Christmas
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A celebration of humanity dating back thousands of years. It originated as a pagan celebration of the birth of the Sun, as it was celebrated on the winter equinox, and after that point, days got longer. When the Catholics/ Christians took over these pagan peoples, they replaced their holiday with their own Birth of the Son, (as in of God) to make the transition to Christianity's traditions easier. The idea of Santa Claus and his reindeer was created in the 1800s, and is loosely based on St. Nicholas, who gave random presents to people. The idea of a christmas tree dates back to German celebrations of Christmas thousands of years ago. They used an evergreen tree to symbolize life and hope in dark times, and hung apples on it. In modern times, it has again lost its religious meaning and is now used as a time of secular joy. People spend the time with their family or friends and exchange gifts, a tradition from the Birth of Jesus. (As it is the birthday of the Lord, and people can't give Him material gifts, they exchange them with others.)
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A holiday that originally was supposed to be for the birth of Christ, but after all these years, its just nothing but commercials, sales, and stress. What does a fat guy who hauls gifts down into your lifing room, and then flies away on a sleigh have to do with Jesus Christ? Jack squat.
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A time of increased consumer spending.
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Proof that we live in a major consumer culture.
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(pl. Christmasses)
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n. The holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Falling conveniently on the 25th of December, supposedly declared by the Catholic Church to eclipse a Pagan holiday (winter solstice) on the same day.
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n. A heart touching season where gift giving is promoted, and Santa Claus is every youth's hero. Other Christmas icons include: reindeer, snowmen, elves, presents, pine trees, ornaments, tinsel, holy, yule logs, sleighs, mistletoe, carols, noel, angels, golden rings, calling birds, french hens, turtledoves, birds in fruit-bearing trees.
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v. To celebrate Christmas
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A christian festival held on the 25th of december that most non christians use as an excuse to get presents.
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A wonderful time when somebody breaks into your house and eats your [cookies], whilst replacing [the food] with [presents]. <3
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60 [yr] olds : oh no. the family is coming over for lunch. i have to put up with their whingging and mess.
50 yr olds :christmas is so stressful - [where am i] going to come up with all the money for presents?!
40 yr olds (mid-life-crisis-era) :christmas means big meals. it also means the time of [year one] adds more inches to thier middle
30 yr olds (starting-family-era) : christmas is seeing the look of joy on my child face, [christmas morning]. its better to give than recieve
from 20 yr old (lonely-depressive-bacholor-era)christmas is all about santa who was invented by the coke-a-cola company to make millions of the stupid. christmas is a [gimmick]. its the one day a year i have to go to church
teenagers (i-know-everything-era): christmas is meant to celebrate the birth of Christ, its a catholic tradition shared all over the world, even though jesus birthday isnt acctually on the 25th...
young children every where: i love christmas cos santa comes and gives me what ever i want, but its [yucky] waiting to open the presents. its ok coz i [peek] every year at them. -
A widely celebrated end-of-the-year [profit] [scam].
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The date of December 25th probably originated with the ancient birthday of the son-god, [Mithra], a pagan deity whose religious influence became widespread in the Roman Empire during the first few centuries A.D. Mithra was related to the Semitic sun-god, [Shamash], and his worship spread throughout Asia to Europe where he was called [Deus] Sol [Invictus] [Mithras]. Rome was well-known for absorbing the pagan religions and rituals of its widespread empire. As such, Rome converted this pagan legacy to a celebration of the god, Saturn, and the rebirth of the sun god during the winter solstice period. The winter holiday became known as [Saturnalia] and began the week prior to December 25th. The festival was characterized by gift-giving, feasting, singing and downright debauchery, as the priests of Saturn carried wreaths of evergreen boughs in procession throughout the Roman temples.
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Christian holiday moved to conflict with the time of year when everyone everywhere (and [everywhen]) celebrates the winter solstice (point of Earths orbit where, in the northern temperate zones, the suns zenith slows its southern decent and begins moving north again = another year to live).
[Hodgepodge] of ancient and not-so-ancient rituals, including sacrificing a tree to Mother Nature, celebrating the miracle that got Nicholas his [sainthood] (reassembling murdered and [hacked up] child parts in a barrel back into children), and, oh, the birth of Jesus, a jew, and the guy that made 12 of his buddies drink his blood and eat his flesh, before he got executed and came back from the dead. (Can you say zombie?)
Day that Santa brings new socks and undies. If your bad, you get coal (to keep from freezing) and an orange (for vitamin C to prevent scurvy).
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The worst holiday of the year, which is, [ironically], in the [second best] [season] of the year.
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The annual Christian festival celebrating Christs birth, held on December 25 in the Western Church.
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