Remember-The squeaky wheel gets the oil. The media tend to focus on 'boycotts' and such.
There aren't as many disgruntled Christians as you might think (byreading the paper and blogs/watching TV).
Most, I think, are simply getting ready to celebrate the holiday with family and friends and probably attend a church service.

__________________

I did not win the Powerball again!


"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."
--Jonathan Swift

I think some get disgruntled over the fact that the state/city/school district sides with ONE or TWO people complaining and overrules the wishes of 99.9999% of the community...

Imagine a school marquee with "Merry Christmas" getting taken down because one student gets upset (and, in alot of cases, through their parents)...That ends up upsetting hundreds of students, their families, and the locals...

And the people that defend the ONE student go with the "It's not a big deal." defense, but would never say that to the one student in the first place, which would stop the issue before it even starts...

__________________
"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd

1) Christianity makes up 75% of the U.S. population.
2) And even then, don't presume too much on what the rest of the community "wishes".


Why do we need to "imagine"?
Shouldn't the outrage over such a situation also be "imaginary"?

This reminds me of jokes where the wife kicks the husband in the morning, complaining that he cheated on her in her dream.

Maybe we should revise "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", so that all the Grinch steals is one sign that says "Merry Christmas", and at the end all of the Christians band together and realizes how trivial the complaint is and celebrates Christmas anyways...

1) He wasn't making an assertion concerning the overall population of the US. He was speaking in reference to specific communities. I have lived in small towns where 100% of the community was Christian without question.

2) It's not much of a presumption if the community comes out in force like they did at Ft Collins...

I am finding your refusal to indulge hypotheticals to be a bit obtuse and boorish.

Isn't that what happens anyway, just on a larger scale. I find your "celebrate christmas without the signs" to be a little disingenuous. Perhaps the vocal atheist minority should continue disbelieving despite the signs...

1) I guess if an area gets a super-majority, the complaint of the minority can be disregarded then, eh?
2) I am unfamiliar with the Ft Collins issue.
Can you elaborate?


Let me elaborate.
I am more than willing to indulge hypotheticals.
I am unwilling to give a crap about somebody whining about some imaginary scenario they conjured up in their head.
Nor do I see whining about hypotheticals a legitimate concern on this issue.

Quite frankly, hypotheticals can be useful to help demonstrate a point.
When they become the object of the complaint, the complaint itself becomes "obtuse and boorish".


And thank you for pointing that out.
I agree whole-heartedly.


First off, let me explicitly state that was a satirical response.
I in no way have a opinion that Christians should just accept a banning of Christmas signs and live with it.
(Although it's interesting how this thread used to be about the term "Xmas", and now we've moved on to stronger territory...)

Also, I have less patience for the people who complain about "Merry Christmas" signs in the first place.

It's just that in THIS thread, what we're talking about primarily IS HYPOTHETICALS.
Imaginary people who are out to get Christians by saying "XMas".
If anybody demonstrated that personae on this thread, I would have no problem telling them what I think of them.

But until one comes along, I'm not going to get all indignant over what somebody might be doing.
And I'm not going to treat people who DO get indignant over hypotheticals as rational...

You hit the nail on the head, with that comment.

__________________

I did not win the Powerball again!


"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."
--Jonathan Swift

When it comes to things like freedom to express harmless traditions, yes, the minority can be disregarded because they simply do not have to participate. I don't like seeing billboards that advertise my least favorite radio station all year long, but I am certainly not going to demand they be removed on that ground alone. I despise Valentine's Day with a black-hearted passion that rivals that of the Grinch, but I find no reason to hinder others from indulging their Hallmark fantasies that those in relationships are more valid as people for a day.

As to the Fort Collins incident, the city had a committee which decided for the whole town what was and was not acceptable for the holiday. They even went so far as to tell a little old lady that she could not hang an angel on her door because she lived in public housing. The community came out in force and made it known that this was not acceptable.

I can certainly agree with this. I am just hoping that you were not attempting to invalidate a reasonable concern simply because the hypothetical was used in place of finding the actual example it was based off of.

I agree also. However, there has been a blatant attack on religious expression that has gotten progressively more aggressive over the past decade. These hypotheticals being offered are often rehashes of issues that have actually happened.

Well I think the original premise about the Xmas thing was a bit uncalled for because I am a firm believer that my adherence to a belief system is in no way afflicted by an abbreviation. But that is just me.

Also, I have less patience for the people who complain about "Merry Christmas" signs in the first place.

Fair enough.

Part of my issue on the "hypotheticals" is how they have a capability to "snow-ball" into an assumed existence.
I've got some friends and acquaintences who "CC:" spam me more often than they should. I've tried asking nicely, but eventually I just ignore the excess junk.
Some of the CC: spams include political statements about this or that. Like how you have to sign a petition to ensure "Touched by an Angel" stays on the air, cause those pesky atheists are warring against it trying to get it kicked off.
Urban Legends Reference Pages: Petition to Ban Religious Broadcasting

I've sent out reply e-mails to the entire e-mail chain demonstrating that some of the claims were just plain hoaxes, but then I stopped because 1) it just wasn't worth it (recipients didn't seem to care), and 2) I've seemed to picked up a couple more people who think I want to hear all their non-existent complaints.

And quite frankly, THAT is at the heart of my issue.
The concern that some of the "attacks" on Christianity are more talk and assumed, than actually looking at the issue to see if they are real.

With that said, some of the real issues that aren't just plain hoaxes are taking it too far. (And I'll pause to say that I also think some are not.)

I'm glad you brought up the Fort Collins issue.
Unless I am not seeing the most recent discussion on the topic, it looks like "Christmas" has won out on the issue, and the town is not nix-ing everything that is not secular.
Fort Collins council nixes plan for secular display : Local News : The Rocky Mountain News

Yeah, that's what I said. The community came out in force and put a stop to the PC madness.

Redd--I love you dearly, but count the letters in the words "Ramadan" and "Hanukkah" and then count the letters in "Christmas." "Christmas" is longer. One less syllable, but one more letter too.

I never type xmas to insult a person. In fact, I rarely type it. But if I do it's for the same reason someone short-cuts anything else. Not an insult. A short-cut that everyone recognizes.

__________________