I am curious to hear from you. Whether you don't celebrate for religious or other reasons I would love to know how you deal with all the decorations, presents, shopping, music, holiday wishes, etc.

And speaking for myself I wish everyone Merry Christmas, Happy Winter, Happy Holidays, or a Prosperous New Year.

I don't mean to nor do I want to offend anyone. I just feel happy and good this time of year and want to share my good feelings and happy wishes with everyone.

How does it make you feel? What should I say to people who don't celebrate?

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The political system is broke and it's a joke.

Bah humbug,lol. Christmas is only fun when you have a bunch of money to spend on gifts and lots of hot deals that come up.I only bought a few gifts this year and have not put up the tree.I just don't want to mess with it this year when I only have 1 little gift to put under it.If BF wants to put it up this year hes more than welcome to..I have never really met anyone who didn't celebrate Christmas .I guess if I were to say anything to them it would be Have a nice Winter? lol

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I think you're darned if you do, and you're darned if you don't.

I say "happy holidays" and some people think I'm being disrespectful and taking Christ out of Christmas. I say "Merry Christmas" and someone is offended because they don't believe.

If someone tells me "Happy Hanukkah" or "Happy Kwanzaa", I'll repeat the greeting back or say "the same to you". I think we have to be respectful of others and what they believe in and celebrate.

I think it's best not to say "Happy whatever" unless you know what someone does or doesn't celebrate. It's pretty empty to say it to strangers anyway, in my opinion. It's about as meaningful as "Have a nice day."

Dollydeal - Really? You don't know anyone who is Jewish?!

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If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

I do not celebrate Christmas.If someone says Merry Christmas to me I say same to you.When my children were in public school they participated in what ever the class did.I would also buy a gift for there teacher.Forgot to metion we are Muslim.I always tell my children to respect what other people believe.

That is so nice to hear. We have some students that do not celebrate any holiday and the parents make a big deal out of it. We have to take them out of the room when we talk about anything holiday related and the poor kids act afraid if they accidentally see or hear something. Geez! We are not trying to convert them, but why can;t they learn about it and be educated? That does not mean they have to celebrate it! We teach about Kwanzaa and a lot of others in class, but usually none of my kids celebrate those.

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"When you're drowning, you don't say 'I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me,' you just scream."

John Lennon

This country was founded on Judeo-Christian values so I don't think it's fair to take Christmas away from the public square. If I moved to a Muslim country I would not expect them to take their traditions, etc... away to placate my Christian beliefs. We have freedom to worship as we please in whatever faith we believe in BUT this nation is a predominately Christian nation.

Ahhh, yes, Memorial Day......none of the students learn about or get educated about that holiday...............
dl

I am Jewish and celebrate Chanukah. That being said, I love seeing all the Christmas Decorations. And have taken trips to see certain neighborhoods that go all out decorating.

It doesn't bother me at all when anyone says Merry Christmas. I will usually reply "same to you" or "Happy Holidays".

And let's not forget that one of the most, if not THE most popular Christmas songs (White Christmas) was written Irving Berlinwho was Jewish.

I am Pagan (as are two of my children) and in our Tradition we celebrate Winter Solstice (the night the Old God passes over) followed by Yule, on the 25th, when the Sun God is reborn.

DH is Christian as are my parents and one of my sisters. We all gather on Yule and they celebrate it as Christmas (though they freely acknowledge that Jesus wasn't born in December and the holiday was created to assimilate Pagans into the Church) The rest of the family members who are Agnostic or Atheist celebrate it as a secular holiday for family to gather and enjoy time together (just like American Thanksgiving.) A family friend and his son, who are Jewish, used to join us to celebrate as well (sadly the family friend was murdered in a hate-crime last year.)

I am not at all offended by people who wish me Merry Christmas however there are times when I *do* get really sick of the amount of ignorance out there regarding the holiday (like when people rant that saying "Happy Holidays" is wrong and they want to put the "Christ back into Christmas") but those moments of feeling short-tempered about it are usually brought on by reading an annoying chain e-mail or from working too many days in a row listening to the holiday music (our store only plays 50% holiday music but darn, listening to Beyonce sing that she "has your back on Christmas" drives me nuts - what the hell does that song even mean?!? LOL) I work retail and it seems like the majority of people say "have a happy holiday" to me - less often do I hear Merry Christmas but it certainly doesn't offend me to hear it, after all, the person is trying to be nice.

Anyway, in the end, I really have to say to each his/her own and I wish everyone a joyous holiday whether they are celebrating one of the numerous religious holidays that occur in winter or whether that are celebrating a secular Christmas (all of which keeps me in a job, btw ;-)

Its too bad that more people didn't have this opinion when it comes to life in general! Your children are very lucky to have such a wonderful role model!

Well, there was the one guy in my 6th grade class but I wasn't counting him since that was so long ago.

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My ex and both sides of his family are Jewish and Christmas greetings never bothered them. In fact one set of relatives have put up a Christmas tree for years and years just because they are pretty! Tonight is their annual Hanukkah party and my Catholic son will be attending it and coming home for Christmas break Saturday night! CAN'T wait to see him!! He's been in college in Ca. and I haven't seen him since he left in August! It's nice he has some of his dad's family close by. I'm sure he'll have a blast at the Hanukkah party tonight.

Why do people always claim this?

As the Treaty or Tripoli, signed by President John Adams on June 10, 1797, reads:

Art. 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.

The Senate's ratification was only the third recorded unanimous vote of 339 votes taken.

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If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

Well, I don't know anyone, as far as I know.

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"When you're drowning, you don't say 'I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me,' you just scream."

John Lennon

Don't feel bad Groovygirl, I don't know anyone who is Jewish and follows it.

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Jesus SAVES by shopping smartly and using double coupons!

Whew....thought I was breaking some sort of rule or something! lol

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"When you're drowning, you don't say 'I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me,' you just scream."

John Lennon

I didn't mean to imply anyone was breaking a rule for not knowing any Jewish people. I was just surprised. I guess they represent a bigger portion of the population in the places I've lived.

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If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

I don't like to celebrate Christmas because i don't believe any religion.I think celebration means only wastage of money.

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Office Chairs

Atheist household here, we don't decorate or anything but the kids get gifts (mostly from their grandparents and great-grandparents). I personally think, the less gifts they get, the more they appreciate what they DO get. We do more for their birthdays than Christmas. I haven't really shopped for much this year, but there's a closet full of stuff from my parents (they drove down to deliver them over the weekend). I'd rather deal with cash then spend the day after Christmas shopping for deals I really think the shopping frenzy for stuff to open on Christmas day is nuts.

I don't really care if my kids have a Christmas party, "winter holiday" party or whatever. And don't care if someone says "Merry Christmas" or "have a nice day", my reply is usually "you too".

My husband and I don't have any religious beliefs but we are putting up a tree and giving each other presents. No giving of presents to relatives though. I think that's silliness!

I don't care if someone says Merry Christmas or happy holidays or whatever. Like the poster before me...I just say "you too" or same to you.

Ditto. I too like to see some of the great decorations and enjoy the loving spirit that seems to abound this time of year. I don't feel offended when someone says "Merry Christmas" but choose to say "Happy Holidays". I work in a very diverse environment and know that many of my contacts do not celebrate Christmas (Russian, Indian). Actually, to be PC, several years ago, our company requested we refer to our office celebrations as Holiday parties, or Holiday luncheons, or whatever.

mrsnudge, your last line made me chuckle. Let us not forget that Jesus was Jewish.

our future son in law is jewish and he will be here again for christmas with us. we treat him as if he was our son and he gets gifts like everyone else . we just dont call them christmas gifts to him.

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It is not that I don't celebrate Christmas, I just don't seem to be celebrating this year.

*sigh* In the classroom across the hall from me, kids brought CHRISTmas cookies yesterday. The one little girl that does not celebrate had to eat a plain brownie from my room, because the cookies had Santa on them. I just felt bad for her.

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"When you're drowning, you don't say 'I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me,' you just scream."

John Lennon

Our workplace is very diverse. I guess I sometimes forget that not everyone is exposed to the same amount of ethnic and cultural diversity as I can't imagine not knowing a Jewish person or someone who didn't celebrate Christmas.

Two of my employees are Jewish and do not celebrate Christmas. I have four who hail from various parts of India. The Indian community at work put on a big Diwali celebration in October with food, song, dance, etc. Rather than getting all bent out of shape about the celebration of traditionally Christian holidays in the US, they share their holidays and traditions with others. Although there are some Christian Indians, by and large, most do not celebrate Christmas. Neither does our Muslim population (obviously).

Where do you folks live and/or what kind of work do you do where you don't come in contact with ethnic diversity???

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

There are a lot of practicing Christians who do not celbrate Christmas, either, for religious reasons. I have known quite a few of them.

I live in a fairly small town in Southern IL. I just looked on Wikipedia and I guess we aren't that small, population of 24,000. We are about 20 minutes East of St. Louis MO.
I don't personally know anyone who doesn't celebrate Christmas. I don't work, I'm a stay at home mom who is a practicing hermit so I really don't ever go anywhere or do much of anything.

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Insanity laughs under pressure we're cracking

That is just to PC/dumb. Eating a Santa cookie would poison her?? I don't believe in fairies but I would eat a Tinkerbelle cookie.

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Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent.

E. Roosevelt

That's exactly what I was thinking...I don't believe in santa either...haven't for years....but a santa cookie wouldn't poison me! That's just a big GIIIIIIII!!!!!!!! I was going to say "I don't believe ginger bread men are real but I'll eat a GB cookie" For crying out loud...this country(the people in it!) has gone INSANE!!!!!!!!!

I would imagine this little girl was from a Christian family that doesn't celebrate Christmas - this article might help you understand a bit of the no Christmas/no santa thing for Christians.

THE PLAIN TRUTH ABOUT CHRISTMAS

They are Jehovah's witness, but still......a cookie? Why can't you learn abut things without having to practice them? I have made a point to learn about many holiday celebrations/beliefs, even though I do not practice them myself. It is educational.

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"When you're drowning, you don't say 'I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me,' you just scream."

John Lennon

Oh so it would poison her!!!

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Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent.

E. Roosevelt

right...I still don't get it.

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"When you're drowning, you don't say 'I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me,' you just scream."

John Lennon

Sorry but Herbert W. Armstrong is not someone I would accept an explanation of Christianity from.

There's nothing to GET...it's simply idiotic!!!!!!!!!!!

Jehovah's Witnesses are super strict - to them a cookie would have been tantamount to celebrating the holiday. While this stuff may seem silly to a lot of us, we have to remember that Christians are taught that their religion is the "one true religion." However, there are wide differences between denominations and often strong opinions about which denominations are the "real" Christians.

I don't know anything about the author or what denomination he is but he did get the background behind the formation of Christmas correct. I don't think you can find a religious scholar who would try to argue that Christmas is anything other than a Pagan holiday that was adapted to a Christian holiday in order to assimilate Pagans into the church.

Personally, I try to be respectful of other people's religions and try to understand where they are coming from. *I* think it sucks for the little girl who couldn't eat the cookie but I respect the fact that she couldn't.

we are not christians, so we don't celebrate Chrismas. in no way i get offended if someone said merry Christmas to me. i love the Christmas decorations, sometime i set up a fiber optic pointsetta(sp), red candles, small christmas wreath around christmas. if i had small childrren, i would do the tree also.
in my family, during our holidays, we do the family gathering thing and skip the relegious stuff, since i don't have any family the the US, my DH and i don't celebrate relegious holidays.

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"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe."
Albert Einstein

We have friends who's DIL is a Jehovah Witness. I asked her last year if we could give their daughter a gift. She said yes as long as the paper didn't have santa on it. She said " Its the whole idea of the lie of it" thay object to. They don't celebrate any holidays. Just birthdays I believe, or it could be anniverseries. The little girl was only 20 months at the time. Her DH doesn't mind because he said "hey it saves me a lot of money. I don't have to get anything for mothers day etc."

I'd rather have a brownie than a Christmas cookie any day - they just taste better. I think the little girl was lucky!

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If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

Well you can twist anything you like. Exactly why did the Pilgrims come to America?? Yes, I have seen all the websites saying it is not true and the US was not founded on Christian principles, but if you take the time to do the research , you will see that just as many say it was indeed. Always two sides to each debate. You can read up if you want: Was the USA Founded as a Christian Nation?
Now, I am one of those who believes there is nothing wrong celebrating Christmas in the schools. It is the adults who make a big deal of it! So what if you have a Christmas party, or say Merry Christmas! Get over it. If you have different beliefs and want to say something back go ahead and say Happy Kwanzaa or whatever else you like to say!! The majority of people in the US still celebrate Christmas. When I lived in Germany I did not expect to get vacation on Thanksgiving or the 4th of July. We adapted to the culture there. We celebrated what they celebrated and enjoyed learning about something different.

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Check out my homepage http://julie.mycoupons.com/

How would you twist this:

Treaty or Tripoli, signed by President John Adams on June 10, 1797, reads:

Art. 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.

The Senate's ratification was only the third recorded unanimous vote of 339 votes taken.

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If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

Yep, they are.....but that is the only one we have ever had that could not eat a cookie or be in the room for the last 5 minutes of class when Word Girl is playing on t.v., because they show some CHRISTmas commercials!

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"When you're drowning, you don't say 'I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me,' you just scream."

John Lennon

I wouldn't want my kid watching any ads on TV while at school. Why are kids watching TV at all? What's the teacher doing?

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If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

I agree, Julie. I did not grow up celebrating Christmas as a religious holiday. It isn't Jesus' birthday. Christmas did come about because Christianity was established as the state religion (by Constantine?), and as an attempt to not have Pagans revolt because they would have to give up everything about their 'lifestyle' (such as their winter solstice celebration), it was declared that Christ's birth would be celebrated at that same time of year. I believe he declared the tree to be a symbol of life, just as Christ would have begun his life on earth. The tree had been a symbol for the Pagans, and by making it have a dual meaning, Constantine was not forcing Pagans to eliminate everything about their old celebrations.

It would be like if someone took over the US and declared July 4 to be "Summer Happiness" day, and said that firecrackers are a symbol of happiness. That might make us less likely to throw a fit if we could still 'do' the things we'd always done on the 4th.

I didn't grow up in an environment that rejected the idea of Jesus at Christmas, but in our home, it was more about Santa than Jesus.... and Santa was a lot like the Easter Bunny....who was a lot like Scooby Doo... just a fun character to make things festive, but that we all acknowledged was all 'story' and not real.

It was about family and sharing and giving and eating.... in other words.... just celebrating the opportunity to get together.

I think it's silly to get in a spitting match over whether the US was founded on Judeo-Christian values. It was, and attempts to deny that are obviously coming from a wing with an agenda. Did every single original US Citizen - even the founders - believe in God and Christ? Nope. But the *values* of that time *were* based on the same core beliefs espoused within Christianity. If you spend any time at all researching the colonies you'll discover that they had STATE religions. There simply was no FEDERAL religion because it was accepted that those loosely-bound 13 colonies were populated by generally homogeneous peoples who had their OWN religions. Many of the very people who signed the US constitution were the founders of those STATE- established colonial religions. If in establishing the constitution they had intended that there be no ties between any governmental oversight bodies and specific religions, they obviously were not living out that intention when they went back to their colonies and paid taxes that directly went to support their state churches.

The preponderance of the founders had ties to some Christian denomination. The Quakers... the Church of England....something.

Bottom line... culturally, Christmas is part of the fabric in most American homes. Not all.... but most. Whether it's all about Jesus or all about Santa, it's 'there' enough that it's a *National* holiday. Just ask your USPS worker.

While I realize that these days it's more PC to see us as a salad bowl than a melting pot, I think it *is* sad that there seem to be so few things that as a nation, we share *culturally*.

wow! That is not the point. During the last five minutes of school, after car riders have gone, we do not teach. We put on Word Girl(an educational show) for the remaining students(bus riders). I do not teach when I have only 5 students left for 5 minutes. lol What is the teacher doing? Watching with the 5 kids that are left in the room.

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"When you're drowning, you don't say 'I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me,' you just scream."

John Lennon

Oh, I thought you meant classroom time. It still seems weird to me that kids can't be expected to entertain themselves for a few minutes while they wait for the bus.

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If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

They can....lol. I just use that last few minutes to throw in a bit of education. Sometimes we sit on the carpet and go over letter sounds or whatever. It varies.

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"When you're drowning, you don't say 'I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me,' you just scream."

John Lennon

It wasn't, and claims that it was are obviously coming from "a wing and an agenda." If it's so silly to argue, then stop arguing! I've yet to see anyone come up with a response to my post, where it was clearly stated by President John Adams that the United States of America is not, in any sense, a nation founded on the Christian religion? Who should I believe "wowitsdark" and "Julie" or President John Adams?

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If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

I believe that what I said was that the founders had as their core a set of Judeo-Christian values. I still believe that to be true.

If you want to toss Adams quotes around, don't forget this one regarding statesmen:"...may plan and speculate for Liberty, but it is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon which Freedom can securely stand."