Sometime in our lives, most of us have interpreted Xmas as taking Christ out of Christmas, but actually. . . .
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So this year when someone says "Happy Holidays" or you see "Merry Xmas" just smile and know that Christ is still "Reason for the Season" in America. . . . .
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Xmas has been used for hundreds of years in religious writing, where the X represents a Greek chi, the first letter of Χριστος, "Christ." In this use it is parallel to other forms like Xtian, "Christian." But people unaware of the Greek origin of this X often mistakenly interpret Xmas as an informal shortening pronounced (ĕksPRIMARY_STRESSməs). Many therefore frown upon the term Xmas because it seems to them a commercial convenience that omits Christ from Christmas.
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In the politically correct world we live in (to avoid offending anyone) some cities and towns are calling a "Christmas Tree" a "Holiday Tree", and some businesses insist their employees tell their customers "Happy Holidays" instead of wishing them a "Merry Christmas" evidently they do not know the meaning of the word "Holiday". . . .
Middle English holidai, holy day, from Old English hālig dæg : hālig, holy; see holy + dæg, day
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So this year when someone says "Happy Holidays" or you see "Merry Xmas" just smile and know that Christ is still "Reason for the Season" in America. . . . .
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Are Christians of today beginning to use code words and/or symbols like the early Christians used the Ichthus or fish symbol?
According to wikipedia.com:
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According to wikipedia.com:
The early Christian church
The ichthys is seen in first century catacombs in Rome.
According to tradition, ancient Christians, during their persecution by the Roman State in the first few centuries after Christ, used the fish symbol to mark meeting places and tombs, or to distinguish friends from foes:
When a Christian met a stranger in the road, the Christian sometimes drew one arc of the simple fish outline in the dirt. If the stranger drew the other arc, both believers knew they were in good company. Current bumper-sticker and business-card uses of the fish hearken back to this practice. The symbol is still used today to show that the bearer is a practicing Christian.
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So Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and have a Cool Yule. . . .
. . . .and even if we have stolen some words and traditions from the pagans. . . .I look at it this way. . . .What the devil intended for evil, God turns around for good. . . .
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According o moonbattery.com:
When is a Christmas tree not a Christmas tree? When it is a giant cone covered in what appears to be green doormats.
Shoppers stared in bemusement at the mysterious object that landed in a shopping precinct in Poole, Dorset, this week. Some compared it to a giant traffic cone, a witch's hat or a cheap special effect from an early episode of Doctor Who.
The 33ft structure turned out to be their Christmas tree, designed according to the principles of health and safety, circa 2009.
Thus it has no trunk so it won't blow over, no branches to break off and land on someone's head, no pine needles to poke a passer-by in the eye, no decorations for drunken teenagers to steal and no angel, presumably because it would need a dangerously long ladder to place it at the top.
Unless of course the angel was forbidden because the last thing our politically correct rulers would want is for Christmas to remind anyone of Christianity. But the emphasis here is on safety, the lawyer-inflicted obsession with which is infantilizing society. Yelps the "town centre manager" Richard Randall-Jones:
People think you can just go into the woods, chop down a tree and put it up in the high street but if it blows over and kills someone then somebody is liable.
According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, Christmas trees are one of the most hazardous objects in the home. They can poke you in the eye with their branches or strain your back when you carry them in and out. It's surprising the Nanny State hasn't gotten around to banning them yet.
http://www.answers.com/topic/xmas
http://www.answers.com/topic/holiday
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichthys
When is a Christmas tree not a Christmas tree? When it is a giant cone covered in what appears to be green doormats.
Shoppers stared in bemusement at the mysterious object that landed in a shopping precinct in Poole, Dorset, this week. Some compared it to a giant traffic cone, a witch's hat or a cheap special effect from an early episode of Doctor Who.
The 33ft structure turned out to be their Christmas tree, designed according to the principles of health and safety, circa 2009.
Thus it has no trunk so it won't blow over, no branches to break off and land on someone's head, no pine needles to poke a passer-by in the eye, no decorations for drunken teenagers to steal and no angel, presumably because it would need a dangerously long ladder to place it at the top.
Unless of course the angel was forbidden because the last thing our politically correct rulers would want is for Christmas to remind anyone of Christianity. But the emphasis here is on safety, the lawyer-inflicted obsession with which is infantilizing society. Yelps the "town centre manager" Richard Randall-Jones:
People think you can just go into the woods, chop down a tree and put it up in the high street but if it blows over and kills someone then somebody is liable.
According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, Christmas trees are one of the most hazardous objects in the home. They can poke you in the eye with their branches or strain your back when you carry them in and out. It's surprising the Nanny State hasn't gotten around to banning them yet.
http://www.answers.com/topic/xmas
http://www.answers.com/topic/holiday
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichthys
