One of the girls I'm seeing right now is Muslim and I knew she didn't really practice but it surprised me when I went over to her house and she had put a X-mas tree up.  It turns out her family had always celebrated Xmas, the Jesus part too not just "Father Christmas".  Her father went to school in Britain and learned about Christianity and liked it.  Also this girl is one of the most peaceful people I have ever met.  It is hard to believe other people of her faith do the things they do.  But then it is hard to believe the Catholics in the IRA or during the Inquisition did the things they did and call themselves Christian.

There are Protestants and other religions represented in the various Republican groups, thank you very much. Some of the best in fact.

Sherrick:

I used to know many Muslims that don't give a rat ass about jihad.  In my high school here, there were Muslims who would drink beers with us, eat pork, etc.  The sore thumbs always stick out the most.  

Having said that, I have to admit that I stil have negative views toward muslims in general.  That is because I came from a country where Christians are minorities, and the Muslim fundamentalist pigs would bomb our churches during Christmas.  Most of you would probably know where that country is.  A few years ago, in that same country, these Muslim bastards orchestrated mass murders and rapes of Christian women.  Yes, there are good Muslims out there, but since most of my experience with them in general were not good, I stil have a degree of animosity toward muslims.  

The whole thread Sherrick described is pretty damn odd though, and is keeping me from studying ANTH 009. It goes beyond a couple beers and some pork chops.

The whole point of Christmas is to celebrate Christ's divinity and birth. If you don't believe in that, it seems, well fake. I mean, really really odd. Artificial beyond cheezy Christmas cards.

I just can't see tossing some non-Christian religous holidays into my yearly schedule just because I think they are "neat".

So have you hit it yet ???  Got any pix???

[LOLabove]

Yes I know, BTW I'm Catholic and I was meaning to say I am ashamed to be associated with those acts.

Sorry I never have kissed and told.  

I will work on a pic though.
She is a little uneasy about guns, them being totally illegal in her country.  She did say she will go shooting with me though.

Maybe for Christians - but what the heck do traditional yuletide festivities have to do with the birth of Christ?  I mean - a tree in the house - why?  It is a cultural holiday like Thanksgiving and the New Year - except in the eyes of the ACLU types who want to politicize everything.

The only partially odd thing is that the folks in the original post acknowledge it as the birth of Christ.  Still, I've celebrated Buddha's Birthday - but that doesn't mean I thought he was a god.

I wonder if that girl and her family respect it enough to spell 'Xmas' 'Christmas'?

Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you just taking the shortcut on typing.

X is the greek key for Christ.  Don't apologise for typing xmas. If someone doednt like it, fuck'm.



-HS

I Iota the first letter in the Greek word Iesous Jesus
X Chi the first letter in the Greek word Christos Christ
Q Theta the first letter in the Greek word Theos Of God
U Upsilon the first letter in the Greek word Yios (Huois) Son
S Sigma the first letter in the Greek word Soter Savior




Greek meaning Iesous Christos Theos Yios Soter
English transliteration ...  Jesus Christ Of God Son Savior

In the years following the ascension of the resurrected Jesus to heaven, the Christian church grew rapidly.
Christians soon found themselves to be the subjects of persecution by both the Romans and the Jews.
In many locales, it became dangerous to be known as a Christian.
Thus, when two strangers met and thought maybe they were fellow believers, one of them would draw, on the ground, the upper half of the fish symbol.  

[img]http://www.eureka4you.com/fish/fishhalve1.gif[/img]


Recognizing the symbol, the stranger would add a second curved line and complete the drawing of a fish.  


[img]http://www.eureka4you.com/fish/fishhalve2.gif[/img]



It is a very simple shape to draw - just two curved strokes. It could be drawn quickly, and erased just as quickly if there was no sign of recognition on the part of the stranger.  


We do not know whether the story above is true but we do know that the fish's first known use as a Christian religious symbol was sometime within the first three centuries AD. Possibly around the 16th century Christians began using the Greek word ichthys for "fish". Ichthys is the most commonly used word in the New Testament for fish.
Ichthys consists of five letters from the Greek alphabet: I-ch-th-y-s. When these five letters are used as initials for five words, we obtain this Christian Declaration: Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter. This is an acrostic for 'Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior.' As described in the first paragraph above.



Edit: Spelling

Spoken like someone filled with the Spirt of Christ!

[LOLabove]

The previous pastor at the church I'm a member at used to be a missionary in Sri Lanka.  He would throw a large Christmas party every year and Buddhist monks would show up.  To the monks, it was a purely social event.  Occasionally one monk would start asking a whole lot of questions because they were not used to religious holidays that didn't involve fasting or someother form of discomfort or self sacrifice.

Jeremiah, chapter 10, denounces what is plainly a Christmas tree:

"Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen... for one cutteth a tree out of the forest... They deck it with silver and with gold..."

The Old Testament is full of stuff most Christians would rather not hear, especially the Mosaic books.  You like that jumbo shrimp?  Unclean.  Crab?  Unclean.  Lobster?  Unclean.  Think abortion is murder?  Exodus 21:22 says the penalty for causing a miscarriage is only a fine, whereas 21:12 says the penalty for murder is death.  Clearly a fetus is not a person or the penalty would be the same.  And you can't believe in the Constitution and the Bible both because the First Amendment grants freedom of religion, while Exodus 22:20 says the followers of other gods shall be put to death.  No ifs, ands or buts.

Now, some people will try to evade the issue by saying we're under a new covenant and The Law (that is, the Old Testament) no longer applies.  But often those same people will say the Bible is the inerrant Word of God down to the last comma.  Well, which is it?  And if the Old Law no longer applies, why do they get so bent out of shape when someone objects to the Ten Commandments being posted in a schoolroom or a courthouse?  That Old Law is now invalid, right?  So what's the big deal?

Some people just want to have it both ways.

Outstanding post.

As one of those "new covenant" Christians who DOES NOT believe the Bible is the inerrant word of God, I am definitely going to look up those passages for curiousities sake.

I was first introduced to the "inerrant word of God" crowd in college - I can remember studying from a Biogeography text and having one of them go off about Noah's Ark and how all science-based natural history is a fraud.  I realize that this applies to many members of this board - but, quite frankly, I don't get it.  I also don't think Jesus himself would.