Kwistmas

[davywavy]

If you've been reading the news in the last few days, you might have noticed a short piece about Pipers Vale Primary School, which has banned any mention of Christmas until two weeks before the holiday. This has prompted letters to the press varying in the opinion spectrum from "Shocking, Christmas time for kids, blah blah blah" to the "Hurrah, it's about time" positions. In many ways it's easy to see where the headmistress is coming from - apparently kids so anticipate Christmas that thanks to the amount of tartrazine and sugar in their diets there have been several cases of spontaneous human combustion caused by a build up of excitement at the coming holiday.

Most people, irrespective of religious views, celebrate something at this time of year. Some religions have got lucky and have festivals which happen at the same sort of time and can easily be Shanghaied into an appropriately festive form, like Hannukah. Other people just make something up and stick tinsel on it, like Kwanzaa* or Winterval (ugh).

So, what are your thoughts on Christmas and how it is celebrated?

[Poll #624101]

^{*Kwanzaa is not a real festival. No self-respecting religion would have a festival that shared a spelling scheme with Kwik-Save.}

Comments

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Depends which religion you're talking about; it wasn't a Wiccan festival in the modern sense at all, due to Wicca not really having existed in it's current form for more than a couple of hundred years.
If you want to convince me that you follow a pre-Christan religion, get up that hill and sacrifice your king to the earth. Then we'll talk.

[silver-blue.livejournal.com]

We could all gather round the tree and sing "Happy Birthday Dear Mithras". :)

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a load of bull to me.

[jonnyargles.livejournal.com]

Sol "Invictus" Campbell would be a cool nickname for the football player.

[arralethe.livejournal.com]

*rummages around and finds a display case of trophies*. Please don't tell me you're trying to suggest I haven't done enough bloodletting to qualify for someone that enjoys Yule and Midwinter rather than Christmas :D

I'm quibbling, really, given I proudly own up to having no religion, just faith and belief (and I've never been Wiccan!). The idea that any higher being is checking the calendar to see who's behaving properly on a given day is risible (and yes, I am including Santa in that). There are just appropriate times to reflect and celebrate, although truthfully, it's nicer to try and have one of those moments per day.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

I reflect and celebrate every time I look in the mirror.

[arralethe.livejournal.com]

Giving thanks to the Elder Gods is a strange and unusual custom, but I respect your right to do so.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

puddingcat used to wave the elder sign at me every time I took my shirt off, but surely that was just joking?

[arralethe.livejournal.com]

That would be between you, her and whatever slimy tentacles she was waving it at, I'd have thought.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

My tentacles are not slimy!

[arralethe.livejournal.com]

Just keep taking the tablets and telling yourself that, babe.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

I'm a babe! Woo hoo!

[arralethe.livejournal.com]

Yeah. A babe with slimy tentacles...