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You say Hanukkah is not a big deal because to US Jews it's not a big deal. Does that mean you think Christmas is a big deal to Christians?
Doesn't matter about commercialization. It does not negate the fact that Christmas is a Christian holiday that signifies the birth of Christ. Will you deny this?
To all Jewish people it's not a big deal. Hanukkah just isn't an important religious holiday to Jewish people. It's the biggest one we hear about due to an attempt to commercialize it. But it's very low on the list of Jewish holidays.
Christmas, however, is on the top (or near top) of Christian holidays.
I'm not denying that the roots of Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ. However, in the United States, it's just a holiday where Santa drops off gifts under a tree and we eat lots of good food. Christians add their religious bits on top of that.
As I mentioned in my earlier post, Hanukkah has not been commercialized and turned into a social holiday. That's why majority of Americans don't adopt it. The reason for this is because there's practically no Jewish people in the United States to pass the culture onto Americans. Also, for the Jewish people here, it's not an important holiday. Many don't make a bid deal of it.
Yes, exactly. If we had a holiday as BIG, commercialized, and commonly celebrated (in sheer numbers) as Christmas, I'm sure many non-Jews would choose to join in on the fun too. As it is, Chanukah is a minor holiday to even the Jewish folks, and will never reach the commercial "success" of Christmas - thank goodness.
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Do you eat Bagels? Why? Bagels are a Jewish custom and you are Christians. It's a stupid argument, but it's one you're trying to use.
Good analogy, LOL. Lots of Gentiles also use common Yiddish words, like schlep, nosh, klutz, yenta, etc, sometimes without even knowing the definition. Why? Because these words have reached popular/commercial culture, and have thus been adopted by people of all religious & cultural backgrounds.
People still get those things? I most certainly don't, and never have, since I've mostly worked in public service jobs... and seeing as these cities/counties are barely staying afloat right now, they definitely aren't handing out any bonuses! I'm just grateful my paychecks don't bounce, LOL.
Dude (or dudette, I don't know), most of the christmas traditions were adapted from pagan rituals. They really have nothing to do with christianity. It's just a fun tradition.
Actually, that's only a partial truth. Wanna know the real scoop?
In the early days of Christianity, it was not good to be a Christian. They were an outlawed group, highly persecuted in the roman empire, until much later when Rome adopted Christianity as the State Religion.
Prior to that, Rome celebrated Saturnalia in late December ... the worship of Saturn .. the Sun God ... most certainly a pagan ritual celebration of the Winter Solstice, which included decorating homes and gift giving and feasts.
Christians, being an outlawed group couldn't exactly have their own holiday celebration of the birth of Christ openly for obvious reasons, which was understood to be not during winter, as the telling of Christ's birth (in a manger) included language of shepherds attending their flocks all night ... suggests a much earlier date of birth, likely summer or early fall. But in order to celebrate Christ's birth (son of God), they conjoined their celebration of Christ with the traditional Roman Holiday of Saturnalia .. the worship of the Sun God, during the same period and observing the same basic traditions for their safety.
So it's really not a stolen holiday as much as it was a piggy back on the pagan worship of the Sun God, stealthily concealed within that existing Holiday for safety reasons. The adopted traditions stuck, and remained a part of the Christmas celebration thereafter.
So, Christmas has always been a Christian Holiday celebrating the birth of Christ ... and openly so since the 5th Century. Prior to that, it was still a celebration of Christ's birth, concealed within the celebration of Saturnalia.
If you don't believe, why do you feel the need to tell Christians and Muslims that you don't believe? Seems you are still looking for some kind of approval.
When the thread headline is a question directed at agnostics/atheists, it's a little silly to show up to complain about agnostics/atheists verbalizing their stance. What did you expect?
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As it is, Chanukah is a minor holiday to even the Jewish folks, and will never reach the commercial "success" of Christmas - thank goodness.
