Muslims celebrating Christmas!

[tomday]

The following extract from an article in the Daily Telegraph ( http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... rab116.xml) makes interesting reading, especially given that the PC brigade in the UK are hard at work trying to get all references to Christmas banned in order not to upset our rapidly growing Muslim population:


QUOTE:  "At first sight, it might be any European shopping centre in December: inflatable Father Christmases stand alongside artificial trees dusted with polystyrene snow, while shop windows festooned with tinsel are filled with gift ideas.  But most of the women shoppers are wearing hijab headscarves and more than a third are robed head-to-toe in the heavy, black abayas traditional in the Middle East.

This is the Mecca Mall in the Jordanian capital of Amman, and although only six per cent of the local population is Christian, wealthier Jordanians seem happy to join in the holiday cheer engulfing the West.

"Christmas has become more of a fun celebration, a trend, rather than a religious symbol," said Dina Dabbas Rifai, editor of Living Well, a Jordanian women's magazine.

"In some cases you'll find more Muslims than Christians [out celebrating] because the Christians are all at home having a more religious celebration," she said.  


For the majority of people here in the UK, Christmas is just a traditional family time for getting together, giving presents, eating and drinking and has very little, if anything, to do with religion.  Sure we have to endure the nauseating carols and silly pictures of the nativity scene, but the vast majority of indigenous (as opposed to immigrant) people in the UK could not really give a stuff about christianity.  This might seem a little strange to our US friends but you got Thanksgiving, we don't!

[Steve Reason]

That's pretty much how it is here as well. Aside from the  truly religious, very few people look at Christmas as a religious holiday. We celebrate it the same as anyone else--eat, drink, and give gifts.

[flo1989]

Cool at last some stuff that has nothing to do with the usual racist comments floating around at christmas^^ (no sarcasm)

Btw christmas used to be a Pagan holiday (which is now on the 21st instead of the 25th due to reasons regarding astronomy) on which farmers celebrated the passing of the shortest day in the year, after which it could only get better, days would grow longer, and there would be crop harvesting^^ (ofcourse not directly after xmas)...in other words it was like our new years eve, they just celebrated a new year of farming beginning^^

Christians made it a day of celebrating Jesus's alleged birth, because the governments would not grant them a separate day.

Same with Easter...used to be Pagan^^

[Whitney]

I thought Christians took over the Pagan holidays after Christianity was is power in order to coerce pagans into accepting Christian practices.

[Smarmy Of One]

Who cares if the 'PC brigade' are trying to ban references to christmas? I don't care about paranoid christians and their 'war on christmas' conspiracy ravings.

What difference does it make what the holiday is called? It's about getting lots of shit and giving lots of shit and eating way too much and being drunk on thick creamy drink that you would never drink at any other time of the year.

A couple of weeks of hedonistic revelry. I love it!

[Janga]

very few people celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday anymore. It's basically just a way for corporations to make money off consumers with the endless crap products people buy at Christmas. Does that sound religious to anyone?