Are Christians Being Persecuted During the Christmas Season?

One more from JWB!   How right Tim is!

I remember last Christmas, some Christians got their panties in a bunch over Starbucks cups not having Christmas decorations on them.  They called this persecution.  *Facepalm*

Oh noes!  It’s a war on Christmas!

war-on-christmas

The cups have snowflakes on them this year.   Nowhere in the Bible does Jesus even demand his birthday be celebrated (which isn’t his actual birthday anyway).   Christmas wasn’t celebrated by the early Christians.

“The first recorded date of Christmas being celebrated on December 25th was in 336, during the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine (he was the first Christian Roman Emperor). A few years later, Pope Julius I officially declared that the birth of Jesus would be celebrated on the 25th December.”

Source:
https://www.google.com/#q=when+was+christmas+first+celebrated

Some Christians have even opted out of celebrating Christmas because of how commercialized and secular it’s become (and I’m not just referring to Jehovah’s Witnesses). It’s becoming an increasingly common thing.

It’s hard for me to wrap my mind around people getting all bent out of shape because some throwaway coffee cups don’t have holiday oops — Christmas, decorations on them.  What the heck do snowflakes have to do with the birth of Christ, anyway?  There was no snow in Bethlehem or the desert around it.  There certainly weren’t any reindeer or coniferous trees.  Jesus wasn’t born in Scandinavia or Siberia (where you might expect to find those things), or even central Europe.  My point?  Snowflakes, reindeer, Santa Claus, Christmas trees — those are all purely secular.  How is their absence on everyday objects proof of Christian persecution?   You tell me.

Silly things like coffee cups, or saying “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” are NOT persecution.   How come 40 or 50 years ago, people could say “Seasons Greetings” or “Happy Holidays” and no one batted an eyelash?  How come Jews don’t get all sulky even though most of us aren’t going around saying “Happy Chanukah” and there have never been little dreidels or Stars of David printed all over disposable coffee cups?

Jesus Without Baggage

Thanksgiving is behind us and the Christmas season is now officially underway. Do you know any Christians who feel persecuted by others during this season?

Here is a simple chart you can share with them to determine whether or not they really are being persecuted. I got it from another blogger and this is the fourth year I have posted it.

I think the analysis still applies.

persecution chart

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Here are My 5 Christmas Wishes for You

Jesus Without Baggage is one of my favorite blogs.  Legalism is unnecessary and not even biblical.   If you’re a Christian or would-be Christian who still has problems with the legalism and rigid dogma found in most Christian denominations (and might even be put off by Christianity because of that), please give JWB a follow!

Another great Christian blog I like to read is Grace For My Heart (I especially like Pastor Dave’s regular feature, Narcissism Fridays).

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Jesus Without Baggage

It is less than two weeks until Christmas, and I am sure you are already deep into the Christmas spirit—doing all those busy things we do during this season leading up to the big day. Decorations are up and excitement is in the air. Perhaps you have already attended some parties for the season and met friends you haven’t seen in a while.

Joy and celebration are all around us: in the lights and decorations of our communities, towns, and cities; in the special shows on TV; in plays, musical presentations, and new movie releases; and in the background music that surrounds us everywhere we go.

We are all very busy during this important time. And as we come close to Christmas day, I want to share my five Christmas wishes for you.

Christmas Season Credit – Pixabay, public domain

My Five Wishes for You

1. I wish for you to enjoy…

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God answers prayers.

After posting my article about my fear of death yesterday and praying a lot about it, I came across a wonderful website called “Jesus Without Baggage.” I’ve never seen another site like it and I’ve been on it now since last night, just reading and learning. I can’t get enough.

I never thought I could reconcile my inability to believe in a judgmental, angry, legalistic God with a belief in Christ, but now I think I might be able to, all because of this website. It answers questions no one else has ever been able to answer before and addresses concerns I’ve had for a long time that “reading the Bible” only made worse (mostly because of the way it’s been misinterpreted and misrepresented by legalistic, narcissistic preachers and church leaders in order to exert “control”).

If you’re like me and want to have a relationship with Jesus but are completely turned off by fundamentalist Christianity, this is the site for you. I truly believe God answered my prayers by bringing me to this site so I want to share it with my readers too.

https://jesuswithoutbaggage.wordpress.com/

Even more interesting, the topic at mass today was “God is Love.”

I’ll be posting a new guest post in a little while.