Happy Jesus' birthday!?

[Taco-Calamitous]

This thread is humorous to a certain degree. It won't be humorous anymore if I get sucked into the argument though, so...

I am a little bit of both, as far as "Celebrating Jesus' Birthday" and "Spending Time With Family" goes. I'm a Catholic, and I go to Midnight Mass every year (at 10 PM, of course) with my family. Then we come back and eat the cheese and drink the wine and throw gifts at each other as hard as we can, to see who can hurt their target the worst.

I have actually heard that Jesus was born in April. I don't mind that he wasn't born on Christmas Day, and that we stole it from a Pagan holiday; it's still the day we celebrate the birth of Christ, regardless. Anyhoo...

Wuv, Yer Mom

[Walter Sobchak]

Agnostic is the term used to say that you do not believe in god. However, if evidence were brought your way, you could be swayed by the argument. I suppose it could be said to be a state of having an indifference to religeon. It is often mixed up with Atheism, or being Atheist. This states that you do not believe in god. And you dont believe evidence could ever arrise, therefor saying that god does not and cannot possibly exist.

That simply isn't true. I am an atheist, and I do not believe in a God, but if frogs started to rain from the sky and the Apocalypse was imminent, I would have to be thick headed to deny its transgression. But getting into hypotheticals about the ability to prove the existence or non-existence of a deity is irrelevant, since that isn't a likely scenario.

Jin answered most what I was getting at (there was a time when Jin and I ruled ID, and I miss that), but my point is somewhat different. Admitting you cannot possibly understand the existence or shape a deity would take is one thing, but all of us have our perceptions. Have you ever watched a football game with someone who said they didn't know who would win or by how much? Well, none of us know who will win or by how much. But we have our belief as to who will win and by how much, and that is what really atheism versus theism comes down to.

I am basically stealing all of this from Dawkins, but it makes sense if you really think about it.

[Jin]

ya jin u havent read the previous posts STAY ON TOPIC

BUT U DO HAVE A POINT BUT PLEASE STAY ON TOPIC AND ANSWER THE QUESTION

You crack me up, kid.

An attempt to better answer James' question:

When it really comes down to it, agnosticism shouldn't be a disposition so much as a process. The processes begins by not being sure whether god exists or not, but that alone does not make one an agnostic, in my less than humble opinion. Spiritual self discovery should then ensues, leading to one of two conclusions.

Conclusion 1: Human beings can know nothing about god, including whether it exists or not and therefore, further searching is irrelevant. These agnostics are not much different from atheists apart from generally being less militant and less hypocritical. As one can no doubt discern, to claim that humans do not and cannot know is to reject current religions as being false. This is not simply "I don't know if god exists."

Conclusion 2: There is no conclusion. This seeker will continue on his spiritual quest, knowing full well that he will never find the answers, hoping that someday the answers will find him. This clearly means that the person in question believes something is out there, albeit something unfathomable. Also not simply a "I don't know if god exists" stance.

This is the Dicjinary (oh I'm so clever) definition of the word. I'm sure many disagree, but they are wrong.

edit: I miss the glory days too, James. Unfortunately, with the BOD gone, there's less vocal idiocy around this place. Less that's worth having fun with at any rate.

[Yesha]

ALright.. back on the topic..

Do you think of christmas as a religious celebration of the birth of Jesus?
OR
Do you see it as simply a time for family and happiness?
OR
Maybe a different view altogether.?

As a FiLipino (Asian) we do beLieve it as both.. a reLigious ceLebration and aLso a time to ceLebrate w/ famiLy or Love ones.. Mmm.. every Christmas we make sure we attend mass to give thanks to Jesus and I aLways greet him "Happy B-day".. since I beLieve that he was born on Dec. 25.. LoL! WeLL.. that's it..

[Hyzenthlay]

That simply isn't true. I am an atheist, and I do not believe in a God, but if frogs started to rain from the sky and the Apocalypse was imminent, I would have to be thick headed to deny its transgression. But getting into hypotheticals about the ability to prove the existence or non-existence of a deity is irrelevant, since that isn't a likely scenario.

Uhhh, no. The term "agnostic" is the new way to rebel, now that atheism has become so mainstream and has made a fool of itself on equal grounds with theism. It involves teenagers doing zero research into religious (and often philosophical) thought, deciding they'd prefer to ignore the hassle of meaningful spiritual thought and commandeering a word that they bastardize to mean "indifference", which is a apt way to describe the majority of this generation.

For the record, I'm Catholic by religeon. I dont have extreme views, though. So arguing with you about Atheism and Agnosticism could go on forever. However, from now on I'd appreciate it if you PM or VMed me about it. This topic is getting out of hand, the Mod has even said so. Lets keep it clean. Argue the point with me- to me.

I am a little bit of both, as far as "Celebrating Jesus' Birthday" and "Spending Time With Family" goes. I'm a Catholic, and I go to Midnight Mass every year (at 10 PM, of course) with my family. Then we come back and eat the cheese and drink the wine and throw gifts at each other as hard as we can, to see who can hurt their target the worst.

HIGH FIVE, . I wouldnt say I enjoy the mass' but I do go. It's just another family thing to me, though. Dispite it being part of our religeon.
I like the feeling of spending that time and sharing the experiance with my family, too. Even hearing my dads voice chanting high above everybody elses brings a smile to my face.

As a FiLipino (Asian) we do beLieve it as both.. a reLigious ceLebration and aLso a time to ceLebrate w/ famiLy or Love ones.. Mmm.. every Christmas we make sure we attend mass to give thanks to Jesus and I aLways greet him "Happy B-day".. since I beLieve that he is born on Dec. 25.. LoL! WeLL.. that's it..

Thats really sweet. Like I said. It doesnt actually matter to me when he was born. The overall celebration of his birthday being on the 25th is enough for me.

To be perfectly honest I never could truly give a damn about Birthdays. And while I believe in God and feel I should respect Him, I somehow doubt he'll give a damn about such earthly customs. If you really want to make the big man happy, do what you think he'd want you to do, be cool to others.

Christmas to me is a time when I can get an awesome buffet cheap. It's a time when I get a ton of presents that are often innapropriate for one such as I (in terms of my character). It's a time when I value a good extended family party and a few friends parties and drink a bit more than I normally would. It's a time I see things I didn't know when I was younger and feel a bit depressed about, before realising that if I had things that way I would have turned out differently and that may be an inferior me. I ****ing *LOVE* the buffets...

Ha ha ha. I dont think I'd class my dinner as a buffet, dont think I've ever had one on christmas. I have for parties after christmas.
Thats what I feel, too. I value the time I get with my family above anything. Especially having my nana Karin in our house. She's around 90, she's rude, drinks way too much and talks in German. Hey, thats my nana, though. Ha ha ha

[Rocky]

It usually turns out being both for my family. My whole family (including myself) are a bunch of religious Christians (more specifically, Lutherans), so every Christmas Eve, all of us go to church for the special afternoon service. After that service, we all drive over to my grandma and grandpa's house, where there is a big dinner waiting for us, very similar to a Thanksgiving meal. We all stuff ourselves full and eat a bunch of food, and after that, we all go downstairs into the basement where there are a bunch of presents for everyone. After we all sort them out, we all go around the room and open presents one at a time while we are talking about our days, current events, and so on.

After we get home, usually there are a few presents left just between my parents, my brother, and myself that we give, so we open them there, and then we go off to bed. Once Christmas day happens, there normally is some sort of giant present from "Santa Claus" that magically appears, and is normally for the whole family. (some gifts from past years were computers, plane tickets, etc.) Speaking of tickets, not every year we celebrate the traditional Rocky family way of Christmas, however. There have been a couple of years that my immediate family and myself have been in other countries (Cancun, Cabo San Lucas) living it up in the sun and beach as well, so nothing is set in stone. All in all, it's a big time to gather presents up for people and to get a lot of stuff, but it also is a time of rememberance for our savior as well, and I like to think that our family does a pretty good job of keeping things in balance.

[Govinda]

I saw the best advert on the side of a bus today. It read, in big colourful letters:

'THERE PROBABLY ISN'T A GOD. NOW STOP WORRYING AND ENJOY YOUR LIFE.'

If I had a picture, I would paste it here and say no more.

[Taco-Calamitous]

I saw the best advert on the side of a bus today. It read, in big colourful letters:

'THERE PROBABLY ISN'T A GOD. NOW STOP WORRYING AND ENJOY YOUR LIFE.'

If I had a picture, I would paste it here and say no more.

You silly atheists/agnostics and your attempts to dissuade theists from their faith. Let me tell you; I'm not worried. I'm like the Patrick Warburten character on Seinfeld; I know I'm going to Heaven. (Sorry Aimee/Alisyn/Darkslayn; I just couldn't resist.) Anyhoo...

Wuv, Yer Mom

[Govinda]

You silly atheists/agnostics and your attempts to dissuade theists from their faith. Let me tell you; I'm not worried. I'm like the Patrick Warburten character on Seinfeld; I know I'm going to Heaven. (Sorry Aimee/Alisyn/Darkslayn; I just couldn't resist.) Anyhoo...

Wuv, Yer Mom

I know you're not worried. Everything about religion isn't about Christianity, remember.

I don't want you to stop being a Christian any more than I want to be a Christian. But this thread alone proves the amount of general fuss and worry that religion generates. Apparently I'm going to heaven too, since God loves everyone.

[Phantom]

QUOTE:

Lowlf: Christmas is another day to me. Nothing special, to me. Never celebrated it for someones birthday ever. I got presents and then I treat the rest of the day like normal.


We think alike you and I. Really, Christmas is just another day to me, I celebrate by giving my loved ones gifts (if I can afford them), and if I get gifts given to me, thats nice too. I used to get so hyped up when Christmas was coming around when I was little. It used to be fun as hell, but as time passes and I've grown older, Christmas is just like Thanksgiving to me: Another normal day, filled with smiling faces, a lovely dinner, and thats it. As you may have known by now, I'm not religious in any way, you can sorta call me a "areligion" like a "asexual" who never has sex, (of course I love sex, you silly people.)

QUOTE:

Govinda: I saw the best advert on the side of a bus today. It read, in big colourful letters:

'THERE PROBABLY ISN'T A GOD. NOW STOP WORRYING AND ENJOY YOUR LIFE.'

If I had a picture, I would paste it here and say no more

Best. Post. EVER.

Nuff said. Merry X-Mas everyone!

[winterborn86]

It's about family to me, I'm not a religious person so I don't celebrate Christmas to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

[Angantyr]

Storm I love you, seriously that's so awesome that you feel that way.

I don't really celebrate Christmas, its always hot here in NZ around the time and I just like to kick back and do my thing as per usual. I suppose its more of a family thing but for the most part my families real quiet.

[Lilium]

I mainly view it as family time, and time to spend with people that you love, etc. So mainly, it's a time for the celebration of family and love to me.

My family is religious, but I'm more of a rogue or maverick (I guess would be the terms?) when it comes to religion, so, even though I see it as the birth of Jesus, I don't go overboard and celebrate it too much.
As for the reason? Well, the reason would go more into my practicing and views on religion, so just know that I am not very religious, but enjoy studying the many religions and forming my own beliefs, rather than just sticking to one, for various reasons.

[DARKSLAYN]

yup i agree its a family holiday

[Clint]

Christmas is a holiday about greed. People expect me to buy them things, and I'm supposed to play along and actually buy them things. And then in return, I'm supposed to expect them to give me something. It's like on birthdays, where I'm supposed to buy somebody something for being born, as if being born was an accomplishment. Christmas, though, is worse, because I'm supposed to buy somebody something because an old prophet was born 2,000 years before, as if they had anything to do with Jesus's birthing process. I highly doubt it, but who really know. With advancing technology, it might not be that long until time travel is made possible.

It almost seems like I wrote this somewhere before...

[tebian]

Christmas is a holiday about greed.

This is just my friends on at FFXI Online and our Christmas party. We will never meet in real life and dont even know what each other really looks like.. i can tell you that this season is not just a religion or gifts. Its about just being happy and finding a time to enjoy friends. So happy birthday to Jesus if thats why we ended up here today with this time of year, make use of the excuse to give some cheer to all.


Happy Holidays to Everyone !!