For those who celebrate a religious Christmas?

You make a good point. Christmas is not about the packages and presents. We have lost sight of the meaning of Christmas. I have been bothered by those children's stars on the giving trees because the things on the star that they are asking the donor to provide are things I never gave my own children. Why should I make another child well off when my own children learned to do without?

Christmas is about remembering the gift of God in sacrificing his son for our sake. We give gifts of love to one another in semblance of that godly gift.

For us, sometimes that gift is simply being able to travel the four hundred miles to my in-laws house to share the holiday with them.

Jesus is not the "reason for the season", but your point is valiad. People are all way too materialistic...

Christmas=Yule. Yule is the winter solstice. (12:47 PM ET, on the 21st, in case anyone needs the time). It was a celebration, because winter was a hard season for the people. Solstice is the shortest day of the year. It means that spring is coming back and it was meant to provide comfort to the people and let them know that winter wasnt eternal. People would dance and sing to drive away the dark and call back the light.

During this time, it was considered to be the death of the old year and the rebirth of the new. The Greeks believed that Persephone was leaving Hades to return to her mother, so Demeter was bringing back spring. Yule lasts for thirteen days with rites and rituals being held each day to call back the sun. Many fire-customs are important during Yule. The the Yule-log from the last year's celebratory tree is used to start the fire. It has to burn the whole night through with someone keeping Yule-watch over it. Pieces of the Yule tree's trunk are then kept through the year and thought to bring good luck. We use the trunk itself as our Maypole during Beltaine as well as to start the Yule fire. This fire in the darkest night embodies the ever-living fire of the clan and the soul, the ever-springing hope of the worlds.

Christmas is a lot more than a devout excursion. In truth, little or no approximately the occasion of Christmas is devout within the United States. To be sincere, I am no longer loopy approximately Christmas, however no longer considering the fact that it's devout. The abject commercialism is sickening to me.

It's a hypocritical society that we live in. I just play along with the group, but as far as the actual day, I usually make up an excuse to not show up at christmas, so that I don't have to go along with the satan clause stuff. I just sit and read the book to Jesus as if that day really was His birthday, then I visit my family a day late or early, make apologies and give up the gifts

December 25 was a Pagan holiday celebrating the winter solstice long before the Christians stole the date to celebrate Christmas. I'm sure a lot of them will give me a thumbs down but they are only displaying their ignorance. This is easily verifiable.

It makes it kind of bizzare too seeing how the whole thing about putting up a Tree is a Pagan tradition that was kept as a compromised by the Roman Empire converting others. The idea of a Winter Festival is a universal thing.

obviously you misunderstand him.

1. The reason for the season is Jesus,

2. the result and custom of the season is usually gifts and other things as well,

2 different things.

To most children, the presents ARE Christmas. They don't fully understand Jesus yet.

Well jesus doesnt have anything to do with this hliday. So i dont get that point abdout jesus is the season heres some information:

CHRISTMAS—SUN WORSHIP RENAMED

The Bible makes no mention of a birthday celebration for Jesus. In fact, his exact birth date is unknown. We can be sure, though, that he was not born on December 25 in the cold of winter in that part of the world. For one thing, Luke recorded that when Jesus was born, “shepherds [were] living out of doors” minding their flocks. (Luke 2:8-11) If “living out of doors” had been their habit year round, that would not have been noteworthy. However, because Bethlehem is subject to cold rains and snow, flocks were wintered under cover and shepherds would not have been “living out of doors.” Additionally, Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem because Caesar Augustus had ordered a census. (Luke 2:1-7) It is highly unlikely that Caesar would have commanded a people who were resentful of Roman rule to travel to their ancestral cities in the dead of winter.

The roots of Christmas are found, not in Scripture, but in ancient pagan festivals, such as the Roman Saturnalia, a celebration dedicated to Saturn, the god of agriculture. Likewise, according to their reckoning, devotees of the god Mithra celebrated December 25 as the “birthday of the invincible sun,” says the New Catholic Encyclopedia. “Christmas originated at a time when the cult of the sun was particularly strong at Rome,” about three centuries after the death of Christ.

During their celebrations, pagans exchanged gifts and feasted—practices that Christmas preserved. As is also true today, however, much Christmas giving was not in the spirit of 2 Corinthians 9:7, which reads: “Let each one do just as he has resolved in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” True Christians give out of love, their giving is not tied to a date, and they expect no gifts in return. (Luke 14:12-14; Acts 20:35) Moreover, they deeply appreciate being set free from the Christmas frenzy and relieved of the heavy yoke of financial debt that many incur at that time of year.—Matthew 11:28-30; John 8:32.

But, some may argue, did not the astrologers present birthday gifts to Jesus? No. Their gift-giving was simply a way of paying their respects to a person of note, a common custom in Bible times. (1 Kings 10:1, 2, 10, 13; Matthew 2:2, 11) In fact, they did not even come on the night that Jesus was born. Jesus was, not a babe in a manger, but many months old and living in a house when they arrived.

BIBLICAL LIGHT ON BIRTHDAYS

Even though the birth of a baby has always been a cause for much joy, the Bible makes no reference to a birthday celebration for a servant of God. (Psalm 127:3) Was this simply an oversight? No, for two birthday celebrations are mentioned—that of a Pharaoh of Egypt and that of Herod Antipas. (Genesis 40:20-22; Mark 6:21-29) Both events, however, are presented in a bad light—especially the latter, which saw John the Baptizer beheaded.

“The early Christians,” notes The World Book Encyclopedia, “considered the celebration of anyone’s birth to be a pagan custom.” The ancient Greeks, for instance, believed that each person had a protective spirit that attended the person’s birth and thereafter watched over him. That spirit “had a mystic relation with the god on whose birthday the individual was born,” says the book The Lore of Birthdays. Birthdays also have a long-standing and an intimate link with astrology and the horoscope.

Besides rejecting birthday customs on account of pagan and spiritistic roots, God’s servants of old likely rejected them on principle as well. Why? These were humble, modest men and women who did not view their arrival in the world as so important that it should be celebrated. (Micah 6:8; Luke 9:48) Rather, they glorified Jehovah and thanked him for the precious gift of life.—Psalm 8:3, 4; 36:9; Revelation 4:11.

At death, all integrity-keepers are safe in God’s memory, and their future life is guaranteed. (Job 14:14, 15) Says Ecclesiastes 7:1: “A name is better than good oil, and the day of death than the day of one’s being born.” Our “name” is the good reputation we have gained with God through faithful service. Significantly, the only commemoration commanded for Christians involves, not a birth, but a death—that of Jesus, whose excellent “name” is the key to our salvation.—Luke 22:17-20; Hebrews 1:3, 4.

did you get gfits when you were a child and excited about the morning? Think bank...Kids are what Christmas is about...and Jesus of course. HE DIED FOR THEM....dont judge others...many are hurting....for me the dinners are the best and going to church