I wish I could get together with all of YOU ALL for the state sponsered day off. We could sit around the fire and knit and eat cookies we all made and make fun of Hilde (just kidding) sniff I 
you guys sniff
:?? I hope I did that quote thing right LOL… I agree… It does come down to respect… I have no problem with someone not celebrating Christmas… I think thats one thing that makes this country so wonderful we don’t have to follow a set religion or holiday… I am Christian and we celebrate I love getting together with my family and then I enjoy the excitement in my children as they get ready for St. Nick… My grandfather however was a very very strict Southern Baptist and Christmas was not celebrated… My father cannot wait now for the holidays he was the biggest kid in the house when I was growing up LOL… We get my grandfather something like I made him a scarf we just don’t call it a Christmas gift just a thinking of you gift… 
That sounds wonderful!! 
yes, all of us gettin together would be MARVELOUS!
Our immediate family (DH and son and I) start the season off on the Winter Solstice. We light the tree, and give one gift to each other.
We also celebrate Christmas Day. I was raised Catholic, and there is a lot about the church I love (and much I don’t admire, but I choose to look at the good stuff) and I usually give a total of three gifts to my son on Christmas Day - incorporating the Gifts of the Magi idea here! I also set out our manger scene on Christmas morning.
I am not a christian and haven’t been for over 20 years, but the overall thoughts of giving, and the ‘birth’ of the light are universal.
Nice to hear everyone’s thoughts on the matter.
OH, and when my son was younger, I gave him TINY gifts the 12 days of the holiday season (which I believe starts on the Solstice and ends on January 1st) We don’t do this anymore - being nearly 18 years old, tiny gifts aren’t so exciting to him anymore! 
I don’t really celebrate Christmas, but my boyfriend’s parents are pretty devout Christians so I get it anyway. My dad and his wife do the gift-giving thing as dictated by society, but they’re agnostic, I’m pretty sure. My mom and her husband are something like pagans, but they also do the gift-giving thing. I prefer to celebrate the solstice quietly, lighting my candle and enjoying thoughts of longer days to come. Of course, I also love excuses to buy things for my boyfriend, and Christmas is a pretty good one. If only I could talk him into accepting gifts for things like Imbolc…
I’m definitely not offended when people wish me a merry Christmas. It’s the dominant holiday, or at least does a very good job of pretending. What I don’t understand is when people get offended when people say “season’s greetings” or “happy holidays”. Someone is wishing you well here, and I can’t see why you would be offended by it. It’s the same sentiment as “merry Christmas” but with different words.
OMG, Femmy…I was SO worried that you were lighting a fire under something…Im SO glad I was wrong! This is another testament to the respectful and WONDERFUL people here at KH!
This thread has been FASCINATING!
As for me, we celebrate Christmas, but I dont consider myself Christian in the dogmatic sense. I honestly DONT KNOW if I believe that Christ was the son of God…I dont know about the walking on water or the rising from the dead after three days. I DO, however, think he was a person (there is historical proof of that) whose life is worth emulating. Love love love and forgive. I LIKE that!
What does that make me? Agnostic? Im not even sure. My real beliefs are centered around being a GOOD person. And, I suppose that when I think of GOOD, I think of the Christian ideal of Good…as opposed to the, oh, i dont know, buddhist sense of Good.
And, although I dont like the pressure of the season, I DO love an excuse to give gifts. I LOVE presents! I love giving and receiving them. I love wrapping paper and ribbon and the idea that Im thinking of someone and/or they are thinking of me.
I am RARELY offended by anyone’s belief system. On the contrary, I find tradition, culture and religion FASCINATING. I was not raised in a church, although I attended a Lutheran church with a friend between about 3rd and 8th grade. I am jealous of people who have what seems to be an innate sense of faith. I dont know if Ive ever felt anything like that. Additionally, my family has been in this country for centuries. I dont feel like I have any real ethnicity. SO…I find cultural tradition beautiful. DH’s family is Polish and BOY was his mom happy when I got all excited about Christmas and Easter Vigilia!
Did I write too much? ARe y’all asleep yet? :lol:
You can add me to the list of people who do not celebrate Christmas. I don’t mind if other people do if they understand the significance of the holiday. My husband’s family like to get together on Christmas or Christmas Eve just so they feel like they’re doing the ‘right’ thing. They don’t even care about God or any other diety. They just want to be able to say ‘yeah, the kids came over for Xmas and we all had a swell time!’
Now, his cousins and such will spend close to 15k on their children for Xmas… they can’t afford to let their son play hockey, but between them and their parent’s those children will get close to 15k in gifts. The kids aren’t even grateful! They’ll actually tell you they don’t like your gift at all (they’re 10 and 12 yrs old). Two years ago they told me I let them down because they each needed big TV’s for their bedrooms and I didn’t buy them!! I don’t even have a television in my bedroom!! Since that little incident I have been taking the little money I usually spend to get them a couple gifts and purchased yarn and made hats and scarves for foster children.
I don’t understand how one religious belief gets a federal day off when no one else’s religious holiday gets a mandated day off to spend with friends and relatives. That’s about the only irritation I have.
Just once I’d like to say ‘hey, since we’re all off work on Beltane, let’s get together!’
I’ll be lurking around here the next couple of days… as I hide from christmas!
I hope this post doesn’t come across as offensive to anyone. I have no problem what others decide to do with their lives, as long as their hearts are pure. Knitters hearts are always pure!.. pure wool…
What’s Beltane?
We’ve kinda done the same thing. It’s more of the spirit of Santa Claus, like giving and family. We definitely don’t put any thought towards the Christ. Besides, I know that his birthday wasn’t even around this time of year, hah.
Wow, sounds like some kids need to find out the value of life and not material things. This is quite saddening to me. It’s not about getting anything…
As for the Christian holiday thing, I think that happened because the majority of the nation os Christian based (as far as I know). So, majority rules, I guess (except for election day)
my anniversary! 
May Day, KK!
here’s the wiki notations
This thread is fascinating.
I was raised Roman Catholic, but I’m not practicing anymore. It’s a decision I came to a long time ago after a lot of thought. My husband was raised Lutheran, and he doesn’t practice either. This will be our first xmas as a “family” with DD. Before she was around, we didn’t bother with a tree. I’d put up a wreath, but that was about it. We view xmas as a free, paid day to get together with our family. We do exchange gifts, but we don’t go overboard.
I do think that the spirit of the holiday gets lost in all the gift receiving/giving. I have two brothers, and growing up, there were many years where we would get one gift for all of us (and them some pj’s or underwear for each of us.) Like, one year, we got a new tv set for the three of us. Another year we got Atari for all of us (I don’t know if any of the younger KH members would remember Atari…)
I don’t remember ever grumbling or not being grateful for the gifts we receieved, and I credit my parents for that. For us, this holiday isn’t about who go what or how many gifts are under the tree. It’s about doing whatever you can to make sure that everyone is together.
Now that my brothers and I are grown and living all over the country, we always make sure to make it home for xmas. I’ve been in the military for 9 years, and except for last year when we to DH’s family in CA, I’ve been home every year. My brothers are always there, too.
So, yes, we celebrate xmas in a sense, but it’s totally centered on the family.
~Sharon
Beltane is May 1st, May Day. It is the celebration of fertility. I like to equate it to the Pagan version of Valentine’s Day but different (yeah, that made sense :roflhard: )
And how does one celebrate Beltane/Fertility Day?? :shock:
(I read the Wiki article…it doesnt say.)
Well, I don’t really know … but I am thinking there is an obvious way to celebrate fertility day 
Sorry to be a smarty pants, KK … I just couldn’t resist !
Deb…you are in the LAND of Smarty Pants here! NEVER apologize for that!! :roflhard:
:shock: Ohhhhh I’m getting something for the first time now. :shock: One of the guys at the fire station used to say “Hurray, hurray it’s the first of May, outdoor fromping starts today!!”…and I thought he just meant because it was getting warmer or something… :roflhard: :roflhard:
Oh its gettin warmer all right :roflhard:
hugs 
I have to say, this discussion is one of the reasons I LOVE this forum!
We have a bunch of differing views on “THE” holiday of the year (as most of us - if not all- live in Christian based societies), and yet there is no name calling, no “I’m right/you’re wrong”… just total respect that we’re all different, beleive different things, and celebrate different holidays.
MWAH!!
Beautiful people!!!