught, and instead trade it for a quest for political global domination. Never have I seen another religion that cares more about what happens in the political world than thier own spiritual life. Maybe if Christians stopped worrying about politics and who can and can't get married and what we can teach our children in government funded schools, and how many people can we convert today, and instead tried using examples of Christ-Like living instead of forceful words and protests, the rest of the world wouldn't be so hostile.

 

[Electric Sceptic]

You know, has any Christian ever stopped to think that maybe the reason people are much more hostile to Christian images and Christianity than other mainstream (or non-mainstream) religions is that Christians make it a point to try and force as much Christianity down as many people's throats as possible? I do understand the great commission and that it's a loving thing, but Christians seem to have an attitude that the rest of the world doesn't like. I don't know too many people who actually enjoy visits from the JW's, and fewer who even talk to them at all. Now, Christians may not go door to door trying to sell Christianity, but they do seem to want Christianity and Jesus everywhere, like some sort of global marketing device for the church. It's as if Christians don't care about love, compassion, and those other things Jesus taught, and instead trade it for a quest for political global domination. Never have I seen another religion that cares more about what happens in the political world than thier own spiritual life. Maybe if Christians stopped worrying about politics and who can and can't get married and what we can teach our children in government funded schools, and how many people can we convert today, and instead tried using examples of Christ-Like living instead of forceful words and protests, the rest of the world wouldn't be so hostile.

Excellent post. I wish that every Christian would read it.

 

[rosenherman]

What I don't understand is; what is the big deal? Would anyone be offended, really, by being wished Merry Christmas?
If so, why?
I would not be offended by being wished Happy Chanukah, Joyful Kwansaa, Merry Solstice. They are good wishes being offered kindly.

 

[xMinionX]

What I don't understand is; what is the big deal? Would anyone be offended, really, by being wished Merry Christmas?
If so, why?
I would not be offended by being wished Happy Chanukah, Joyful Kwansaa, Merry Solstice. They are good wishes being offered kindly.

Yeah, that's true too. *shrug*

 

[AmabaelRose]

What I don't understand is; what is the big deal? Would anyone be offended, really, by being wished Merry Christmas?
If so, why?
I would not be offended by being wished Happy Chanukah, Joyful Kwansaa, Merry Solstice. They are good wishes being offered kindly.

Well, the point isn't that people are saying happy holidays because any of those greetings you mentioned are offensive. Rather it's being used because it's a catch-all phrase that wraps "merry christmas" "happy chanukha" "happy kwanzaa" and "merry yule" all into one greeting.
It's not to keep people from being offended or being done to offend people. It's just being polite.

And besides, it's retail oultlet policy. Not a law or something. It's not the end of the world either way if a cashier says "merry Christmas", "Happy Holidays" or "Happy Winter Solstice". I wish people would stop treating it as such.

Why not just let people say what they will, let the retail outlets make the policies on the subject that they want, and expend energy complaining about something that's more important than the cashier at walmart not giving you the greeting you want. Hell, I feel lucky if I get a "have a nice day" when I go shopping. "Happy Holidays" is good enough for me.
Honestly it's just a waste of time to complain about it either way.

 

[KarateCowboy]

There are just as many influential American leaders who said otherwise. Don't have time to hunt them down now, but I'm sure someone else will.

How convenient

No.

At last! The summation and epitome of all humanistic arguements:"No." Other variants are "Nuh-uhhhh!", "No-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no!", and "Nah nah nah! I can't hear you!"

 

[AmabaelRose]

How convenient

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_jefferson#Religious_views
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington#Religious_beliefs

 

[rosenherman]

Well, the point isn't that people are saying happy holidays because any of those greetings you mentioned are offensive. Rather it's being used because it's a catch-all phrase that wraps "merry christmas" "happy chanukha" "happy kwanzaa" and "merry yule" all into one greeting.
It's not to keep people from being offended or being done to offend people. It's just being polite.

And besides, it's retail oultlet policy. Not a law or something. It's not the end of the world either way if a cashier says "merry Christmas", "Happy Holidays" or "Happy Winter Solstice". I wish people would stop treating it as such.

Why not just let people say what they will, let the retail outlets make the policies on the subject that they want, and expend energy complaining about something that's more important than the cashier at walmart not giving you the greeting you want. Hell, I feel lucky if I get a "have a nice day" when I go shopping. "Happy Holidays" is good enough for me.
Honestly it's just a waste of time to complain about it either way.

Is anyone old enough to remember when Happy Holidays was the shorthand way to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year?

 

[AmabaelRose]

Is anyone old enough to remember when Happy Holidays was the shorthand way to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year?

I am. =)

 

[LittleNipper]

First of all, have you noticed that no other religious groups have put thier tomes and symbols on government buildings?

And, when they removed the 10 Commandments "plaque", did the world end? The the local government of Alabama crumble because they couldn't look at it when they came to work? Did the federal government suffer because they choose not to endorse a particular religion? Did the earth suddenly split so that Satan could rise up and take over the world and make Nazi's ride on dinosaurs?

I didn't think so.

So, what did happen? Probably a bunch of Christians got ****ed off, spent a lot of money on lawyers trying to get thier selfish way, they lost again, and the rest of the world didn't care one way or another.

Actually, it has been noted by the general news media that there does seem to be an increase in floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, tornadoes, wars, rumors of wars, chronic deseases, etc..... Maybe this is just a cycle --- a quirk, as some scientists are hoping, or perhaps the entire creation is really groaning just as the Bible says it will...