Since it was originally a pagan fertility symbol, how about we call it a "fark Tree"?

God forbid some Christians get offended. The tree IS a holiday tree. What does an evergreen tree have to do with the Christ child being born in a Mediterranean city?

Di Atribe: God forbid some Christians get offended. The tree IS a holiday tree. What does an evergreen tree have to do with the Christ child being born in a Mediterranean city?

Because praise White Jesus!

Repub troll: Ha ha! I will call this felled conifer which I have stood back up and secured, bedecked with polished tin orbs, a "Christmas" tree! Watch the libruls, they're gonna be sooooo mad!

Libruls: ::crickets::

Repub troll: Come on, guys... guys?

Di Atribe: God forbid some Christians get offended. The tree IS a holiday tree. What does an evergreen tree have to do with the Christ child being born in a Mediterranean city in September?

T,FTFY.

As a solitary pagan who has actually studied religion in college I'm getting a kick out of these replies.

1. The tree was a fertility symbol thousands of years before Christ was born.
2. It was actually celebrated at the Winter Solstice.
3. The Roman Empire converted the date to coincide with Saturnalia.
4. Christ wasn't even born in December. It was most likely March or April.
5. It is a holiday tree because despite everything, Christmas is a holiday.

Christmas tree, holiday tree, whatever. January can't come soon enough, bah humbug.

Di Atribe: God forbid some Christians get offended. The tree IS a holiday tree. What does an evergreen tree have to do with the Christ child being born in a Mediterranean city?

Well, Lebanon has a only few cedars left. Maybe they cut them all down for Christmas 1,000 years ago?

/hot
//like a pole dancer

As a godless heathen I would like to say this: "Call the farking tree whatever you want and shut the fark up about it."

I swear the absolute proof their is no god is the lack of lighting bolts smiting ANYONE use the phrase "War on Christmas"

Wait, my wall socket just arced...there's a little smoke, I feel a tingling in my fingers...ahh, I'm okay now, must have been Joe Pesci.

Ennuipoet: their

THERE---I hate it when I do that and hate it even more when the Grammar Gestapo points out that I did that.

mamoru: in September?

I thought it was March.

Ennuipoet: As a godless heathen I would like to say this: "Call the farking tree whatever you want and shut the fark up about it."

Exactly. It amazes me that people get bent out of shape over crap like this. Don't they have any real problems in their lives to deal with?

eddyatwork: Exactly. It amazes me that people get bent out of shape over crap like this. Don't they have any real problems in their lives to deal with?

I don't know many atheists, but those I do could care less about what they call Christmas. It's not like religion has anything to do with it unless you worship at the Mall...yeah, I know.

Ennuipoet: It's not like religion has anything to do with it unless you worship at the Mall...yeah, I know.

Mammon will be displeased with your irreverence.

Ennuipoet: I don't know many atheists, but those I do could care less about what they call Christmas. It's not like religion has anything to do with it unless you worship at the Mall...yeah, I know.

I'm an Atheist. I couldn't care less whether it's a Christmas Tree. Then again, I don't belong to a religious group that also has a holiday at that time of year.

eddyatwork: Exactly. It amazes me that people get bent out of shape over crap like this. Don't they have any real problems in their lives to deal with?

They feel threatened when people don't believe in the same things they do. I don't really understand that.

Ennuipoet: As a godless heathen I would like to say this: "Call the farking tree whatever you want and shut the fark up about it."

Newsletter and all of that. Seriously though, I think most of us grew up calling it a "Christmas Tree". Because of this, saying "Holiday Tree" sounds funny when you've called it a "Christmas Tree" your whole life. So you say "Christmas Tree" out of habit and don't think about it much.

The same thing could be said about saying "Merry Halloween" or "Merry Holidays". It sounds funny, so you stick with the original. Religion has nothing to do with it and shouldn't but I guess the fundies have to feed their AW complex somehow.

That's some lightweight "force." Behold the power of email.

Gecko Gingrich: mamoru: in September?

I thought it was March.

I had heard August-ish myself.

I'm an ACLU liberal, like the guy mentions in the article, and I prefer Christmas. That's what I celebrate. I just don't want to hear any crap if I happen to say "Happy Saturnalia!". I like to see fundies squirm in terror, though...

"...And now, it seems, we have a Tree of Knowledge.
She looked up at the branches overhead
And shrugged her shoulders. Then she went away;
And what was left of Merlin's happiness,
Like a disloyal phantom, followed her."

- 'Merlin' by Edwin Arlington Robinson (1917)

jsobota: Gecko Gingrich: mamoru: in September?

I thought it was March.

I had heard August-ish myself.

Can't we just check his Kenyan birth certificate??

/someone had to...

jsobota: Gecko Gingrich: mamoru: in September?

I thought it was March.

I had heard August-ish myself.


it's my understanding he likely never existed at all.

I celebrate Christmas. If I want to call it a Christmas tree, fine. If they want to call it a holiday tree out of respect for other people, completely fine. I feel like even having an opinion on this is ridiculous.