Christmas is about celebrating the birth of a Savior!

The Story of the Greatest Gift of All....

from The Holy Bible

New International Version (NIV)

Luke 1
26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,
27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary.
28 The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.
30 But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.
31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,
33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
34 "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
35 The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month.
37 For nothing is impossible with God."
38 "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.
39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea,
40 where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth.
41 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!
43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
45 Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"
46 And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me-- holy is his name.
50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.
51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful
55 to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers."
56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

For many, I'm sure it is...

Merry Christmas... Feel better?

It still is for some people, but it is amazing how far the secular part of the season has spread to non-Christian nations. South Korea is going to put up Christmas lights along the DMZ. (North Korea is protesting.)
I think it is good propaganda, here to the south we have colored lights and Christmas.

I agree.. As I said before, if it hadn't already existed as a Winter Solstice celebration, someone would surely have had to invent it. Colored lights?, fun music?, a great celebration? Why not? It's all good.

Christmas is about celebrating the birth of a Savior! Wayne, for Christians it's the "Birth of OUR savior"!

You have Wayne on the brain, Outdoor. Maybe you should see a shrink. I haven't even posted in here until now, but here you are addressing me like I did.

Merry Christmas!

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Luke 2:14

I'm sorry wayne that I thought that this was you, you have so many nicks..sorry about that!

I know I would be celebrating the days getting longer. Good place to put the holiday celebrating the birth of Christ, but Spring would also be a good time.

So winter solstice was celebrated from early man to the present. Here's some info from:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/winter_solstice.htm

Aborigines (northern hemisphere) feared the sun would come no more as the days grew shorter. Winter solstice showed them that the days got longer after solstice.

Ancient Brazil - stone marked winter solstice
Ancient Egypt - Osiris entombed Dec. 21
Ancient Greece - Lenaea - Festival of the Wild Women
Ancient Rome - Saturnalia - Started Dec. 17

Emperor Aurelian (270 to 275 CE) blended a number of Pagan solstice celebrations of the nativity of such god-men/saviors as Appolo, Attis, Baal, Dionysus, Helios, Hercules, Horus, Mithra, Osiris, Perseus, and Theseus into a single festival called the "Birthday of the Unconquered Sun" on DEC-25. At the time, Mithraism and Christianity were fierce competitors. Aurelian had even declared Mithraism the official religion of the Roman Empire in 274 CE. Christianity won out by becoming the new official religion in the 4th century CE.

Plenty of others: Buddhism, Christianity, Druidism, Inca religion, Iran, Islam, Judaism, Native American spirituality, Neopaganism, Neolithic Europe, Vampyres

Plenty of references cited as well

Just 'cause Christians call it "Christmas" doesn't mean they have the only "right" to celebrate

Just 'cause Christians call it "Christmas" doesn't mean they have the only "right" to celebrate

I agree with that statement Satchmo. Can we agree that they do have the right to celebrate without restraints being put on them by those who do not believe as they do?

That is the only reason for all of the arguing as of late IMO, but then, there are those who don't think that I have the right to my own opinion.