Misinformation posted officially at work - how to handle?

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Tis_Bearself said:
Yeah, historians tend to believe he was born in the summer or fall, not the spring.
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For a long time I thought that it was likely that he was born in the fall, on Rosh Hashanah. It’s held to be the day on which Adam and Eve were created, as well as the day on which Abraham nearly sacrificed Isaac. It seemed right to me that it would also be the birthday of our Lord.

But there’s no good reason to think that it wasn’t on December 25, even though a poll of all historians (which by definition is going to be comprised largely of those who are in fact ignorant of the topic) might find that most of them think otherwise.
 
It’s true, we really do not know when he was born exactly anyway as people just arrive at a date through trying to figure out based on things like when would shepherds be in the fields and when would Zachariah be doing priest functions, etc.

In any event, the exact day is not really that important. After all, we probably don’t celebrate Christ’s resurrection on the actual day it occurred, since Easter is a moveable feast.
 
That’s discrimination. I dont know what country you are in, but here it’s against the law. I think you are right to have a word. They should just say what the ‘holiday’ is end of… without all the babble, especially if they dont contradict the others as well. They are picking on us Christians and quite honestly talking a load of old socks. Who cares what that persons selective opinion is on historians opinions( there are other Historians which have very different opinions which support Christianity which he/she didnt include) Very insulting I agree. Good for you.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
It’s true, we really do not know when he was born exactly anyway as people just arrive at a date through trying to figure out based on things like when would shepherds be in the fields and when would Zachariah be doing priest functions, etc.
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Actually, the earliest records show that it was celebrated on December 25 because they had always been taught that that’s when it actually happened.
 
losh14 said:
I finally just asked for a meeting with the head of the committee and said simply “I feel like I’ve been misrepresented and I wanted to clarify that misrepresentation.” There’s no reason to throw shade like that on a religion that has a number of adherents using that break room. I’d like to tell her that it would have been sufficient to note “Christians observe the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25th in many parts of the world, although some observe it on January 7th”.
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If you met with her and said this, then I think you handled it commendably well and could not have done it better.

It bothered you and you spoke up in a respectful manner that followed an appropriate protocol.

Rest easy now. You’ll still enjoy the wonders of Christmas, regardless of what others may think. Right? 😎
 
It turns out it’s the other way around, when Saturnalia became a feast, Christmas was already widely celebrated. It was to COUNTER Christianity. Have the powers that be seen this video?Horus Ruins Christmas
I’ve always found it that when people say that Christianity was co-opted from Pagan religions can never say which one. They are often self-contradictory.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
In any event, the exact day is not really that important. After all, we probably don’t celebrate Christ’s resurrection on the actual day it occurred, since Easter is a moveable feast.
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I concur on both; the source of offense in my eyes is that wording was published on my company’s bulletin board, with approval, that posits the source of this holiday has to do with influences that are not relevant to celebrants. It’s a little like saying “Ramadan continues to be observed despite the presence of extremists who use Islam as an excuse for violence.” It’s non-reflective of the believer, and asserts doubt on the validity of the belief or observance.
 
neophyte said:
Actually, the earliest records show that it was celebrated on December 25 because they had always been taught that that’s when it actually happened.
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If you have a link or citation, I’d really appreciate being able to share it. At least then we could add “had been celebrated on December 25th since…”
 
on_the_hill said:
Rest easy now. You’ll still enjoy the wonders of Christmas, regardless of what others may think. Right? 😎
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Thanks. I’ve still not heard back and I wonder if she’s out of office. If she doesn’t meet with me before it’s taken down I’ll ask to be appointed to the committee so I can prevent it in the future.

But yes, Christmas is wonderful. We have more people to celebrate with than time to see them all, which is a wonderful balance to have. I have yet to do the three things I’d most love to do: go caroling, bake povitica, and watch the Band of Brothers episode on Bastogne (which happened at Christmas and reminds me of my grandfather and great uncles, who overwintered in Bastogne and Belgium after landing at Normandy).
 
It’s perfectly true that we don’t have certain knowledge of the origin of December 25 as the date on which we commemorate the birth of Jesus. One theory, for instance, is that Constantine took over the day of Sol Invictus, the “Unconquered Sun”, a Roman deity who seems to have been identified with the Persian god Mithras. However, it is equally possible that it happened the other way around: some pagan priests took over the Christians’ Christmas and made it the day of Sol Invictus instead, with the support of the imperial authorities, a century or two before Constantine, at a time when they were attempting to stamp out Christianity and restore pagan worship.
 
Regardless of the Dec 25 date, the wording on the poster is so sterile and wordsmithed to not offend that its treatment of Christmas is dismissive, to say the least.
 
losh14 said:
So the nonsense about historians and Saturnalia, to put it honestly, isn’t a top-down ie “this is policy” nor is it democratized such that anyone can post it; it’s a combination of official need and official review.
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get the facts and report it to HR that miss information has been put on the board. It is a fact that Christians celebrate the BIRTH of Jesus on Dec 25 not his ‘birthday’. Second, the early church celebrated Christmas a a holy day, with prayer and devotions not riotous parties. That came much, much later and long past any pagan festivals.

When you have an accurate list drawn up take it into the HR department and ask that they post your correction.

 
This is from the EEOC (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) website:

Religious Discrimination & Harassment​

It is illegal to harass a person because of his or her religion.

Harassment can include, for example, offensive remarks about a person’s religious beliefs or practices.
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I would take the necessary factual corrections about Christmas, in print, to HR. Bring it along with some info from the EEOC website too.
 
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I really hate this stuff. I am quite a liberal person and proud of it, and I still hate this stuff. Why can’t we just go to work and work? Why do we need this kind of thing? It is an invitation for upset, hurt feelings, law suits, anger, and a hundred other negative things.

Sounds like the leaders in your organization need some better training.
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
Yeah, historians tend to believe he was born in the summer or fall, not the spring.
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Yes, sometime in late summer or early autumn. Basically, about six months after John the Baptist was born, which historians can p(name removed by moderator)oint easier since they can p(name removed by moderator)oint the week his father, Zechariah, served in the Temple when the angel of the Lord told him that he was going to have a son and to name him John.

That said, the Church has chosen December 25th as the date that we celebrate the birth of Jesus so we do, and that is all what really matters.
 
QwertyGirl said:
I really hate this stuff. I am quite a liberal person and proud of it, and I still hate this stuff. Why can’t we just go to work and work? Why do we need this kind of thing? It is an invitation for upset, hurt feelings, law suits, anger, and a hundred other negative things.
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I agree. There is no point in posting about holidays on a bulletin board when people can just Google if they care.
 
losh14 said:
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BartholomewB:
When you say the bulletin board is “used by various organizations,” do you mean that certain employees, acting on behalf of certain recognized organizations, have been authorized by your employers to post things there while other employees, including yourself, do not have that right? Anybody here wishing to make a suggestion needs to know, I think, what the company would allow and what it wouldn’t allow. After all, as you say, the nonsense about “historians” and Saturnalia was not posted there by the company, but only by someone representing a named association.
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This is a fair question. My understanding is that anything posted on this bulletin board has been reviewed by two directors in two parts of the organization - facilities and HR - and that employees who are members of recognized affinity groups (LGBTQIA, Women in Leadership, African-American Colleagues, etc) or who are members appointed to or who have volunteered for specific committees (MCA, Environmental Awareness, Healthy Living, etc) can submit items to be posted. So the nonsense about historians and Saturnalia, to put it honestly, isn’t a top-down ie “this is policy” nor is it democratized such that anyone can post it; it’s a combination of official need and official review.
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I think here’s the key to avoid future occurrences of this type of postings on the bulletin board. You should consider forming at your company a Christian affinity group with other Christians (Catholics and non-Catholics) that work at your company. This way, your objections to such tone-deaf posting would carry more weight at the company.
 
PeterT said:
since they can p(name removed by moderator)oint the week his father, Zechariah, served in the Temple
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Can they? That’s news to me. I’ve always read that nobody knows what time of year it was.
 
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