Christmas should be secular

[The Folk Prophet]

Don't get me wrong. I'm not advocating for or supportive of the removal of Christ from Christmas. I'm not even saying Christmas shouldn't be a religious holiday. It IS a religious holiday. You can't make it something it isn't. 

But...

I propose the following questions for consideration:

Should we be more mindful of Christ at Christmas time? 

Should we be more kind to our fellow man at Christmas time? 

Should we take better care of the poor at Christmas time? 

Should we worship more at Christmas time? 

If someone thinks the answer to these or any other similar questions is 'yes', may I suggest that some repentence might be in order?

[NeuroTypical]

Secular reason to do more at Christmas: Short days, longer nights, colder temperatures mean humans have more blues/seasonal affective disorder/family squabbles.  Trying harder than the rest of the year to keep a proper focus, special occasions to anticipate, experience, and remember fondly, help us survive the winter.

Totally secular reasoning, from an ordinarily rude and abrasive atheist:

 

[Grunt]

Meh.  "Should" is relevant.  Of course, we should do those things all the time, but just like Sacrament is a time for us to repent and remember why we're here, Christmas is a good road sign to charge our batteries and get us back on track.

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Grunt said:

Meh.  "Should" is relevant.  Of course, we should do those things all the time, but just like Sacrament is a time for us to repent and remember why we're here, Christmas is a good road sign to charge our batteries and get us back on track.

I was going to say something like that. But... Yeah.

[The Folk Prophet]

5 hours ago, Grunt said:

Meh.  "Should" is relevant.  Of course, we should do those things all the time, but just like Sacrament is a time for us to repent and remember why we're here, Christmas is a good road sign to charge our batteries and get us back on track.

"Should" is relevant. And I have no problem with Christmas being a time to get back on track, of course.

But what I mean by "should" should be clear. I mean ideally.

The objective of the idea is not to downplay the religious side of Christmas or it's potential benefit and goodness. Good is good. The objective is to reject the idea that the other side of Christmas (speaking of the secular (but not of selfish and wrong...wrong is always wrong) side of Christmas.

In other words, I'm justifying my Christmas tree, my twinkling lights, my Christmas music, my egg nog (non-alcoholic, of course), and my Santa Claus.

Edited December 15, 2018 by The Folk Prophet

[Fether]

6 hours ago, The Folk Prophet said:

Don't get me wrong. I'm not advocating for or supportive of the removal of Christ from Christmas. I'm not even saying Christmas shouldn't be a religious holiday. It IS a religious holiday. You can't make it something it isn't. 

But...

I propose the following questions for consideration:

Should we be more mindful of Christ at Christmas time? 

Should we be more kind to our fellow man at Christmas time? 

Should we take better care of the poor at Christmas time? 

Should we worship more at Christmas time? 

If someone thinks the answer to these or any other similar questions is 'yes', may I suggest that some repentence might be in order?

I have a Hispanic client that I work with. A few weeks ago I asked her how her thanksgiving was. She responded with “I am Hispanic and we don’t really celebrate thanksgiving... I celebrate it every day, you know? I think you need to be thankful all year long and not just once a year”

If our relationship didn’t effect to my paybcheck, I would have rolled my eyes so hard that they may never have straightened out.

Anyway, I know you are not being condescending like she was, but I think your post is similar to her response to my question. I think it is nice to have a time of year focused on a certain aspect of the gospel.

But... to relate, I have a hard time around Christmas and Easter because I never really feel an increase love and gratitude for the savior. If I’m honest, I have a minor dread for April GC and Christmas time because everything we hear being discussed has to do with the birth of Christ or the Resurrection. But that is just me.

 

[The Folk Prophet]

10 minutes ago, Fether said:

Anyway, I know you are not being condescending like she was, but I think your post is similar to her response to my question

Yeah, it's kinda like that. Except not at all. 

[Grunt]

8 hours ago, The Folk Prophet said:

 

In other words, I'm justifying my Christmas tree, my twinkling lights, my Christmas music, my egg nog (non-alcoholic, of course), and my Santa Claus.

1

Surely the Word of Wisdom can't include rum in egg nog.

[Midwest LDS]

14 hours ago, The Folk Prophet said:

Don't get me wrong. I'm not advocating for or supportive of the removal of Christ from Christmas. I'm not even saying Christmas shouldn't be a religious holiday. It IS a religious holiday. You can't make it something it isn't. 

But...

I propose the following questions for consideration:

Should we be more mindful of Christ at Christmas time? 

Should we be more kind to our fellow man at Christmas time? 

Should we take better care of the poor at Christmas time? 

Should we worship more at Christmas time? 

If someone thinks the answer to these or any other similar questions is 'yes', may I suggest that some repentence might be in order?

I see what you mean. Ideally, we should be doing these things throughout the year, and Christmas should not be different. Exercising faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, and doing good for our fellow man, should be our default setting no matter the time. However, I agree with @Grunt. I appreciate the time to remind myself to act more in accordance with the teachings of Christ. My weakness frequently leads me to sin and slothfullness, and I appreciate a time set aside (Easter is the same for me) to make an evaluation of how I am doing, and what I can do to improve. I shouldn't need that ideally, but I do, and I consider these holidays merciful gifts from God to help His frail children. Plus I love the other side of Christmas too much to ever give it up (no one can take my my family time and gift giving away☺)

[JohnsonJones]

Ideally, that is what Christmas has supposed to be for at least a few centuries.  (of course, originally Christmas is theorized to have originated from Pagan Holidays that were integrated into Christianity as it attempted to convert the pagan...but that's another story).

Christians were supposed to follow their religion all year round.  Christmas was set more as a holiday.  Yes, they remember what it was about, but they do it all year round.  Rather, Christmas was the time that they would celebrate it in holiday (as they would any holy day) as an extra day to go to church and treat it like an extra Sabbath, but also a time to celebrate with gift giving to others. 

Ironically, it was a Christian Holy day/Holiday which has, like many other Christian Holidays, become more secular over the years.  Probably (just conjecture) because it doesn't require one to be Christian to receive a gift, and several traditions do not rely on one being Christian to practice it.

I think why many try to focus on the "reason for the season" today is because many get more caught up in the fun traditions and forget what it is all about (especially if they are not Christian, and Christians may not be sharing their religion during this gift giving time either with those who are celebrating but are not Christian).

However, seeing it as a Holiday to worship but also enjoy family and gifts I think is entirely appropriate and in fact one of the firm traditions of American (well, North American) culture.