Christmas from Non-Christian points of view

  • Thread starter Thread starter AgnosTheist
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
A

AgnosTheist

Guest
Christmas in Japan

*It is estimated that less than 1% of Japan’s population is Christian. Also, December 25th is not a Japanese national holiday. Unless it is on weekend, Japanese people work and go to school on the day. Christmas is mostly a commercial event in Japan. Many people don’t know exactly what the origin of Christmas is. The big corporations do the main decorating. They light their buildings and the trees.

Many western customs in observing Christmas have been adopted by the Japanese. Lots of people decorate Christmas trees at home and hold parties around Christmas Day. Japanese people tend to find things of interest from abroad and transform them into something that is uniquely Japanese. It’s a Japanese way to celebrate Christmas Eve by eating Christmas cakes. Also, Christmas Eve has become a night for lovers to go out and spend a romantic time together at fancy restaurants or hotels. It isn’t easy to make reservations for such restaurants and hotels at the last minute on this day.
Besides exchanging Christmas gifts, there is a custom of sending oseibo (the end of the year gift) from business to business in Japan.
Japanese Holiday Gifts

December is the bounenkai (forget-the-year-party) season in Japan. Christmas parties tend to be mixed up with bounenkai. You see many drunk people on the street on December nights in Japan.

For Japanese people, Christmas is an enjoyable day in the year, but Japanese New Year is more important than Christmas.*

gojapan.about.com/cs/christmasinjapan/a/chrismasinjapan.htm

Im not a Christian either but I love Christmas! It surely had become a secular holiday. From pagans -to christians- and back to unbelievers. A very nice tradition for everybody. 👍

Merry Christmas! 🙂
 
You actually celebrate the religious holiday of a religion you don’t believe?

That’s just plain wierd.

It’s be like me, a catholic, celebrating Ramadan.

Why do you do it?
 
iamrefreshed said:
You actually celebrate the religious holiday of a religion you don’t believe?

That’s just plain wierd.
Click to expand...
Hey christianity ceased having a monopoly on christmas since the invasion of rudolph & frosty the snow man!
iamrefreshed said:
Why do you do it?
Click to expand...
The same reason the Japanese does. All in the name of fun! 👍

Besides, it was originally a pagan holiday. Merry Saturnalia! Happy Dies Natalis Solis Invicti! 😃

Merry making knows no bounds.

Lets sing now…my favorites:

Mariah Carrey “All I want for Christmas is you!”

Elvis “Blue Christmas”

Filipino carols are equally fun!
 
Actually Christmas was never a pagan holiday. Early Christians convinced pagans that Christmas could replace their pagan winter feasts.

Sometimes they resorted to a little trickery;)

Maybe we’ll get you that way:thumbsup:
 
DON’T WE ALL KNOW THE PURPOSE OF CHRISTMAS ???!

SO THAT ON THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT, NOBODY CAN DENY KNOWING CHRIST. THAT THE DAMNED WILL BE DAMNED WITHOUT EXCUSE.

Whether it is celebrated or not is irrelevant because Christ is not born in december, neither does the bible state its celebration as necessary for salvation, not to mention its beginnings are highly suspect and likely paganistic. Yet today, christmas is one of the biggest festivities in the world.

You will not go to hell for NOT celebrating christmas, but you will go to hell for rejecting Christ.

Anything that is not against you is for you. In the case of Christmas, it is witness unto the damned. Celebrate it if you will, cos on the day of judgement. God will show people dancing during christmas and singing the carols, and people exchanging gifts, then have the very lives of these people removed from them for denying Him and not following His ways.
 
Jesusisgod said:
God will show people dancing during christmas and singing the carols, and people exchanging gifts, then have the very lives of these people removed from them for denying Him and not following His ways.
Click to expand...
Dont ruin the spirit of Christmas!!! :eek:
 
I only “celebrate” because everyone else around me does…frankly I couldn’t care less.

You know whats funny…Mithraism’s saviour, Mithras, just happened to be born on Dec. 25…long before christians laid claim to the day. Just another example of how Christianity “borrowed” things from more pagan religions in order to convince people to convert and its not really disputed that Jesus wasn’t actually born on Dec 25…so really the proper PC term for Dec 25 should be “Merry Mithras”…but who cares about PC?
 
AgnosTheist said:
Dont ruin the spirit of Christmas!!! :eek:
Click to expand...
Do you think the spirit of christmas (if there is one) is to celebrate and remain in darkness?

God loves the truth much more than any celebration. Living in Christ much more than what man would want to think of their own self-made festivities.
 
40.png
Jesusisgod:
DON’T WE ALL KNOW THE PURPOSE OF CHRISTMAS ???!

SO THAT ON THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT, NOBODY CAN DENY KNOWING CHRIST. THAT THE DAMNED WILL BE DAMNED WITHOUT EXCUSE.
Click to expand...
Pardon me. But the purpose of Christmas is to focus on Christ. We celebrate the original coming of Christ as we patiently, joyously, expectantly, and quietly await His return. The purpose is for the believers in Christ to reflect upon their lives and to repent and make the needed adjustments to grow in holiness.

The purpose is not to for people that think their salvation is secure to thumb their noses at other people that the people who think there salvation is secure think are damned.

There IS a Spirit of Christmas; it is the Spirit of Christ.
 
How about Festovous for the rest of us!!

I have a good friend who is Japanese. We had this exact conversation a week ago. He told me that it is becoming a big gift day, and he likened it to Valentine’s day tied in with New Years. His wife will put out the tree this week, when she gets back from Japan. To me, it is one of the best messages of Christmas: Peace on Earth and Goodwill towards All. This is a resounding message, even if it for a day and even if some don’t mean it. All of you are welcome to celebrate Christmas, even if it for a day and even if you don’t mean it.
 
Actually Christmas was never a pagan holiday. Early Christians convinced pagans that Christmas could replace their pagan winter feasts.
Click to expand...
Well, what Christmas celebrates isn’t really pagan. Christmas and Yule are pretty different.

But at the same time, there are many similiarities that the Christians took from ancient paganism and adapted into their own, to make it easier for pagans to convert. For example, nto only do they fall very close to each other, but they also both celebrate the birth of God. So it’s kinda different but the same idea.
 
Many of you have probably read some of the stuff I have written about one of my bosses who we imported from Japan. He and his family are Catholic Japanese citizens. When his family arrived just one week before Christmas, I was asked to decorate his house for Christmas since his family would not have time to do so and get settled in. I spent alot of time decorating the place… and while they thanked me, they were relatively unimpressed… it wasn’t about Santa and decorating for them… the first thing they wanted to know was the mass schedule… Thankfully, I am with them on that one! Anyway, after Christmas, this gentleman asked me what we do for New Years celebration. I told him, my family stays home and we have shrimp cocktail, cheese and snacks… then at midnight we have sparkling cider. No big deal for us. He brought me a dried fruit tray that symbolizes prosperity for New Years… apparently you are supposed to eat lotus, and the different “treats” on New Years to ensure prosperity for the coming year. He also asked about fireworks displays (yeah… I live in a rural midwest town…fireworks…yeah). He and his family traveled to Chicago and stayed in a hotel just to celebrate New Years… It seemed a sharp contrast to the way they celebrated Christmas. I will tell you this… During Advent they do go to all the special events at our parish and during Lent they are at the Stations of the Cross every Friday and all Holy week masses and services. I saw them there because we go too…

The funniest thing… this gentleman somehow thought if there was no school, there was no work… so Veterans Day, Columbus Day… he didn’t think we worked… it was too funny! He also thought we closed up for 2 weeks at Christmas and New Year’s.
 
BlestOne said:
The funniest thing… this gentleman somehow thought if there was no school, there was no work… so Veterans Day, Columbus Day… he didn’t think we worked… it was too funny! He also thought we closed up for 2 weeks at Christmas and New Year’s.
Click to expand...
Count me in with him!

More family, less work!
 
iamrefreshed said:
Count me in with him!

More family, less work!
Click to expand...
Oh I soooo wish!!! Thankfully, all the owners of the company and the majority are Catholic so we get Good Friday off and we can go to mass any time we want. All I have to say to the owner is that I need to go to mass and he just smiles and tells me to say a prayer for him…
 
b_justb said:
Pardon me. But the purpose of Christmas is to focus on Christ. We celebrate the original coming of Christ as we patiently, joyously, expectantly, and quietly await His return. The purpose is for the believers in Christ to reflect upon their lives and to repent and make the needed adjustments to grow in holiness.

The purpose is not to for people that think their salvation is secure to thumb their noses at other people that the people who think there salvation is secure think are damned.

There IS a Spirit of Christmas; it is the Spirit of Christ.
Click to expand...
If we only spend one day to focus on christ a year, its as good as telling everyone that we are fooling ourselves in the faith. I am not here to dispute with you on the relevance of christmas, but that its very existence serves as a witness to us. Even to you who claims to use it for good.

Ultimately, its not what you say but what you do that will save your soul. Not what you think others are doing to you that serves to judge your sense of right or wrong, but what how much you truly know God.

I am who I am.
 
Dear Agnos,

You said that you celebrate Christmas although you claim to be unbeliever. During your Christmas celebration, what did you celebrate? for what reason? Sorry for asking. I mean no offense and I am just curious. I am sure that it is not just for fun, since you can have fun and celebration all year long. Does not have to wait for Christmas.
 
swariffin said:
Dear Agnos,

You said that you celebrate Christmas although you claim to be unbeliever. During your Christmas celebration, what did you celebrate? for what reason? Sorry for asking. I mean no offense and I am just curious. I am sure that it is not just for fun, since you can have fun and celebration all year long. Does not have to wait for Christmas.
Click to expand...
Im not answering on behalf of Agnostheist, but I can understand why others celebrate Christmas such as:
  • Public holiday
  • Family celebrates with a meal together
  • excuse to go shopping
  • pressure to buy gifts
  • people who don’t practise their Christian faith, still know what Christmas is all about
  • people are in the habit of “celebrating Christmas”
  • media hype
Its a good point you bring up swariffin? Non-Christians can “celebrate” the way they would on Christmas at any time of the year, or every day if they have the money of course ;).
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top