Major Restaurants Remove Christmas Spirit

I Am Not Offended

==How can I when I am not offended? There are much bigger problems in this world then Christmas decorations (the gospel, sound doctrine, hunger, etc). For Christians, Christmas is not about trees and decorations (etc). For us, it is about God becoming man and taking our sins upon Himself. It is about salvation. Those who don't have salvation cannot be expected to celebrate that. That is why they focus on holiday stuff and not Christ. So why should I be offended at their behavior?

I go to a local Chinese restaurant and they have two buddas in the dining area. Am I offended by that? Nope. In fact, I don't think twice about it. They also have a Christmas tree in the lobby every year. Am I offended? No. How, or if, these places decorate for Christmas is of no concern to me. It is their property and they can do with it what they like. Personally I think Christmas has become way too market centered anyway. I would like to see shops cut down on the Christmas decorations.

 

This country was founded on Christian principles. The degradation of those principles is a result of lesser principles being established and ignored. In a capitalists society the consumer sets the standards for business. Christians have a voice in that standard. Let's use our voice appropriately.

 

Here's a poll for ya...which is the greater problem:

1) That in our secular society, Christmas may not be appropriately recognized with proper decorations or the use of the slogan "Merry Christmas", thus making the culture less Christian

OR

2) That there are Christians who actually think using proper decorations and the use of the slogan "Merry Christmas" makes the culture more Christian?

Hint: the answer is not #1

 

==Without a doubt, number 2 is a larger problem. I think it reflects a sloppy theology on the part of many evangelicals.

 

lol...uh, number 2...

this place makes me laugh and roll my eyes. Some of ya'll are just too serious.

Who cares if someone does or doesn't celebrate Christmas, if a chain of stores owned by non-Christians does or doesn't celebrate Christmas? Who really cares?

The problem for fundamentalism and evangelicalism is that we have so screwed up our message by getting up in people's faces about these very minor issues and not responding in love (as Christ's command) that we have lost the credibility to share the Gospel. This kind of stuff doesn't amount to a hill of beans in Kingdom work.

Why not just tip your wait a whole lot more (like 30%), write "Merry Christmas" on your bill, and don't leave a silly Gospel tract. Make a difference in their life that leaves them saying, "I want to know more about that Jesus" than "what a bunch of weirdos, that's why Jesus isn't for me."

Also, if you've got enough time to get hot and bothered about this silly stuff I've can highly recommend some better ways to use your Kingdom building time.

 

I should make note that my little "poll" was in sarcasm....with option 2 being the obvious. It was not a serious inquiry.

Maybe I'll make an edit to make it more apparrant.

 

==When this country was first settled by Europeans, many of them did not celebrate Christmas at all because (a) it is not Biblical and (b) they considered it a pagan Catholic holiday. Even Gov. William Bradford, of Plymouth Plantation, was opposed to its celebration. When some newcomers to the colony wanted to celebrate Christmas instead of work, he allowed them to do so. However when he returned to find them playing games in the street (etc) he told them that if they wished to celebrate that holiday they must do so quietly in their own homes. He also noted that he hoped they would not celebrate that Catholic holiday anymore. So the history of Christmas among the Europeans who settled in America (1620-1650, or so) is not consistant. In fact, I would argue that the separatists and puritans made some good points out Christmas. I don't agree with them, I celebrate Christmas, but they did make some valid points.

==I don't believe America was, or is, a Christian nation. I don't believe there is Biblically such thing as a Christian nation. Many Christians today look at the past through very romantic glasses. Many people during the 18th and 19th centuries would have said the very same thing about their culture as you are saying about ours. In fact, back to Plymouth Colony, William Bradford talked about the moral decline in the colony during his later years. O, and he died in 1657. My point? When you put a bunch of sinners together, over time things are going to go from bad to worse. Sad but true, and Christmas decorations are going to do nothing to stop that depravity. Only the Gospel, through faith in Christ, can do that.

 

==I thought so, but my point was very serious. :wavey:

 

This is just sad. We have young men and women fighting thousands of miles away from their families this Christmas, and we're complaining about a lack of glitter in some restaurant chain.

love,

sopranette

 

yea Inknow you don't but that doesn't change the fact that this country was founded on Christian Principles.

 

During this war what goes in this country does not become irrelevent. And this is not about glitter. That is to belittle the genuine concerns of others. It is about the removal of anything related to Christ or Christianity from the public square.

 

The genuine concern is revealed by actions. That is why I say it is a shame that the actions of many Christians is to complain to managers over decorations, or to companies because of a slogan.

 

One more meager attempt to belittle the real concern. It isn't about decorations. It is about the PC that drives the things related to Christianity out of the public square.

 

The OP states otherwise. It IS about lack of Christamas decorations. It's you who has made a mountain out of a molehill.
Has anyone prevented you from celebrating Christmas? Then it would be a legitimate concern. Are you going to start forcing private businesses to put up decorations? If the decor of some place offends you, take your business elsewhere. It's still a free country last time I checked.

love,

Sopranette

 

It is you who has misread the op:


In the past ten days we ate at a Marie Cllendar's and Olive Garden and notice how sterile and nonfestive their decor was for this time of the year. There were no Christmas trees; no decorations; no signs of any kind that we are in the midst of the most wonderful season for mankind: Christmas, and the Birth of Our LORD and Savior!

 

Unfortunately....I disagree. It seems more and more that the actions by many Christians each year (back to those actions revealing the genuine concern) show that maybe Christians aren't sure how to handle being a Christian in the public square. I wonder why there is such an uproar over the superficiality of decor and the lipservice given in a slogan? Do we not know how to live in the public square without these things?

Methinks many do not know how....thus feel uncomfortable and confused at any other way to reveal their faith....their Jesus....I hope I'm wrong at this.....but each year it gets more and more childish.

 

So Christmas lights and decorated trees are now proof that the establishment is run by Christians, for Christians? A lack of red bows and tinsle is that much of a threat?

love,

Sopranette

 

==I don't see how that has anything to do with anything I said.

 

Two things, and they are oddly off topic I think, but oh well...

1. This country has never been a Christian nation. The endorsement of immoral slavery from its outset and the depraved indifference of the founders are testimonies to that fact.

2. The worst place for Christianity to flourish is when it is in the middle of the public square. Christianity flourishes best when it is on the hearts and lives of its followers, not in the public eye as the nationalistic credo.

I still find tinsel distracting... happy festivus georgie!

 

What I see more and mnore each year is those who absolutely do not know how to be a Christian in the public square. And they feel the PC pressure to fall prey to the false claims that Christ should not even be ther in the first place. Presenting this as if it is a concern over decorations rather than what it really is sho a lack of real argument.