Re: Merry Christmas & Christmas Greetings

In article <dp9dvn$7a0l$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, daglo@xxxxxxxxxxx says...
> Call it what you will and who gives a hoot where the tradition came from,

How about the people who STILL observe those traditions?

> but I would hazard a guess that if a poll was taken in the US and UK the
> overwhelming majority of people of all faiths (or none) would call it a
> Christmas tree.

This point is not in dispute. Why do you feel the need to restate it?

> I really do not understand your objection to a "Christmas
> tree".

I don't object to "a Christmas tree". You can call YOUR symbols and
icons anything you want. I DO NOT CARE.

On the other hand, I object strenuously when xtian zealots insist that
the all public festivities, trees, etc. MUST be officially called
"Christmas" this-or-that. I likewise object to their bullying of
merchants who are only trying to make an extra buck by including ALL of
their potential customers in their stores' "official" seasonal greeting.

> You have pointed out ad nauseam that Christian traditions and
> symbols originally came from elsewhere, which most of us knew.

Evidence would indicate otherwise. Americans, at least, are largely
oblivious to the origins of their "Christmas traditions".

> answer to John, I don't think anyone seriously considered giving such a
> tree the "official" designation "Christmas tree"; at least not in the US
> that I have heard of. The Xmas trees on the Whitehouse lawn and in the
> building itself are known as Xmas trees, but nothing of an "official" nature
> has been decared. Oh, a politician or two has spouted off about it, but
> again, there has been nothing "official" done.

You haven't been paying attention. Parlimentary formalities aside, when
the town's Christmas tree is referred to by anyone in an official
capacity as an "holiday tree", the local xtian zealots and right-wing
talk-show personalities start frothing at the mouth, invariably. The act
is quickly becoming, dare I say it, another holiday tradition.

> as I don't think you have ever indicated. But we Masons are taught to
> respect ALL religions and faiths.

Indeed. Which is why we should be united in the condemnation of the
religious intolerance being demonstrated by those zealots who, every
year, seek to force their religion's symbols into exclusive prominence
in the public commons and (most ironically) the field of commerce.

.

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