Why Has CHRIST Been Removed From Christmas???
Moms View Message Board: The Kitchen Table (Debating Board): Why Has CHRIST Been Removed From Christmas???
I am very disturbed at the way, in the name of political correctness, we, as Christians, have lost OUR traditions and beliefs. We can't wish someone a Merry Christmas anymore. It has to be "Happy Holidays" or "Happy Winter". They are "holiday" parties, and "holiday" gifts. The only carol that can be sung in public school now, at least here, is "Jingle Bells".
I fully agree and appreciate the fact that we live in a diverse culture, and for that, we are enriched. However, Mennorahs are not banned in public places, and neither are Kwanza decorations. Christianity seems to be the only forbidden religion.
I would not presume to go to Israel and tell them that they cannot wish one another a Happy Hannukah, or to go to Saudi Arabia, and ban Rammadan. Why can't we honor ALL belief systems, instead of eliminating one in particular? JMHO!
Things sure aren't as strict around here. Merry Christmas is everywhere. Our town has "Keep Christ in Christmas" signs posted all around.
We can sing Carols at school, as long as we're singing songs from other faiths, too. No problem.
We are a small town with tons of churches. There are Christmas productions being put on all the time. The Santa Claus Parade often has floats from several of the churches.
I'm happy to say that my town, in fact probably my whole country, seems to be much better about celebrating the true meaning of the season openly.
In my town , we dont really seem to have this problem. My son goes to a public school and they sing all dift kind of songs in music class for the Holidays. He said they even sang a Hanukah song, but told me the words were wrong. We are Jewish(My husband is not)so my son knows the "real" words to the Hanukah songs LOL
I do think most towns and schools are much more aware of the dift holidays then they once were.
I am pleased to say this isn't an issue here either. I went to my kids' winter sing along and the kids sang Hanukkah songs as well as Christian songs and of course the more generic songs. I definitely prefer to see that all faiths are included rather than turning everything into something generic.
I've been to my DD's kindergarten class several times during this season. They haven't ever sang any Christmas songs relating directly to Christ. They just sang the "generic" songs such as Frosty The Snowman, Jingle Bells, Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer and so on.
It bugs me to no end when people write "x-mas". I think it's disrespectful.
DH's step grandma sent us her annual newsletter in our Christmas card this year. I had to laugh because all through the letter she wrote "x-mas". It was probably in there 3-4 times. Then at the end of the letter she wrote something similar to "and remember to always remember Christ in Christmas." It was in big letters and underlined. I just thought it was a bit hypocritical.
I was just telling DDs kindergarten teacher how wonderful it was to hear real CHRISTmas songs in the public school. They actually sang about the manger, Christ and the birth of Christ. I couldn't believe they did not ban the clearly Christian themed music from their program. I was so amazed. They had other songs as well for other religions and celebrations.
I agree that Christmas is becoming very commercialized. There's that "church and state" thing that makes some people not decorate as they would otherwise. Too bad, especially in a country founded for religious freedom. 
Robin, I found this on the web about "x-mas". I knew I'd read something about this before, and I thought you (and others) might find it interesting as well. 
The True Meaning of Xmas
--Nicolaa de Bracton of Leicester
As Twelfth Night approaches and another holiday season passes into memory,
I once again think back about how many times I heard one person or another say
in the past month that the term "Xmas" is some sort of plot to remove religion
from the Christmas holiday season. By their reasoning,the name of Christ has
conveniently been "x-ed" out of Christmas.
While it is true that in the 20th century, we use the term "x-ed out" to
mean "removed", the "X" in Xmas is not this sort of X, nor was the abbreviation
invented by mercenary merchants of our century out to make a buck, nor does
substituting the "X" for Christ expunge Jesus from Christmas.
From as far back as the rise in production of Latin parchment manuscripts
in Late Antiquity (n the 4th century AD), copyists have found it convenient to
abbreviate commonly used words and terms by "contraction"--that is, by dropping
most of the letters out of a word and drawing a line above those which remain to
indicate the abbreviation. In a rapidly Christianizing age, copyists of sacred
text noted thatcertain names kept coming up: Iesus Christus, Deus (God),
Dominus (Lord), Spirtus Sancti (Holy Spirit), and so forth. The abbreviations
devised for these names are termed Nomina Sacra. All of the names listed a
moment ago were in Latin, with the exception of Christ¹s--the Gospels were
originally in Greek, and so the abbreviation for Iesus Christus uses Greek
letters instead, looking like this:
___ ___ ___ ___
IHC XPC or IHS XPS
In the first abbreviation, the "I" is the Greek letter iota, the "H" is
eta (or "e" in Latin), and the "C" is sigma (or "s" in Latin), thus yielding
"IES" in Latin letters (some later translators into vernacular languages did not
realize the ³H² was really an eta, and thus mistakenly believed the proper
spelling of Iesus or Jesus was Jhesus or Ihesus!) In the second part, the "X"
is chi (or Ch in Latin letters), the "P" is rho (or R in Latin), and the "C"
sigma, as above. The second pair of abbreviations were developed in the later
Middle Ages as variants of the originals, and, in fact, may often be spotted on
banners in modern churches, especially hanging from the pulpit or lectern--
especially the abbreviation for Jesus. You can also spot this particular
abbreviation hanging on the little tag above Christ on crucifixes. You may also
spot the Chi-Rho, which was placed by the emperor Constantine on his war
standards after his conversion and has since been another common Christian
motif; it looks like a letter "P" with the letter "X" superimposed over it.
Thus was born the use of the Greek chi (which looks like a Latin X) as
shorthand for Christ. Medieval copyists found it rather convenient in other
compound words using Christ, such as Xana for "Christiana" and, inevitably, Xmas
for Christmas, an abbreviation which appears by 1100. The only thing which has
altered over the years is the dropping of the dash over the "X" which signaled
"abbreviation" to the medieval reader, and which differentiated this "X" from
the Roman numeral X.
Unfortunately, few modern folk know of the extensive use of abbreviations
in medieval texts, and so are understandably confused by them when they
encounter them today (I remember staring at the banners in churches before I
took palaeography, trying to figure out what "IHS" stood for; I was once told
(incorrectly) that it stood for "In Hoc Signo"). They also err in pronouncing
Xmas as "Ex-mas"; a medieval liturgist encountering this abbreviation would
have read it aloud as "Christmas".
So, the next time you see Xmas on the sign at the local tree lot, I hope
you will smile, and remember that this abbreviation is a living relic of the
Middle Ages.
Thanks Cat for the story.
but I still frown on it, since I know many are simply eliminating the word Christ by choice.
At least I know that was not the original intent now.
Dana, I have a Christian friend who doesn't like Xmas either...her solution is to use 'Cmas' when she doesn't want to write it all out.
Let's face it, ladies, we have two kinds of things going on from post-Thanksgiving to the end of the year (or even post-Halloween, these days). One is the highly commercialized winter celebration that has been tied to December 25th (and Hannukah and Kwanza) by merchandizers and done to death by television. Personally, I hate it. I am disgusted to see Christmas stuff going up in stores as the Halloween stuff comes down. I hate all the "Christmas" music on the radio and in the stores. It is a major downer for me.
And, there are the sacred holy days (holidays) that occur at this time of year - Christmas, primarily. Hannukah is not really a holy day for Jews, and until the Jewish community had to find some way to counter having Christmas all over the place, it really wasn't a big deal. And many in the African-American community turn to Kwanza for the same reason.
As for taking Christ out of Christmas, the rules as laid down by the Supreme Court are that any government body can have a display which includes Christmas trees, a manger, etc., as long as it is part of a general holiday display which includes symbols such as the Menorah and, heaven help us, Santa Claus and Frosty the Snowman. And the court has also ruled that school children can sing Christmas Carols as long as songs from other faiths and non-religious songs can be included (Frosty the Snowman again, for Pete's sake). Some schools go out of their way to make this winter season totally non-religious, and I can understand that, but don't much care for it. I'd prefer that they have a bit of everything so that everyone gets at least a little bit.
For me, I go to church. I may skip church some Sundays in September or January, but all through Advent I go to church. Because that's where I find what is important about Christmas for me. And I don't expect stores, government bodies, or schools to provide me with this. For the true meaning of Christmas, I want to be in church, with people who believe and feel as I do, celebrating what is most important about this time of year for me.
As for your comments, Hol, about not going to Israel or Saudi Arabia and not telling them what to do - you are mixing apples and oranges. In Israel Judaism is the official religion, with tolerance for non-Jews. In Saudi Arabia Islam is the official religion, with much less tolerance for non-Moslems. In the United States there is no offical religion, and the founders made it clear that there is to be no state support of specific religious beliefs or practices. In a nation as diverse as ours, that is the only way to do it.
I am remembering when I was a volunteer child/parent advocate for public school children and parents, and was called by a mother whose son was very upset. It was December, and the art teacher had instructed the children to draw, color and cut out angels. This little boy asked for the teacher's help in drawing a Jewish angel, since he was Jewish. The teacher told him "there are no Jewish angels".
As for the "X-mas" explanation, I've known that for years, and I still don't like to use "Xmas". But I suspect that most who do use it do it out of convenience or laziness, not with any real intent.
And, I suspect that given how sadly Christmas has been commercialized, most people don't even think about the religious aspect of Christmas. Which is sad. Personally, I think we Christians would be much better off if we began complaining about the heavy commercialization, and the trivialization that TV has done. I think the whole meaning of Christmas is trivialized by trying to make it a national celebration rather than keeping it a personal and church-based religious celebration. What has happened, I think, is that Chrismas has been dumbed down. And I think we would be better off if we stopped trying to put Christ back in the commercial, public winter holiday, and turned back to personally celebrating a holy day in the places it belongs - our homes and churches.
I have the same feeling about the public "non-sectarian" prayers. I don't want to pray in a football stadium or arena. I want to pray in private, or in my church with people who share my beliefs. Non-sectarian prayers are just so much pablum - and as bland, tasteless and meaningless as pablum.
I've said enough - and probably too much. You hit several of my buttons, between the commercialization of Christmas and the First Amendment. And I have had it up to here with Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph!
That story was interesting Cat, I did not know that. But, I still don't like it. Still find it less respectful. I agree with Ginny, in that most people probably don't use the "x" to be disrespectful, just lazy or habit. Just gets under my skin.
On a side note...my DD has a little toy computer that says a coordinating word to the letter you push. You push "a", it says..."a is for apple" "b is for banana"....but when you push "x", it says "x is for Christmas". I was thinking that could be a little confusing for a 4 year old LOL
I also don't like abbreviating Christmas. But there is some comfort in knowing the real meaning of it.
To me, "X" has always represented the UNKNOWN quotient, and Jesus is NOT unknown to me. I, too, find it offensive and disrespectful.
I have a town in my state that had to take down the Christmas tree in the fire station-it was a city ordinance. Glenview Illinois
That is ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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