Why do non-Christians Celebrate Christian Holidays?

[Ana.J]

Around the time of Christmas and Resurrection Sunday I always ask myself this question and others. Such as, how and why advertisers and department stores decide to use Christian holidays to push their merchandise and why we as Christians let it happen. It is really out of hand. Christian holidays are not what they could and should be. The term holiday is taken from two words: Holy and Day and seem to mean nothing anymore. It really makes me wonder why. No other religions Holy Days are commercialized and secularized like Christmas and Resurrection Sunday. We have 365 days in a year (366 in leap years). Couldn't someone have picked another day?

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Around the time of Christmas and Resurrection Sunday I always ask myself this question and others. Such as, how and why advertisers and department stores decide to use Christian holidays to push their merchandise and why we as Christians let it happen. It is really out of hand. Christian holidays are not what they could and should be. The term holiday is taken from two words: Holy and Day and seem to mean nothing anymore. It really makes me wonder why. No other religions Holy Days are commercialized and secularized like Christmas and Resurrection Sunday. We have 365 days in a year (366 in leap years). Couldn't someone have picked another day?

If the Christians can co-opt Yule from the Pagans, I can co-opt Christmas from the Christians.

Christian holidays like Christmas and Easter have (at least in the West) been pushed on non-Christians more than holidays of any other religion. When non-Christians are absolutely bombarded with messages telling them to observe these holidays, don't get upset that they choose to observe them in their own way.

The reason why Christmas and Easter get secularized but Diwali, Purim, or Ramadan don't is because - at least in this culture - Christians push Christmas and Easter on non-Christians in a way that the Hindus, Jews, and Muslims don't push their holidays on non-adherents.

Edit: it was the Christians who made their holidays part of secular culture. If you don't like what happened, take it up with your fellow Christians. You don't hold a copyright over your religion; anyone's free to do with it as they please, just as the Christians did with the Pagan traditions that got repackaged as Christian holidays.

 

[The Emperor of Mankind]

Around the time of Christmas and Resurrection Sunday I always ask myself this question and others. Such as, how and why advertisers and department stores decide to use Christian holidays to push their merchandise and why we as Christians let it happen. It is really out of hand. Christian holidays are not what they could and should be. The term holiday is taken from two words: Holy and Day and seem to mean nothing anymore. It really makes me wonder why. No other religions Holy Days are commercialized and secularized like Christmas and Resurrection Sunday. We have 365 days in a year (366 in leap years). Couldn't someone have picked another day?

Because non-Christians have grown up in cultures dominated or heavily influenced by Christianity - it's not like they had a choice. Also, the bigger Christian holidays were more than likely transplanted onto Pagan festivals (Christmas onto Yule, Easter onto the spring equinox festival which probably venerated Eostre; and Halloween onto Samhain) in order to encourage Christian conversion. If you're worried about other religious holidays not being commercialised to the same extent, give it some time: shops up here in Scotland have started doing promo deals for some of the Eid festivals.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

@Ana.J - why is any of this a problem, anyhow? If some atheists or "spiritual, not religious"-types want to put up a tree, have family over for a big dinner, and give each other presents, how does this interfere with you spending the day in church (or however you think the holiday should be celebrated)?

If all of these people decided tomorrow that they didn't want to celebrate Christmas any more and instead got the government to move the statutory holiday to the summer when the weather is nicer, would this make it easier or harder for you to celebrate Christmas in your way?

 

[Ana.J]

@Ana.J - why is any of this a problem, anyhow? If some atheists or "spiritual, not religious"-types want to put up a tree, have family over for a big dinner, and give each other presents, how does this interfere with you spending the day in church (or however you think the holiday should be celebrated)?

If all of these people decided tomorrow that they didn't want to celebrate Christmas any more and instead got the government to move the statutory holiday to the summer when the weather is nicer, would this make it easier or harder for you to celebrate Christmas in your way?

I might have verbalized the idea the wrong way. I am not against following traditions. I am against making a consume-all-you-can-see day out of a holiday with a deep meaning.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I might have verbalized the idea the wrong way. I am not against following traditions. I am against making a consume-all-you-can-see day out of a holiday with a deep meaning.

It has a deep meaning for you. It doesn't have to have a deep meaning for everyone else.

Also consider that, for other people, these holidays may have other deep meanings that have nothing to do with religion... and that's okay.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I might have verbalized the idea the wrong way. I am not against following traditions. I am against making a consume-all-you-can-see day out of a holiday with a deep meaning.

BTW: I find it very hard not to see a boatload of Christian privilege in your complaints:

"We shaped our institutions and culture around Christianity, and when society stops everything for a day in order to cater to my religion, all these people spend their time having fun with it instead of worshipping my God? How dare they!"

Give me a break.

 

[Sunstone]

Perhaps Christmas should be renamed, "Potlatch".

 

[Madhuri]

It isn't just Christian holidays that are celebrated by others. Non-Hindu Indians also celebrate Hindu holidays. I recently celebrated Onam, a South Indian Hindu holiday, with a group of Christian Indians. Holidays become cultural celebrations and they become popular because everyone enjoys a day to be festive.

 

[Sunstone]

...because everyone enjoys a day to be festive.

Except me. I don't like being festive. I hate being festive. I prefer being grumpy. I'd be grumpy all year long if it weren't for the damn holidays. Damn them holidays!

 

[Revoltingest]

Around the time of Christmas and Resurrection Sunday I always ask myself this question and others. Such as, how and why advertisers and department stores decide to use Christian holidays to push their merchandise and why we as Christians let it happen. It is really out of hand. Christian holidays are not what they could and should be. The term holiday is taken from two words: Holy and Day and seem to mean nothing anymore. It really makes me wonder why. No other religions Holy Days are commercialized and secularized like Christmas and Resurrection Sunday. We have 365 days in a year (366 in leap years). Couldn't someone have picked another day?

We heathens like holidays too.
Halloween is my favorite.
But Festivus is good too.
And note that Xmas wasn't originally an Xian holiday.
But we're generous, & let them share it as their own.

 

[Jainarayan]

Christian holidays are not what they could and should be. ...

It really makes me wonder why. No other religions Holy Days are commercialized and secularized like Christmas and Resurrection Sunday.

1. The holidays, or Holy Days are what you make them. You can celebrate or commemorate them any way you like, but you don't get to tell other people what to do with them. Freedom of religion is also freedom from religion.
2. Other religions are not represented in the same numbers as Christianity. The US is not a Christian country, but it is a country predominately of Christians.

 

[Neo Deist]

Around the time of Christmas and Resurrection Sunday I always ask myself this question and others. Such as, how and why advertisers and department stores decide to use Christian holidays to push their merchandise and why we as Christians let it happen. It is really out of hand. Christian holidays are not what they could and should be. The term holiday is taken from two words: Holy and Day and seem to mean nothing anymore. It really makes me wonder why. No other religions Holy Days are commercialized and secularized like Christmas and Resurrection Sunday. We have 365 days in a year (366 in leap years). Couldn't someone have picked another day?

You do realize that Christianity took the already in place pagan holidays, put a window dressing on them, and then claimed that they were because of Jesus?

And how exactly do we get Easter bunnies from the resurrection story?

 

[LuisDantas]

@Ana.J , it would seem to me that there are competing goals at work here.

On the one hand, sure, Christianity has its Holy Days and it is only fair to want to keep them well characterized in their meanings and goals. I can't really disapprove of that.

However, there is a practical issue of how to do that exactly. Most Christians seem to have some degree of interest in being inclusive if it is not too much trouble. Most Christian families are not necessarily entirely Christian, and there is an all-too-understandable tendency to prefer to have non-Christian loved ones included at family gatherings if it can be helped.

Sure, there is such a thing as going too far. Myself, I would prefer holiday dates to be more flexible. But even so, people would naturally choose to join together according to affinity and existing relationships over common beliefs if they have to choose - and I am not sure that is even a problem.

 

[Akivah]

I might have verbalized the idea the wrong way. I am not against following traditions. I am against making a consume-all-you-can-see day out of a holiday with a deep meaning.

It is the Christian's fault for allowing their holy day to get so badly degraded. They forced employers' to give a day off for their holiday and they pushed the attributes of their holiday into non-adherent's lives. Thus everyone else can give their own spin to the holiday. Nowadays the holiday is just a display of unmitigated greed instead of celebrating the birth of their god.

 

[Akivah]

It isn't just Christian holidays that are celebrated by others. Non-Hindu Indians also celebrate Hindu holidays. I recently celebrated Onam, a South Indian Hindu holiday, with a group of Christian Indians. Holidays become cultural celebrations and they become popular because everyone enjoys a day to be festive.

Also, everyone enjoys a day off.

 

[GoodbyeDave]

I don't celebrate Christian holidays and when I was a Christian I resented their commercialisation. There are three months to go and the shops already have cards, cakes, puddings... Bah, humbug!

 

[fantome profane]

I might have verbalized the idea the wrong way. I am not against following traditions. I am against making a consume-all-you-can-see day out of a holiday with a deep meaning.

Shouldn't that question be directed at Christians rather than non-Christians?

 

[Riders]

I have one sister who is Judeo Christian she doesn't like to celebrate holidays much. We do celebrate Christmas, I'm universalist I can celebrate any holiday actually, its celebration from a universal viewpoint.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Around the time of Christmas and Resurrection Sunday I always ask myself this question and others. Such as, how and why advertisers and department stores decide to use Christian holidays to push their merchandise and why we as Christians let it happen. It is really out of hand. Christian holidays are not what they could and should be. The term holiday is taken from two words: Holy and Day and seem to mean nothing anymore. It really makes me wonder why. No other religions Holy Days are commercialized and secularized like Christmas and Resurrection Sunday. We have 365 days in a year (366 in leap years). Couldn't someone have picked another day?

It's a day off. Duh..... =0p

I think pagan celebrations coincide along with Christian holidays, so likely the tradition stuck and others enjoyed the festivities too and it all became contagious.

Who dosent like to have a good time en masse and reflect? =9)