Nefeli and Slavo, I send you my biggest hugs.

it isn't always easy here since there is a minor fight every year over where we will spend christmas (my parents are divorced)

but i try to make the best out of it, this year i'll be at my mother's house and that's great: to her christmas is about having everyone around, eating something together and giving each other nice small things. to my dad, it's about ordering fancy food and giving money since he doesn't know what to give.

nefeli and slavo, i'm sorry to hear about your negative experiences around this time of the year. hopefully things will get better soon.

Two years is likely much too soon for you to find a brighter side to her loss when with your father on her birthday. Hopefully, over time though, the holiday will actually become positive as it gives you a chance to remember her (perhaps in a gathering that includes both your father and your brother with his family one day).

That is an incredibly hard thing to face each year. It reminds me why all holidays can be bad if we are oblivious to those who don't have any reason to be happy.

yeah fuck you!

My heart goes out to _slavo_ and nefeli at this time of year. Everyone else - crack open a bottle of beer or wine, drink up and celebrate the birth of a mythical being....I am of course talking about Batman.

A very happy Batmanmas to you all.

I don't think Jesus would have liked Christmas.
He probably would have done something to the money changers again.
He didn't get along well with the money changers...but why should Christianity pay attention to anything Christ had to say - they ignore him the rest of the year too.

It's just another appropriated holiday anyway.

you know, that only applies to western christianity, where America and to a lesser extend Europe base the success of the holiday season, not on good deeds or the love of family, but on how much excessive material consumption occurs, and it if is on par or above the previous years excessive consumption...

luckily for Jesus, it is still his birthday and still worth celebrating.

Nah, it' the winter solstice, a former pagan celebration that the christians have "borrowed".

tru dat

I gave a hobo a bottle of champagne last night. Christmas spirit YEAH

that is a silly misunderstanding you have there. Why do christians have to be borrowing from so-called paganism? Could not the celebration of the birth of the Light of the World also coincide with ancient celebrations of the solstice? In fact, from the Christian perspective, the solstice celebrations were an ancient precursor to the birth of Christ, and people were venerating this time of the year in thousands of years of preparation for this birth. So, the solstice is there for Jesus, not jesus added to the solstice, and regardless of your opinion, you have to give credit for the continuity of this thing, the solstice is by no means has ever been as widely venerated as Christmas has been, for at least the past 1600 years..

For example, my birthday often falls on MLK day, am I "borrowing" from Martin Luther King's Birthday in order to celebrate my own?

now he's dead in a ditch from liver damage

jingle bells!

this thread is sad and reminds me of some of my own issues I have with life and Christmas so I'm not going to read it anymore. My heart goes out to everyone who has lost someone close to them.

Champagne is like 2%, 2.5% tops. Jingle Bells indeed. :)

Also I think you'll find my city is fairly ditch-free.

Fuck it dude, I'm not gonna lie. I'm excited for Christmas. Not like I used to be. It really crept up on me. Like...today's the 23rd? Already?weirdsmeout.

But yeah. I'm excited. I'm getting a few books, and maybe some concert tickets. No clue what else.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Alex's Trip again.

[we've been fasting for a month, two weeks to go, I am excited about Christmas too, Ethiopian midnight mass is an ancient and mystical experience ]

Cause the winter solstice is the day the light begins lasting longer, it can be useful as a symbol, for a religion.
Oh! Jesus is the Light of the World?
In that case that makes sense, but, is it in the bible? I don't recall.
I have no idea, in what way, and to what extent, how the winter solstice was celebrated BC, but I know how it is today, bump, and I hate this orgy of light and consumption.

The sooner we get this done with, the better.

yes, that is exactly my point, it can be useful, but I think your implication was that the religion of christianity stole its use, rather than coincided with. As I said before, my birthday often falls on the celebration of MLK's birthday, but am I borrowing or stealing from the good Dr King?


12When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12)

christmas is going to be weird this year since i'm a thousand miles away from my family for the first time. i think i'm getting a lee ranaldo record from my roommate since she keeps bringing it up and actually asked me if i had it. i got her a japanese good luck charm for health and "the fart party" graphic novel. i think we're going to have a tofurkey christmas dinner and watch tv or something.

i'm, also, getting money from my family, so i can put it towards a new track bike. i'm getting that next month.