Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 5 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 20 years, 9 months ago by
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To Jews, Muslims, atheists and other non-Christian Americans: How do you feel about the assumption many Americans make that ‘Christmas is for everybody’? Do you feel alienated? Pressured to assimilate? Does it not bother you?
Original Code RE127. Click here to see responses from the original archives. Click “to respond” below to reply.User Detail :
Name : Rhiannon30166, Gender : F, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 28, City : Minneapolis, State : MN, Country : United States,I’m bothered by the ignorance, even offended. I find the assumption anti-Semitic (in my case) and just generally anti-anyone who isn’t a member of the majority. I also have to wonder about these people. They have presumably heard of Jews, Buddhists, Pagans, Muslims, Hindus, etc. and are aware that such people live in the United States. Are these Christians who think everyone celebrates Christmas so ignorant about their own religion and how it differs from other religions that they don’t realize not everyone celebrates Christmas? And please don’t tell me about small rural towns where pretty much everyone is Christian and maybe they met a Jew once. I get this nonsense in New York City, which has plenty of non-Christians.
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Name : Susan27498, Gender : F, Religion : Jewish, City : New York, State : NY, Country : United States,There is huge pressure to participate, especially at work. People call me ‘Scrooge’ and other names, ask me invasive questions, etc. I hate the holidays because so many activities at work (potlucks, for example) are mandatory. I consider the whole season a big imposition. I get no joy from it at all. Plus, the music sucks.
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Name : Rick29796, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, City : Springfield, State : OH, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I am not a Christian, yet I celebrate Christmas. It is an ancient holiday, dating back much farther than Christianity. The American Christmas holiday has little to do with religion for many people. It is a time to get together with family, take stock of our lives, give gifts, etc.
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Name : Lucy22391, Gender : F, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Age : 27, City : San Jose, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I am a non-practicing jew who’s family always celebrated ‘The Holidays’, which by coincidence was always Dec 25th. While there is some of the over the top evangelizing by certain people, I find that the seperate holidays have truly melded together into one huge commercialized extravaganza. I try to enjoy the spirit, discount the preaching, and practice acceptance and the brotherhood of man. (The peoplehood of people? trying to be more PC.) I do think if more people lived their beliefs, rather than talked about them, we would all be better off. JRW
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Name : Jack, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 44, City : Chicago, State : IL, Country : United States, Occupation : Network Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I only feel alienated when people try to say that Christmas is only for Christians. Christmas is a holiday that has been assimilated from many different cultures, with Christianity being the most recent. In the United States, 300 years ago the Puritans were doing all they could to stomp out any merrymaking in their communities. Only in the past ~120 years has Christmas been accepted here, and only because the upper class businessmen realised that they could exploit the holiday by changing the practices involved in it and by making employees take only a day or so off to celebrate.
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Name : Ralph, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 20, City : Salina, State : UT, Country : United States, Occupation : Looking, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Lower class,
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