I appreciate that you remind us of our history. Especially when you clarify the back story for our legacy with our Native American citizens. We have a terrible legacy here and we have barely righted any of the wrongs of these past times. But too many adults just weren’t present on the day that we studied history in school. So keep doing the education that is needed to bring so many of us up to date.
I grew up never hearing of the Trail of Tears, Juneteenth or many other significant things that happened before I was born. I've become a 'history nerd' and it saddens me that Americans were so cruel, thought our generation would change the past mistakes, but am now only hoping that the younger generation will do what has been ignored for so long, in spite of Trump, Maga, and the rest of the planet----there's a HUGE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM.
Museum Education, I think, just might be the hope of the US. As a Museum Educator myself, I am free to educate however I want, and what I want, as long as it's factually based. My speciality is the history of traditionally disenfranchised people.
Way back last century ('80s into the '90s) when I was in school, history was primarily taught in intermediate grades (4-8). Then in four years of high school, it was only one year of world history and one year of US history. I was always fascinated by the architecture, societal structures, and belief systems of humans throughout history. In grade school, I asked a lot of questions that my teachers could not, or would not, answer. So, I took to the local library and found many of the answers for myself. When I gave reports on historical events and figures, I always got "A"s but was politely asked to not share them with the other students as they were not likely "mature" enough to understand. By the time I got to high school, I was basically told to "sit down and shut up" because there wasn't enough time to field questions or dig deeper into the topics. Things have not changed much now with my children now being in high school. But I don't blame the teachers or the parents; I blame the system. How much can really be taught to a group of around 20 youths in roughly 170 sessions annually that are each 45 minutes long? How much can a parent guide their child having to work 40+ hours a week just to provide necessities for that child? Not all of these youths want to know more, not all of them have good access to more information, not all know how to tell what information is good. We have around 50 million students enrolled in public schools in the US, each with their own academic needs, strengths, and weaknesses. Each state has their own regulations and local school boards decide a district's curriculum. But society expects them all to come off the education assembly line with the same general education.
Fun fact. There is no election for PM in Canada. We don’t vote in PM election. We vote for our member of parliament and whoever leads that party with the most seats is the PM. The leader is elected my party members across the country. It is a cross between the leader of the house and a primary. So Gretzky cannot “run for PM”.
Same in Australia. The parties elect their leaders in accordance with their own party's rules (but in all cases, the candidates for leader are already members of Parliament). The party or coalition of parties with a majority of the seats in the House of Representatives forms government, and that party's leader becomes Prime Minister. This is why we can have a change of Prime Minister without an election.
Tfg telling Canadians who should run for Prime Minister - of another country - shows how he has no concept of government. Not even the one he is supposed to start running.
Fun fact - Australia is exactly the same as Canada. We vote for who we want to represent us in the House and the Senate. The Prime Minister is the parliamentary leader of the party that gets the most seats (electoral districts) in the House. In the case of neither side getting the minimum number of seats (50% of all seats), it's whoever can cobble together an agreement with the minor parties or Independents. Which - for the record HAS happened here - Julia Gillard (Labor, progressive) was supported by Independents to form a government. Yes, Merica, minor parties are a thing. You should try them. Might be enlightening & add spark to your politics. In actual fact Merica - YOU'RE the outlier. Because like EVERY. SINGLE. OTHER. DEMOCRACY ELECTS ITS GOVERNMENT THE. SAME. WAY. The party that gets the most seats is what forms the government. Most of the West took 1 look at your government & electoral system, got a headache & opted to KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid.
I 100% understand the non-xmas viewer!! I no longer celebrate and haven't since 2008. I did put Xmas gifts under the tree for my son on Xmas until he was 18 (9 years ago). I still receive Xmas cards from my family. I still receive the traditional text on 12/25. Last year, my very Christian boss and very Christian coworker got me my very first non-xmas cards. That meant so much more to me than I could express. So my advice is to find "your" people. They don't have to celebrate the same way as you. They just have to respect the difference! Happy Holidays and Merry Everything (or nothing), my friend!!
One day at the library, the librarian was having a hard time with a woman who could not believe a Christian didn't celebrate Christmas. The librarian was a young Jehovah's Witness. The woman in frustration turned to me and said "well you celebrate Christmas don't you?" To which I replied "of course, I celebrate all the pagan holidays".
@@darrahhopper6437 😂 I wonder who was more disturbed by that, the guest or the librarian!? I remember in school, there were always one or two JW kids who couldn’t have birthday parties or recite the pledge of allegiance.
@@BC25citizen The librarian was wonderful. She was only about 18 and sheltered, home schooled and all, but she held her own intelligently explaining why she didn't celebrate the pagan holiday of Christmas. The older (my age maybe) Christian woman was completely unwilling to accept that she had been hoodwinked about when Christ was born.
Celebrating Christmas has become celebration of Benjamin Franklin the more green Benjamins you spend the holier you are or the bidder the diamonds you give your wife or girlfriend (or both) shows your love.
As an atheist, I still celebrate Christmas, mostly because I always enjoyed the family traditions... the decorations, the lights, the music, and getting together with everybody. If I didn't have the family ties, I probably wouldn't participate, but it's nice to have all the kids and grandkids together exchanging gifts and enjoying the feast, which I also enjoy making!
As someone who was raised Catholic and is now atheist who only minimally does Christmas, I’ve gotten over being overly irritated by strangers wishing me Merry Christmas, but I generally “happy holidays“ people if I don’t know for sure that they celebrate Christmas … except maybe on Christmas Day: if I happen to be out where I encounter strangers (rest stop, on a walk, etc.), I might give them a “Merry Christmas.” I work in a very diverse setting, so use happy holidays, but I wished my Muslim coworker friend a nice break. Sometimes I still get in the mood to explain to someone that I don’t celebrate Christmas, just to remind them to check their assumptions. 🤷♀️
I similarly "happy holidays" people, though I will reply with "Happy Solstice" or "Good Yule" to their Merry Christmas, for similar reasons to yours. I think it's good for folks to be reminded of the diversity of amazing people, celebrations, and religions around them.
I prefer to respond with "Thank you, have a Merry Bah Humbug!". It throws things off kilter giving me time to walk away before they process what was said.
To each their own. I say Blessed Yule or Happy Holidays. I am not going to lower my beliefs. They can feel free to say Merry Christmas since they believe in Christ (even though he was not born in Dec.) I will continue to say Blessed Yule since I am pagan and this is what my beliefs are.
@@dkkinh Lol you are funny. Lately I say Merry merry happy happy. It basically does the same. They are not sure what I am saying but it still sends cheer.
@@Jaquableuthat strikes a nice balance where most folks associate Yule with Christmas through the tradition of the yule log - clever! Someone wishing you joy for a holiday they celebrate isn't a bad thing at all. It also gives you the excuse to wish them happiness during the most non-mainstream holidays and then say "I assumed you wanted to have a blessed flag day since you wished me Merry Christmas three years ago"
ppl got so fixated on prices and niche culture wars, they forgot that having an incompetent narcissist in charge during a major crisis is a terrible thing 😶
I've always appreciated that opportunity, especially when others were surrounded by family celebrations. That's one plus of having moved someplace larger and more diverse.
"Well, I've heard of Wayne Gretzky, he's famous, like me, so I guess he'd make a good Prime Minister." He thought Celine Dion wouldn't stand a chance. For the writer of the Christmas question, most people say "Merry Christmas" like they say "Have a good/nice day". If you are getting any more than that, people are just being pushy.
2:03 _~Maybe~_ Guatemala has _"expressed openess to accepting"_ American deportees because *_they_* realize the positives of immigrants helping a country's growth, prosperity & diversity?
Well, a lot of them are skilled in the building trades and agriculture, and most of them are hard workers who do their jobs and don't cause anyone any trouble. We should be welcoming them, giving them work visas, and helping those who want citizenship to attain that goal, not shipping them off so some other country can benefit. Just more proof that Trump is an idiot, who was elected by idiots.
Up until 2020, the U.S. was still accepting Asylum Seekers from Guatemala because the political situation still resulted in a lot of k!llings and people legitimately feared for their life. One example of why accept Asylum Seekers was made obvious when the federal court in Omaha, NE (where I live) sent a refugee back to Guatemala (he opposed the political party in power in Guatemala, and had a legitimate case) and he was promptly murdered when he landed in Guatemala. He was married to a U.S. Citizen. They had kids.
Alberta has a lot of work going into repurposing old oil/gas wells for geothermal power generation. Nice to see them refocus a bit on being energy producers, rather than hydrocarbon producers. The US has instances of geothermal at natural hot spots, like 17 sites in Nevada.
@@apowellintheweeds That is so fantastic to hear about. Thank you. I was thinking much smaller than that; like the simple drilling with thermally conductive mud around the pipes for little heat pumps using the naturally moderate temperatures a few tens or at most a couple hundred feet down for houses and other buildings.
@@apowellintheweeds Wait, really? I live here and I didn't hear anything about that. I'd been wishing for it for years but gave up on following Alberta-related news because it was just so awful most of the time. The Conservatives are still in power, I thought that renewable-energy programs were actively being dismantled?
After a whole lifetime of not putting up a Christmas tree on my own, I started doing so after my sister gave me her previous one. This is the second year that I put it up and decorate it. I am not a Christian, but it brings back childhood memories and it is pretty. I absolutely don't mind receiving Christmas cards, and I say "Merry Christmas" as a salutation. To me it's the same as saying "Have a good day!" It's all a part of pretending to be a normal human being.
I don't have to pretend. I do celebrate the holidays. I put up lights and a yule tree. I enjoy it and you should enjoy it too. Celebrate it your way and allow others to do the same. Blessed Yule (or happy holidays) to you too.)
I asked a coworker if he had a nice Christmas. He said he didn't celebrate it. I told him I was only asking if he had a nice day off from our work. It just happens to be labeled Christmas. Personally, I spent the day in my pajamas, alone. It was a great day to recharge.
You could have asked if he had a good vacation or holiday after he said that instead of being defensive. There is a reason he said that. He feels like it is being pushed on him so give him a break. Blessed Yule to you.
I stopped celebrating Christmas when I was still a Christian. People then and now don't understand how you couldn't it seems so much a part of our culture. I don't have any advice. My main reason then and now is that the work involved in "celebrating" fell mostly on me. It made me stressed and cranky trying to make it "a good Christmas" for everybody else. I usually ended up cranky and ruining it for everyone else. I don't feel the need to explain much. Usually I say I don't celebrate because I don't want to.
I am still a Christian ( Do my best to follow his teachings ),but I don't "celebrate" Christmas. I have issues with the whole Santa Clause myth and what it teaches kids. Lots of stuff = good person. Very little stuff = bad person. That is NOT what Jesus taught. Want to put him back in Christmas........teach kids that the love of money is the root of all evil.
One year, my spouse had to be away for a good chunk of December and my daughter was traveling. I decided I would not decorate or go to extraordinary lengths of seasonal cards, pictures, baking, cooking, wrapping, shopping, etc. ... And it was good! Since then, I have really cooled off on all the xmas "joys". If I decorate, it's because I feel like it. I haven't baked in a few years now, and no one is crying about traditions (or weight gains). I hope everyone gives the not-Christmas a shot -- it's quite freeing.
To me, Christmas was never a religious holiday. As a kid it was about getting gifts. As I got older, it was about family and buying presents that I knew (from listening to them) they really wanted. After my parents died, I stopped celebrating. I celebrate the Winter Solstice though. My dog does celebrate Christmas, so I have to buy him presents.
Decades long atheist here: I celebrate Christmas but it’s from a completely secular pov. I was raised Christian and Christmas meant two things, a celebration of the birth of that Jesus guy, and the pagan/commercial holiday of Christmas. Now, I just don’t do the Jesus part. IMO, the pagan traditions we have incorporated into the holiday are the best part. Also, the music, even with some religious connotation, is absolutely wonderful. Just one pov here from Raleigh, NC. Have a happy new year everyone!
@Jaquableu I only this year discovered the version God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen /We Three Kings that the Barenaked Ladies did with Sarah McLachlan (BNL holiday album from 2004) it is quite wonderful.
That last question reminds me of something that Tom Lehrer said. "Christmas, with its spirit of giving offers us all a wonderful opportunity each year to reflect on what we most sincerely and deeply believe in. I refer, of course, to money."
For the last question. I’m in the Uk , I’m not a practicing Christian but we still decorate, still give gifts still eat way way too much and drink silly amounts and give gifts, for us it’s not a Christian holiday as such more a celebration of friends and family. And for me that is much more important than the Christian meaning. Happy saturnalia. (Pre Christian, same Holliday co opted by the Christian church. ) all the best and good wishes to all faiths or no faith just respect each other. ❤
It would be more "on brand" for Trump is he recommended that Terry Fox run for our PM. For Americans who don't get that joke, Canada's national hero has been dead for over 40yrs (think in terms of Trump not knowing that Fredrick Douglas was no longer alive).
Christmas notes: A lot of Protestants don’t celebrate holidays, Christmas being one of those days. Christmas is what I think of as a Pagan holiday. I cannot stand how commercialized the holiday has become, so I do not celebrate. Depending on my ‘old man crankiness’ I have a couple of responses. ‘Happy Holidays’ is generally my go to. Lots of Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist folks in my area that don’t celebrate, so I think polite not to ‘push’ Christian beliefs on them. If someone is being ‘pushy’ I respond with the ‘I don’t celebrate pagan holidays that Catholics stole from pagans’ or something along that lines… This normally works Personally, I have taken to celebrating winter solstice, if only because it celebrates days getting longer and that’s a big deal where I live
For many, "Christmas" is code for a winter holiday. That's why "Happy Holidays" works so well. Poor vocabulary/etiquette is why some people say it to everybody and expect reciprocal responses. I may say it to you at first, if I don't know what you do or don't celebrate; but I try to give the appropriate greeting if I do. At least during this season, people are usually willing to acknowledge a greeting.
I work in grocery (in U.S.) and talk about the holidays is expected. I say "happy holidays" as a general rule, because I don't like to assume. If someone stares me in the face and says correctlively, "merry Christmas". At that point, I smile and wish them a merry Christmas. In that setting, it's not worth an argument. (This has happened several times.)
As someone who no longer observes Christmas I tell nosy people that I quietly celebrate in my own way that is not commercially driven. This is usually enough to politely change the subject by asking them what kinds of memories they hope to make with their family this year. I get labeled as boring and that's the end of it.
When my part of Colorado gets in the news it’s almost never for something good. This guy who attacked the reporter story happened in the same county that had Tina Peters as County Clerk.
Regarding the Christmas thing, I think a big part of what's going on here is that culturally we all have time off right now. And most cultures have holidays around this time. So when? Christians insist that you must celebrate Christmas somehow often what they mean is, " what are you doing instead" and they just have no way to frame it except by way of their own cultural dominance. So for example I tell them that I celebrate Yule or the winter solstice instead and they usually shut up. So if there isn't some other holiday that you're celebrating at this time of year you can just say something like, " I just enjoy the time off"
I am a Christian but have no need for others to celebrate Christmas. This year my family had a nice relaxing time just having the day off. Being pushy about Christmas might be a far-right cultural/political thing more than a religious thing.
0:37 i heard _"Tiktok Day."_ Which i didn't see thr Patriarchy agreeing to _that_ so google shows i misheard: _"Still Need to Do Day" is observed on December 29th each year, essentially a reminder to finish up any outstanding tasks before the year ends; it's also sometimes called_ *"Tick Tock Day"* _for the same reason."_ I'd call it _"tick...TOCK Day"_ in that singsong way movie villains use...
Former Christian here. We don't have kids, but we put up a few lights in the apt windows, and go over to my in-laws for whom it's a much bigger deal esp. my MIL. Many of my friends are non-Christian of various flavours, and "happy holidays" covers Hanukkah, Solstice, etc. or just a few days off work :)
I celebrate Christmas as a family holiday, not a religious one. You could just as easily say I celebrate the Winter Solstice, we just delay the feasting a couple of days to accommodate all the relatives.
I am the oldest of 4 generations with blended families at 3 of the 4 levels and my husband has passed which makes for conflicts of schedules during the whole year. My step kids suggested, since I now live in a retirement facility, to pick the first Saturday in December and celebrate everything together that day. We call it our HappyHallowThanksMas to cover the birthdays and eating celebrations the adults enjoy most. Odd menus with everyone contributing but always nice and joyful and loving..
Belle's right that Xmas isn't really just a Christian holiday. It's a capitalist one, but also a cultural one. I think the best advice for that person at the end is to try and understand just how many non-Christians do something for Christmas. I'm not Christian (and tend to have a lot of ire for all the Abrahamic religions) and I do stuff for Christmas. It may also help to read into the history of Christmas and how it was kind of co-opted by Christianity. It may be less uncomfortable if you learn a bit about the history of it, because it goes really far back, and realistically it was a pagan holiday before it was a Christian one. Christians co-opted it as a method of control as they stepped into power, so as to keep the pagans from stepping too far out of line by having their traditional festivals around the Winter Solstice tamped down. It's an interesting history. Basically, think of it like this - humans around the world tend to have at least one major festival per season. In the US, it's mostly: Spring - Easter. Summer - July 4th. Fall - Halloween. (Thanksgiving is Christmas part 1, further entrenched by capitalist interests - look it up, retailers literally lobbied until Thanksgiving was moved.) Winter - Christmas. Virtually every culture and religion has some kind of version of these. Passover, Ramadan, Hannukah (sp), Kwanzaa, etc.
Trump urged Gretzky to run for PM because Gretzky is a Trumpist. The conversation took place at Mar-A-Lago. He's famous, been on TV, and likes Trump. If Trump could appoint him PM, he'd have done so by now.
I don't tend to care too much about harmony so I'm pretty honest with ppl when they ask about Christmas. I say "I'm an atheist so Christmas has no meaning for me, and it seems to have just morphed into a holiday about shopping. I'd rather just spend time with you guys" or "I don't want to disrespect your holiday by participating when I don't believe, but I'd like to spend that time with you" Something like that. My parents still want me to participate in Christmas so I've gotten my mom down to us just exchanging a single gift. It's forced us to just focus on the family time of it. Which is perfect for me because gift giving and especially receiving makes me uncomfortable and stressed, which I also expressed. I genuinely don't like the gift receiving.
I generally say Happy Holidays and if asked about it I say there are so many holidays at this time of year I don't presume what a person celebrates. Otherwise, I reply with the same wish if someone says Merry Christmas etc.
I live in Alberta. No one wants more gas supply here where we sell it. Simply supply and demand. Price will drop. Profits will drop. Wells will be shut. Layoffs, less royalties.....
7:54 I love your explanation on why some people don't grasp that others don't celebrate Christmas. I tell them that I do Yule, on 21st or 22nd December depending on the calendar's wobbles, and that I am sorry for those who have to wait the extra days to celebrate the solstice/divine rebirth festival. Cheers to all Christmassing Christians, to those whose sect disagrees with Christmas on the grounds that it is the wrong time of year, just a party tacked onto a Roman holiday, and enjoy New Year's celebrations, and those whose religions/cultures have a different reason to celebrate on nearby days. To all people of goodwill, 🙂 Season's Greetings, as the Victorians said! 🎄🎊
One facet about the xmas bit that comes to mind: I have read that evangelicals send folks out to proselytize, not to gain more followers but to show their in-folks how outsiders are to be avoided (I know I'm mashing this badly, I don't recall the exact words used in the explanation I read). There are myriad reasons why some writers draw the analogy between religions and viruses.
Where I live, the only people that used to wish you a merry Christmas wasNig Save supermarket chain, which was owned by a Buddhist family. They were open normal hours on Christmas Day, but closed for New Year’s. As with most other American businesses, their employees or a majority, Christian. about a quarter century ago, they were bought out by a larger chain, and now they close on Christmas day like most other businesses. They have resorted to avoiding the greeting, merry Christmas, in favor of happy holidays like everyone else.
My wife and I are opposed to any organized religeon but we have a little one so we do celebrate Christmas. I was raised a JW so I never celebrated growing up. If it weren't for our child we would probably still celebrate because we find it a fun holiday but we'd scale back a lot of our spending on it. I wish people Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays but haven't had anyone tell me they don't celebrate. If they did, I'd just respond "Cool. Well enjoy any time off you have." and smile. No biggie to me either way.
1. The stock market is overvalued. In 2007 the housing market was overvalued. 2. Not celebrating Xmas: Why do you need to tell anyone your celebratory preferences?
Checked the day like five different ways, muttering, _"it _*_is_*_ Sunday, right?"_ because i don't always _know_ & i use YT video schedules to keep track...
@@Erin-Thor G'mornin' Erin! My spirits are low, which is why I've been absent. I'm having difficulty getting through the holidays without my true love. After what would be our 25th anniversary on New Years Eve, I hope it'll get a little easier for me. I'm popping in today, just to let y'all know I'm still here and I love y'all. It's wonderful to see you, my friend. 😊🫂💞
@ - Hugs dear! (I know I’m about to repeat myself) Remember that living FOR a lost loved one is the best way to honor them. We all go, that’s a given. TALK to him, say hi every time you walk by his guitar 🎸, and just do whatever you can to remember him and include him in your thoughts! People say either there is no such thing as ghosts, or ghosts are evil… I disagree‼️ I’ve had a few times in my life that a hidden hand helped me, protected me, or just suddenly I felt it was okay. And yes, I still have an occasional conversation with my Dad’s coffee cup. ☕️🥰
7:40 - to the commenter asking about Christians not acknowledging that you don't celebrate Christmas, mostly I just want to say that I empathize. But also, it may be that they simply can't comprehend the idea, because it's so ingrained in their psyche that it just doesn't compute. My anecdote about this: Someone once, upon me saying I didn't believe in God, told me: "Well you should believe in God, because God believes in you!" 😭
Oy! Wow. Then again, someone tried to give me "a ticket to heaven" at the donut shop this morning as I was getting my tea. "It's our only hope!" She seemed genuinely perplexed when i responded, "My hopes are placed firmly elsewhere."
@ haha, yup. Sounds like a similar sort of thing. I maintain hope that the incomprehensibility of our positions is a veil that can be pierced. But it is a long slow process, in my experience, at best.
Everybody may not celebrate Christmas but definitely observe it. I don't purchase or exchange gifts, I don't buy ANYTHING other than food from Thanksgiving til January, and don't follow any religious dogma that has me celebrating the holiday. It still exists, and everyone does something. I take the day off and enjoy the peace. Many people go to the movies and eat Chinese food. They're still observing it in a special way that differs from other days. I don't get offended by anyone wishing me a Merry Christmas. It's the tidings of the season and I do sincerely believe that people celebrate or observe it in their way. I'll tell folks I don't celebrate and thank them for the wishes. This helps strike a balance of appreciation and boundary-setting.
Happy Slack Week, y'all. I adopted that from fellow former workers at a tech firm that just plain shut down almost everything for the last week of the year, and of course counted it against everybody's paid time off. Contract workers of course kept the lights on and could actually get things done that week.
Regarding Christmas, as people become more insistent, my answers progress from “I don’t celebrate Christmas “ to “what are you, the Christmas police?” to no answer at all. All without getting upset or losing my patience. Eventually, the person asking stops asking. If I’m at an event where several people keep asking, I will politely leave early. Again, sooner or later, they quit asking. If I need to set boundaries to protect my sanity, I have to insist that people respect them, again, without getting angry. It’s just a thought. Ha! Quite accidentally, that statement applies here. 😂
Fun fact: The Pilgrims banned the celebration of Christmas in 1659 and it wasn't celebrated again in all of the then US states until 1840. It only became a federal holiday in 1870.
Modern Christmas is hardly a Christian holiday. Most people celebrate it secularly. Jesus was most likely born in the spring, but the holiday swallowed up winter solstice celebrations and evolved into what it is now. I’m an atheist who was raised Jewish, and I love celebrating Christmas with my friends and some of my family. If you don’t, that’s okay too! But you have to understand that it’s celebrated very widely and diversely.
I have heard from non Christian immigrants with kids that their kids expect both christmas and whatever holidays there are from the old country. Gotta maximize the gift holidays. I think belle is right though. Just lead with "i don't celebrate Christmas' There are Christians who also don't due to their beliefs, or who celebrate it at a different time.
7:00 The frustration for me is that I can post saying that I do not celebrate Christmas but wish those that do celebrate a happy holiday & they respond wishing me a merry Christmas. Folks can apparently read, but not comprehend what they are reading or something.
I'm not a Christian, as I'm not at all religious. But I can still handle being told Merry Christmas, or Happy Hannukah, or Happy Kwanza, or Happy Solstice. It was a Wednesday this year, so it's at least as good as a "happy Wednesday!" Take things as people intend them, and don't get upset or annoyed when people are trying to send something positive your way, even if you don't believe in or celebrate it. Intent is truly all that matters. And Happy New Year!
Re: Christmas I believe most folks mean well when they wish you a Merry Christmas, but some are definitely just pushy. Similarly, I'm a vegetarian, and people often offer me meat. I just reply no thank you. I don't feel the need to explain the reason for the no thank you nor should you explain why you don't celebrate. I chose to see kindness and best intentions. I also won't waste my time when it is evident it isn't.
That Chinese ship might actually be a good thing. It could be used as a launching-point for humanitarian operations. The hardest part of getting humanitarian aid to places hit by storms or tsunamis is the lack of a ship that doesn’t need a harbor. The US doesn’t have one. A landing ship could fulfill that role rather nicely, especially if it can launch helicopters in addition. If I was aiming to be the world’s paramedic, this is exactly what I would be looking to find. The US Navy should consider buying a couple of them off of the Chinese if they are remotely close to seaworthy. The ability to use it to land heavy construction equipment alone would make it worth whatever the price is, because the AKs in the US Navy are dependent on having a harbor and they don’t carry helicopters generally. Stick a pin in that one. That’s a story that should come up again later.
I knew a Baha'i family who didn't celebrate Christmas. The mother was from a family that had been Baha'i for generations. The father was from a country that didn't celebrate Christmas on a large scale. The father's boos gave the son a Christmas present and the boy sent a thank you note before going on holiday. The boss was offended that the boy opened the present before Christmas day. Some people really don't understand not celebrating Christmas
2:44 I was hoping for a split between Church-and-Necktie Republicans and Biker Foil Hat Republicans. But it turned out to be Bikers vs "I wear a t-shirt to look relatable."
Perhaps one reason people assume that all Americans celebrate Christmas is that you don't tend to get as much paid vacation time as other countries and therefore celebrate the few holidays that you do get.
Coming at the Christmas question from the perspective of someone who is Jewish and never celebrated Christmas (as opposed to a lot of other folk that I see in the comments who used to celebrate but don’t anymore): Something that a lot of Christians and ex-Christians don’t seem to get is that even a super secular “I only do Santa stuff, but no Jesus” Christmas celebration still reads as Christian to many people who aren’t. Christianity (as a whole) views religion (belief in Jesus) and culture (in the case of Christmas - trees, presents, decorations, Santa, etc.) as being completely separate things. So in their view, you can do cultural Christmas without being Christian because it’s just a nice holiday to celebrate. As a contrast, many non-Christian religions view these things as irrevocably intertwined. Using Judaism for an example, you don’t have to believe in G-d to be Jewish - if you are culturally Jewish, that’s still Jewish. So to someone with that sort of view, something that is culturally Christian, like celebrating Christmas without the Jesus part, still feels *very* Christian and therefore something we would prefer to not participate in. So, “Why do so many Christians, even when told I’m not Cristian, refuse to acknowledge that I don’t celebrate Christmas?” Because for many of them they don’t see the difference between celebrating Christmas and celebrating (in the US) Thanksgiving. To them, it’s just a nice day to be with family and give gifts. They don’t understand that they’re asking/demanding that you participate in a culture that isn’t yours and that you’d prefer to not do that. (the alternative is that they believe that their way of doing things is superior to yours and are trying to force you into their belief system against your will. But I’m inclined to give most people the benefit of the doubt here. I really do believe that for most people it’s just a cultural misunderstanding.)
I celebrate being with my family during the holidays. I don't put up decorations, so the neighbors may realize I'm not a believer, but I've not been bothered about it.
What makes people think that Christmas is a christian holiday? It's just a re-name of multiple cultures' celebration of the return of the sun. **When asked, just say "I'm not doing anything special-just enjoying the break this year." The reason for you choices (probably many and complex) can be kept for those that you choose.🙂
I appreciate that you remind us of our history. Especially when you clarify the back story for our legacy with our Native American citizens. We have a terrible legacy here and we have barely righted any of the wrongs of these past times. But too many adults just weren’t present on the day that we studied history in school. So keep doing the education that is needed to bring so many of us up to date.
Because as Beau repeatedly pointed out, we don’t teach history in the US, we teach mythology.
I grew up never hearing of the Trail of Tears, Juneteenth or many other significant things that happened before I was born. I've become a 'history nerd' and it saddens me that Americans were so cruel, thought our generation would change the past mistakes, but am now only hoping that the younger generation will do what has been ignored for so long, in spite of Trump, Maga, and the rest of the planet----there's a HUGE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM.
@@CantankerousDave"To the winners go the spoils..." including the opportunity to "write a history with a favorable slant""...
Museum Education, I think, just might be the hope of the US. As a Museum Educator myself, I am free to educate however I want, and what I want, as long as it's factually based. My speciality is the history of traditionally disenfranchised people.
Way back last century ('80s into the '90s) when I was in school, history was primarily taught in intermediate grades (4-8). Then in four years of high school, it was only one year of world history and one year of US history. I was always fascinated by the architecture, societal structures, and belief systems of humans throughout history. In grade school, I asked a lot of questions that my teachers could not, or would not, answer. So, I took to the local library and found many of the answers for myself. When I gave reports on historical events and figures, I always got "A"s but was politely asked to not share them with the other students as they were not likely "mature" enough to understand. By the time I got to high school, I was basically told to "sit down and shut up" because there wasn't enough time to field questions or dig deeper into the topics. Things have not changed much now with my children now being in high school.
But I don't blame the teachers or the parents; I blame the system. How much can really be taught to a group of around 20 youths in roughly 170 sessions annually that are each 45 minutes long? How much can a parent guide their child having to work 40+ hours a week just to provide necessities for that child? Not all of these youths want to know more, not all of them have good access to more information, not all know how to tell what information is good. We have around 50 million students enrolled in public schools in the US, each with their own academic needs, strengths, and weaknesses. Each state has their own regulations and local school boards decide a district's curriculum. But society expects them all to come off the education assembly line with the same general education.
Fun fact. There is no election for PM in Canada. We don’t vote in PM election. We vote for our member of parliament and whoever leads that party with the most seats is the PM. The leader is elected my party members across the country. It is a cross between the leader of the house and a primary. So Gretzky cannot “run for PM”.
Same in Australia. The parties elect their leaders in accordance with their own party's rules (but in all cases, the candidates for leader are already members of Parliament). The party or coalition of parties with a majority of the seats in the House of Representatives forms government, and that party's leader becomes Prime Minister. This is why we can have a change of Prime Minister without an election.
Tfg telling Canadians who should run for Prime Minister - of another country - shows how he has no concept of government. Not even the one he is supposed to start running.
Same in England.
@ yes we follow the Westminster system because of colonialism.
Fun fact - Australia is exactly the same as Canada. We vote for who we want to represent us in the House and the Senate. The Prime Minister is the parliamentary leader of the party that gets the most seats (electoral districts) in the House. In the case of neither side getting the minimum number of seats (50% of all seats), it's whoever can cobble together an agreement with the minor parties or Independents. Which - for the record HAS happened here - Julia Gillard (Labor, progressive) was supported by Independents to form a government. Yes, Merica, minor parties are a thing. You should try them. Might be enlightening & add spark to your politics.
In actual fact Merica - YOU'RE the outlier. Because like EVERY. SINGLE. OTHER. DEMOCRACY ELECTS ITS GOVERNMENT THE. SAME. WAY. The party that gets the most seats is what forms the government. Most of the West took 1 look at your government & electoral system, got a headache & opted to KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid.
I 100% understand the non-xmas viewer!!
I no longer celebrate and haven't since 2008. I did put Xmas gifts under the tree for my son on Xmas until he was 18 (9 years ago).
I still receive Xmas cards from my family. I still receive the traditional text on 12/25.
Last year, my very Christian boss and very Christian coworker got me my very first non-xmas cards. That meant so much more to me than I could express.
So my advice is to find "your" people. They don't have to celebrate the same way as you. They just have to respect the difference!
Happy Holidays and Merry Everything (or nothing), my friend!!
You have a good boss!
This is why I don't say Merry Christmas to people whom I don't know. Happy Holiday is my go to answer.
@@haggielady Me too!
The story of the Trail of Tears is written on my family's hearts!
Thank you for your independent journalism coverage!
One day at the library, the librarian was having a hard time with a woman who could not believe a Christian didn't celebrate Christmas. The librarian was a young Jehovah's Witness. The woman in frustration turned to me and said "well you celebrate Christmas don't you?" To which I replied "of course, I celebrate all the pagan holidays".
@@darrahhopper6437 😂
I wonder who was more disturbed by that, the guest or the librarian!?
I remember in school, there were always one or two JW kids who couldn’t have birthday parties or recite the pledge of allegiance.
@@BC25citizen The librarian was wonderful. She was only about 18 and sheltered, home schooled and all, but she held her own intelligently explaining why she didn't celebrate the pagan holiday of Christmas. The older (my age maybe) Christian woman was completely unwilling to accept that she had been hoodwinked about when Christ was born.
@@darrahhopper6437 that’s awesome 😎
Celebrating Christmas has become celebration of Benjamin Franklin the more green Benjamins you spend the holier you are or the bidder the diamonds you give your wife or girlfriend (or both) shows your love.
😉
2025 will be officially named the year of finding out.
I've to borrow that. My compliments.
As an atheist, I still celebrate Christmas, mostly because I always enjoyed the family traditions... the decorations, the lights, the music, and getting together with everybody. If I didn't have the family ties, I probably wouldn't participate, but it's nice to have all the kids and grandkids together exchanging gifts and enjoying the feast, which I also enjoy making!
@@76sjrocker another vote for White Wine in the Sun 🌞
@@BC25citizen I've been flipping between White Wine and Woody Allen Jesus.
I celebrate Solstice
That's exactly as it should be in a free country - you celebrate what you want, for your own good reasons! 😊
As someone who was raised Catholic and is now atheist who only minimally does Christmas, I’ve gotten over being overly irritated by strangers wishing me Merry Christmas, but I generally “happy holidays“ people if I don’t know for sure that they celebrate Christmas … except maybe on Christmas Day: if I happen to be out where I encounter strangers (rest stop, on a walk, etc.), I might give them a “Merry Christmas.” I work in a very diverse setting, so use happy holidays, but I wished my Muslim coworker friend a nice break. Sometimes I still get in the mood to explain to someone that I don’t celebrate Christmas, just to remind them to check their assumptions. 🤷♀️
I similarly "happy holidays" people, though I will reply with "Happy Solstice" or "Good Yule" to their Merry Christmas, for similar reasons to yours. I think it's good for folks to be reminded of the diversity of amazing people, celebrations, and religions around them.
I'm an atheist and when someone wishes me a Merry Christmas, I say thank you and wish them one as well.
I prefer to respond with "Thank you, have a Merry Bah Humbug!". It throws things off kilter giving me time to walk away before they process what was said.
@@dkkinhHahaha 🎉😂❤
To each their own. I say Blessed Yule or Happy Holidays. I am not going to lower my beliefs. They can feel free to say Merry Christmas since they believe in Christ (even though he was not born in Dec.) I will continue to say Blessed Yule since I am pagan and this is what my beliefs are.
@@dkkinh Lol you are funny. Lately I say Merry merry happy happy. It basically does the same. They are not sure what I am saying but it still sends cheer.
@@Jaquableuthat strikes a nice balance where most folks associate Yule with Christmas through the tradition of the yule log - clever! Someone wishing you joy for a holiday they celebrate isn't a bad thing at all. It also gives you the excuse to wish them happiness during the most non-mainstream holidays and then say "I assumed you wanted to have a blessed flag day since you wished me Merry Christmas three years ago"
Good morning Ms. Belle and internet folks. Heaven help us if we get bird flu crossover with #45/47 in office.
I doubt drumph learned anything from our last pandemic.
Why would that be any worse than last time?
ppl got so fixated on prices and niche culture wars, they forgot that having an incompetent narcissist in charge during a major crisis is a terrible thing 😶
They'll find a way to blame it on Democratic voters somehow for the timing.
@@victoriajohnson-parratt6975as far as I can see he's resistant to learning, period.
I usually just tell them I hate Christmas. They get shocked then I point out how long I've been in retail and most instantly understand.
As a secular Jew in US, I celebrate Christmas by eating Chinese take out. :D
That is an excellent way to celebrate Christmas! Cheers!
Thanks for supporting our immigrant neighbors!
I had shrimp and avocado. Yummy!
I've always appreciated that opportunity, especially when others were surrounded by family celebrations. That's one plus of having moved someplace larger and more diverse.
"Well, I've heard of Wayne Gretzky, he's famous, like me, so I guess he'd make a good Prime Minister." He thought Celine Dion wouldn't stand a chance.
For the writer of the Christmas question, most people say "Merry Christmas" like they say "Have a good/nice day". If you are getting any more than that, people are just being pushy.
2:03 _~Maybe~_ Guatemala has _"expressed openess to accepting"_ American deportees because *_they_* realize the positives of immigrants helping a country's growth, prosperity & diversity?
Could be that. But the moral high ground is always a nice place to be. Could also be that.
Well, a lot of them are skilled in the building trades and agriculture, and most of them are hard workers who do their jobs and don't cause anyone any trouble. We should be welcoming them, giving them work visas, and helping those who want citizenship to attain that goal, not shipping them off so some other country can benefit. Just more proof that Trump is an idiot, who was elected by idiots.
@BC25citizen a slant i hadn't thought of! Very good! -- no pun intended...
@TheBarkinFrog *_Amen!_*
Up until 2020, the U.S. was still accepting Asylum Seekers from Guatemala because the political situation still resulted in a lot of k!llings and people legitimately feared for their life. One example of why accept Asylum Seekers was made obvious when the federal court in Omaha, NE (where I live) sent a refugee back to Guatemala (he opposed the political party in power in Guatemala, and had a legitimate case) and he was promptly murdered when he landed in Guatemala. He was married to a U.S. Citizen. They had kids.
Hey, if the year can’t end until I finish all I need to do, we’re gonna be in 2024 for a lo-o-o-ng time…
Seems better than heading into 2025 at this rate
@ yeah, think maybe I could Groundhog Day it? Put off the advent of Jan 20 indefinitely?
😂
The only "drill baby drill" we should do is for geothermal heat pumps.
Oil & natural gas are less efficient, cost more and cause climate change.
Alberta has a lot of work going into repurposing old oil/gas wells for geothermal power generation. Nice to see them refocus a bit on being energy producers, rather than hydrocarbon producers. The US has instances of geothermal at natural hot spots, like 17 sites in Nevada.
@@apowellintheweeds That is so fantastic to hear about. Thank you.
I was thinking much smaller than that; like the simple drilling with thermally conductive mud around the pipes for little heat pumps using the naturally moderate temperatures a few tens or at most a couple hundred feet down for houses and other buildings.
@@apowellintheweeds Wait, really? I live here and I didn't hear anything about that. I'd been wishing for it for years but gave up on following Alberta-related news because it was just so awful most of the time. The Conservatives are still in power, I thought that renewable-energy programs were actively being dismantled?
I celebrate Yule which, in my case, lasts from the Winter Solstice to Jan 2nd. Much more fun than a single day.
Merry meet and Blessed Yule!!
@@bunnyluvintreehugger5913 I hope you are also enjoying Yule!
Blessed be to you both!
Merry Everthing and Happy Always!
Merry Yule
After a whole lifetime of not putting up a Christmas tree on my own, I started doing so after my sister gave me her previous one. This is the second year that I put it up and decorate it. I am not a Christian, but it brings back childhood memories and it is pretty. I absolutely don't mind receiving Christmas cards, and I say "Merry Christmas" as a salutation. To me it's the same as saying "Have a good day!" It's all a part of pretending to be a normal human being.
I don't have to pretend. I do celebrate the holidays. I put up lights and a yule tree. I enjoy it and you should enjoy it too. Celebrate it your way and allow others to do the same. Blessed Yule (or happy holidays) to you too.)
😊
Happy travels, fellow "Roads scholars"!😉
It's great to be traveling with you on this Road good Donald!
Genius.
Happy New Year Beau and Bell. Thank you for your service to Americans.
I asked a coworker if he had a nice Christmas. He said he didn't celebrate it. I told him I was only asking if he had a nice day off from our work. It just happens to be labeled Christmas. Personally, I spent the day in my pajamas, alone. It was a great day to recharge.
You could have asked if he had a good vacation or holiday after he said that instead of being defensive. There is a reason he said that. He feels like it is being pushed on him so give him a break. Blessed Yule to you.
Happy trails Roads trippers
High comfy!
👋high
high💙🐪
Howdy Comfy & Friends! Whomever left that pitch fork in the hay gave me a hell of a wake-up call! 😱
Good morning my Comfortable friend!
I think the bus was late, but it got here and we got on!
I stopped celebrating Christmas when I was still a Christian. People then and now don't understand how you couldn't it seems so much a part of our culture. I don't have any advice. My main reason then and now is that the work involved in "celebrating" fell mostly on me. It made me stressed and cranky trying to make it "a good Christmas" for everybody else. I usually ended up cranky and ruining it for everyone else. I don't feel the need to explain much. Usually I say I don't celebrate because I don't want to.
I am still a Christian ( Do my best to follow his teachings ),but I don't "celebrate" Christmas. I have issues with the whole Santa Clause myth and what it teaches kids. Lots of stuff = good person. Very little stuff = bad person. That is NOT what Jesus taught. Want to put him back in Christmas........teach kids that the love of money is the root of all evil.
One year, my spouse had to be away for a good chunk of December and my daughter was traveling. I decided I would not decorate or go to extraordinary lengths of seasonal cards, pictures, baking, cooking, wrapping, shopping, etc. ... And it was good! Since then, I have really cooled off on all the xmas "joys". If I decorate, it's because I feel like it. I haven't baked in a few years now, and no one is crying about traditions (or weight gains). I hope everyone gives the not-Christmas a shot -- it's quite freeing.
To me, Christmas was never a religious holiday. As a kid it was about getting gifts. As I got older, it was about family and buying presents that I knew (from listening to them) they really wanted. After my parents died, I stopped celebrating. I celebrate the Winter Solstice though. My dog does celebrate Christmas, so I have to buy him presents.
Decades long atheist here: I celebrate Christmas but it’s from a completely secular pov. I was raised Christian and Christmas meant two things, a celebration of the birth of that Jesus guy, and the pagan/commercial holiday of Christmas. Now, I just don’t do the Jesus part. IMO, the pagan traditions we have incorporated into the holiday are the best part. Also, the music, even with some religious connotation, is absolutely wonderful. Just one pov here from Raleigh, NC. Have a happy new year everyone!
I love the music. It makes the season special for sure! Don we now our yuletide blessings... fa la la, la la la, la la la.
@Jaquableu I only this year discovered the version God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen /We Three Kings that the Barenaked Ladies did with Sarah McLachlan (BNL holiday album from 2004) it is quite wonderful.
Also in oddities...WHERE'S VANCE ❓
Hiding before he shoves his foot in his mouth.
@@DahVoozelleaving that to pres. musk and lil don
On the couch.
@ --No. Between & under the couch cushions...
Hiding. From both daddies
Thank you, Belle, for another informative road trip😊
That last question reminds me of something that Tom Lehrer said.
"Christmas, with its spirit of giving offers us all a wonderful opportunity each year to reflect on what we most sincerely and deeply believe in. I refer, of course, to money."
For the last question. I’m in the Uk , I’m not a practicing Christian but we still decorate, still give gifts still eat way way too much and drink silly amounts and give gifts, for us it’s not a Christian holiday as such more a celebration of friends and family. And for me that is much more important than the Christian meaning. Happy saturnalia. (Pre Christian, same Holliday co opted by the Christian church. ) all the best and good wishes to all faiths or no faith just respect each other. ❤
Sunday driving with Belle at the wheel.
Enjoying the ride, with the rest of you lovely Internet People.
It's always a true pleasure to share this Road with you Tim!
It's always a true pleasure to share this Road with you Tim!
Thank you Belle. Good info.
Morning Belle, love your information!!! Thanks ❤️ 🇨🇦
It would be more "on brand" for Trump is he recommended that Terry Fox run for our PM. For Americans who don't get that joke, Canada's national hero has been dead for over 40yrs (think in terms of Trump not knowing that Fredrick Douglas was no longer alive).
Woo Hoo! I thought I missed this! Looking forward to another road trip with all y’all!
Good morning.
I bet you slept in the car waiting.
I'm just glad we didn't all miss the bus this morning Erin-Thor!
@victoriajohnson-parratt6975 good morning Victoria.
Christmas notes:
A lot of Protestants don’t celebrate holidays, Christmas being one of those days. Christmas is what I think of as a Pagan holiday. I cannot stand how commercialized the holiday has become, so I do not celebrate. Depending on my ‘old man crankiness’ I have a couple of responses. ‘Happy Holidays’ is generally my go to. Lots of Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist folks in my area that don’t celebrate, so I think polite not to ‘push’ Christian beliefs on them. If someone is being ‘pushy’ I respond with the ‘I don’t celebrate pagan holidays that Catholics stole from pagans’ or something along that lines…
This normally works
Personally, I have taken to celebrating winter solstice, if only because it celebrates days getting longer and that’s a big deal where I live
Good morning, Ranch Fam, time to hit the Road again.
Good morning also good Donald! A Willy Nelson song comes to mind!
@@victoriajohnson-parratt6975 hmmmm….. wonder if it was the same that popped into my head when I read it? 🤔😆
For many, "Christmas" is code for a winter holiday. That's why "Happy Holidays" works so well.
Poor vocabulary/etiquette is why some people say it to everybody and expect reciprocal responses.
I may say it to you at first, if I don't know what you do or don't celebrate; but I try to give the appropriate greeting if I do. At least during this season, people are usually willing to acknowledge a greeting.
I work in grocery (in U.S.) and talk about the holidays is expected. I say "happy holidays" as a general rule, because I don't like to assume. If someone stares me in the face and says correctlively, "merry Christmas". At that point, I smile and wish them a merry Christmas. In that setting, it's not worth an argument. (This has happened several times.)
About the "celebrating Christmas" question, I refuse to contribute to some major corporations CEO's new BMW. It's way too over commercialized.
Has been for over 50 years.
As someone who no longer observes Christmas I tell nosy people that I quietly celebrate in my own way that is not commercially driven. This is usually enough to politely change the subject by asking them what kinds of memories they hope to make with their family this year. I get labeled as boring and that's the end of it.
Thank You Belle and Team for the News Highlights and Observations.
When my part of Colorado gets in the news it’s almost never for something good. This guy who attacked the reporter story happened in the same county that had Tina Peters as County Clerk.
Thank you for the commentary, Belle.
Good morning Shawn! It's nice to share this ride on the Road with you!
@victoriajohnson-parratt6975 I thought I had missed it.
I was going to watch befoe I got up and started the day.
Happy trails fellow travelers! Let's learn something new today together!
👋 Good Morning!!!
Regarding the Christmas thing, I think a big part of what's going on here is that culturally we all have time off right now. And most cultures have holidays around this time. So when? Christians insist that you must celebrate Christmas somehow often what they mean is, " what are you doing instead" and they just have no way to frame it except by way of their own cultural dominance.
So for example I tell them that I celebrate Yule or the winter solstice instead and they usually shut up. So if there isn't some other holiday that you're celebrating at this time of year you can just say something like, " I just enjoy the time off"
I am a Christian but have no need for others to celebrate Christmas. This year my family had a nice relaxing time just having the day off. Being pushy about Christmas might be a far-right cultural/political thing more than a religious thing.
Blessed Yule to you Joe!
0:37 i heard _"Tiktok Day."_ Which i didn't see thr Patriarchy agreeing to _that_ so google shows i misheard:
_"Still Need to Do Day" is observed on December 29th each year, essentially a reminder to finish up any outstanding tasks before the year ends; it's also sometimes called_ *"Tick Tock Day"* _for the same reason."_
I'd call it _"tick...TOCK Day"_ in that singsong way movie villains use...
Former Christian here. We don't have kids, but we put up a few lights in the apt windows, and go over to my in-laws for whom it's a much bigger deal esp. my MIL. Many of my friends are non-Christian of various flavours, and "happy holidays" covers Hanukkah, Solstice, etc. or just a few days off work :)
Good morning all 🙋🏻♀️
I celebrate Christmas as a family holiday, not a religious one. You could just as easily say I celebrate the Winter Solstice, we just delay the feasting a couple of days to accommodate all the relatives.
I am the oldest of 4 generations with blended families at 3 of the 4 levels and my husband has passed which makes for conflicts of schedules during the whole year. My step kids suggested, since I now live in a retirement facility, to pick the first Saturday in December and celebrate everything together that day. We call it our HappyHallowThanksMas to cover the birthdays and eating celebrations the adults enjoy most. Odd menus with everyone contributing but always nice and joyful and loving..
Thank you Belle again from Sterling Heights Michigan USA
Hello from one part of the mitten to the other
Happy for you, missing my mitten.....
Belle's right that Xmas isn't really just a Christian holiday. It's a capitalist one, but also a cultural one. I think the best advice for that person at the end is to try and understand just how many non-Christians do something for Christmas. I'm not Christian (and tend to have a lot of ire for all the Abrahamic religions) and I do stuff for Christmas. It may also help to read into the history of Christmas and how it was kind of co-opted by Christianity. It may be less uncomfortable if you learn a bit about the history of it, because it goes really far back, and realistically it was a pagan holiday before it was a Christian one. Christians co-opted it as a method of control as they stepped into power, so as to keep the pagans from stepping too far out of line by having their traditional festivals around the Winter Solstice tamped down.
It's an interesting history. Basically, think of it like this - humans around the world tend to have at least one major festival per season. In the US, it's mostly: Spring - Easter. Summer - July 4th. Fall - Halloween. (Thanksgiving is Christmas part 1, further entrenched by capitalist interests - look it up, retailers literally lobbied until Thanksgiving was moved.) Winter - Christmas. Virtually every culture and religion has some kind of version of these. Passover, Ramadan, Hannukah (sp), Kwanzaa, etc.
Trump urged Gretzky to run for PM because Gretzky is a Trumpist. The conversation took place at Mar-A-Lago. He's famous, been on TV, and likes Trump. If Trump could appoint him PM, he'd have done so by now.
I don't tend to care too much about harmony so I'm pretty honest with ppl when they ask about Christmas. I say "I'm an atheist so Christmas has no meaning for me, and it seems to have just morphed into a holiday about shopping. I'd rather just spend time with you guys" or "I don't want to disrespect your holiday by participating when I don't believe, but I'd like to spend that time with you"
Something like that. My parents still want me to participate in Christmas so I've gotten my mom down to us just exchanging a single gift. It's forced us to just focus on the family time of it.
Which is perfect for me because gift giving and especially receiving makes me uncomfortable and stressed, which I also expressed. I genuinely don't like the gift receiving.
I was delighted to see you are continuing. Was distracted and lost track of your channel til today. Thank you!
👋 mornin' all hope you have a wonderful day
👋🏽🤠
I hope you have a peaceful and productive day Longhair!
I generally say Happy Holidays and if asked about it I say there are so many holidays at this time of year I don't presume what a person celebrates. Otherwise, I reply with the same wish if someone says Merry Christmas etc.
I live in Alberta. No one wants more gas supply here where we sell it. Simply supply and demand. Price will drop. Profits will drop. Wells will be shut. Layoffs, less royalties.....
7:54 I love your explanation on why some people don't grasp that others don't celebrate Christmas. I tell them that I do Yule, on 21st or 22nd December depending on the calendar's wobbles, and that I am sorry for those who have to wait the extra days to celebrate the solstice/divine rebirth festival.
Cheers to all Christmassing Christians, to those whose sect disagrees with Christmas on the grounds that it is the wrong time of year, just a party tacked onto a Roman holiday, and enjoy New Year's celebrations, and those whose religions/cultures have a different reason to celebrate on nearby days. To all people of goodwill, 🙂 Season's Greetings, as the Victorians said! 🎄🎊
One facet about the xmas bit that comes to mind: I have read that evangelicals send folks out to proselytize, not to gain more followers but to show their in-folks how outsiders are to be avoided (I know I'm mashing this badly, I don't recall the exact words used in the explanation I read).
There are myriad reasons why some writers draw the analogy between religions and viruses.
Good morning School is in session. Have a wonderful day.
👋🍀🕥✌
@ 🦅🤞🏈😀
I hope your team does well today Kat! We're anticipating another loss here. It happens often. We're used to it. ;-)
@ Been there. My 🏀team is so up & down this year. We were so spoiled for years though
Where I live, the only people that used to wish you a merry Christmas wasNig Save supermarket chain, which was owned by a Buddhist family. They were open normal hours on Christmas Day, but closed for New Year’s. As with most other American businesses, their employees or a majority, Christian. about a quarter century ago, they were bought out by a larger chain, and now they close on Christmas day like most other businesses. They have resorted to avoiding the greeting, merry Christmas, in favor of happy holidays like everyone else.
It's a bit like American tourists asking Brits why they don't celebrate 4 July!!! 🙄
Or Thanksgiving
Good morning all y’all Roads travelers 👋🏻👋🏻.
Thank you Belle.
I celebrate the birth of the amazing humanist Jesus. I am an atheist. That seems to work for me. I celebrate his teachings.
Jesus teachings are very leftist in my opinion. And you can look up Kurt Vonneguts opinion on Jesus. He loves the secular Jesus.
You as an atheist are more "christian" than most of the people who claim to be a christian.
December 25th my wife and I went to the nursing home to spend the first day of Hannukah with my mom.
My wife and I are opposed to any organized religeon but we have a little one so we do celebrate Christmas. I was raised a JW so I never celebrated growing up. If it weren't for our child we would probably still celebrate because we find it a fun holiday but we'd scale back a lot of our spending on it. I wish people Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays but haven't had anyone tell me they don't celebrate. If they did, I'd just respond "Cool. Well enjoy any time off you have." and smile. No biggie to me either way.
1. The stock market is overvalued. In 2007 the housing market was overvalued.
2. Not celebrating Xmas: Why do you need to tell anyone your celebratory preferences?
Drumph has to wish his grandkids a happy Hanukkah.
Thank you, Belle.
Just tell them you plan on a very quiet Christmas and leave it at that.
Yay! It arrived 😁
Better late than never...😊😃😉
It's here and we're here! All good!
Checked the day like five different ways, muttering, _"it _*_is_*_ Sunday, right?"_ because i don't always _know_ & i use YT video schedules to keep track...
To respond to the confused about why you aren’t Christian? Look into to roots of what is done to celebrate Christmas and wish them happy Saturnalia.
G'mornin' y'all! 🫂😊💫💙💜
🕊🙏🕊
Julia! How are you doing dear⁉️ I’ve missed seeing your comments, hope all is well and your spirits are high! 😊
@@donaldmrambojr5695 🤗💫💙
@@Erin-Thor G'mornin' Erin! My spirits are low, which is why I've been absent. I'm having difficulty getting through the holidays without my true love. After what would be our 25th anniversary on New Years Eve, I hope it'll get a little easier for me. I'm popping in today, just to let y'all know I'm still here and I love y'all. It's wonderful to see you, my friend. 😊🫂💞
@ - Hugs dear! (I know I’m about to repeat myself) Remember that living FOR a lost loved one is the best way to honor them. We all go, that’s a given. TALK to him, say hi every time you walk by his guitar 🎸, and just do whatever you can to remember him and include him in your thoughts! People say either there is no such thing as ghosts, or ghosts are evil… I disagree‼️ I’ve had a few times in my life that a hidden hand helped me, protected me, or just suddenly I felt it was okay. And yes, I still have an occasional conversation with my Dad’s coffee cup. ☕️🥰
The Capitalist holiday is called Giftmas.
'Morning, Crew!
7:40 - to the commenter asking about Christians not acknowledging that you don't celebrate Christmas, mostly I just want to say that I empathize. But also, it may be that they simply can't comprehend the idea, because it's so ingrained in their psyche that it just doesn't compute. My anecdote about this: Someone once, upon me saying I didn't believe in God, told me: "Well you should believe in God, because God believes in you!" 😭
Oy! Wow. Then again, someone tried to give me "a ticket to heaven" at the donut shop this morning as I was getting my tea. "It's our only hope!" She seemed genuinely perplexed when i responded, "My hopes are placed firmly elsewhere."
@ haha, yup. Sounds like a similar sort of thing. I maintain hope that the incomprehensibility of our positions is a veil that can be pierced. But it is a long slow process, in my experience, at best.
This happened to me in Chicago. Pretty quick comeback for a panhandler leaving me to wonder if she heard it a lot.
Everybody may not celebrate Christmas but definitely observe it. I don't purchase or exchange gifts, I don't buy ANYTHING other than food from Thanksgiving til January, and don't follow any religious dogma that has me celebrating the holiday. It still exists, and everyone does something. I take the day off and enjoy the peace. Many people go to the movies and eat Chinese food. They're still observing it in a special way that differs from other days.
I don't get offended by anyone wishing me a Merry Christmas. It's the tidings of the season and I do sincerely believe that people celebrate or observe it in their way. I'll tell folks I don't celebrate and thank them for the wishes. This helps strike a balance of appreciation and boundary-setting.
Happy Slack Week, y'all. I adopted that from fellow former workers at a tech firm that just plain shut down almost everything for the last week of the year, and of course counted it against everybody's paid time off. Contract workers of course kept the lights on and could actually get things done that week.
I love these road trips! Thank you for driving Belle!!
How’s Beau doing? Blessings to yr family ❤
Regarding Christmas, as people become more insistent, my answers progress from “I don’t celebrate Christmas “ to “what are you, the Christmas police?” to no answer at all. All without getting upset or losing my patience. Eventually, the person asking stops asking. If I’m at an event where several people keep asking, I will politely leave early. Again, sooner or later, they quit asking. If I need to set boundaries to protect my sanity, I have to insist that people respect them, again, without getting angry.
It’s just a thought.
Ha! Quite accidentally, that statement applies here. 😂
Fun fact: The Pilgrims banned the celebration of Christmas in 1659 and it wasn't celebrated again in all of the then US states until 1840. It only became a federal holiday in 1870.
Modern Christmas is hardly a Christian holiday. Most people celebrate it secularly.
Jesus was most likely born in the spring, but the holiday swallowed up winter solstice celebrations and evolved into what it is now.
I’m an atheist who was raised Jewish, and I love celebrating Christmas with my friends and some of my family.
If you don’t, that’s okay too! But you have to understand that it’s celebrated very widely and diversely.
Thank you Beau and Team.
I have heard from non Christian immigrants with kids that their kids expect both christmas and whatever holidays there are from the old country. Gotta maximize the gift holidays.
I think belle is right though. Just lead with "i don't celebrate Christmas'
There are Christians who also don't due to their beliefs, or who celebrate it at a different time.
7:00 The frustration for me is that I can post saying that I do not celebrate Christmas but wish those that do celebrate a happy holiday & they respond wishing me a merry Christmas. Folks can apparently read, but not comprehend what they are reading or something.
Thanks Belle.
I'm not a Christian, as I'm not at all religious. But I can still handle being told Merry Christmas, or Happy Hannukah, or Happy Kwanza, or Happy Solstice. It was a Wednesday this year, so it's at least as good as a "happy Wednesday!" Take things as people intend them, and don't get upset or annoyed when people are trying to send something positive your way, even if you don't believe in or celebrate it. Intent is truly all that matters.
And Happy New Year!
Seems like 2025 is going to be the perfect storm.
Thank you,Belle.😎🇺🇸💙
Re: Christmas I believe most folks mean well when they wish you a Merry Christmas, but some are definitely just pushy.
Similarly, I'm a vegetarian, and people often offer me meat. I just reply no thank you. I don't feel the need to explain the reason for the no thank you nor should you explain why you don't celebrate. I chose to see kindness and best intentions. I also won't waste my time when it is evident it isn't.
That Chinese ship might actually be a good thing. It could be used as a launching-point for humanitarian operations.
The hardest part of getting humanitarian aid to places hit by storms or tsunamis is the lack of a ship that doesn’t need a harbor. The US doesn’t have one. A landing ship could fulfill that role rather nicely, especially if it can launch helicopters in addition.
If I was aiming to be the world’s paramedic, this is exactly what I would be looking to find. The US Navy should consider buying a couple of them off of the Chinese if they are remotely close to seaworthy. The ability to use it to land heavy construction equipment alone would make it worth whatever the price is, because the AKs in the US Navy are dependent on having a harbor and they don’t carry helicopters generally.
Stick a pin in that one. That’s a story that should come up again later.
I knew a Baha'i family who didn't celebrate Christmas. The mother was from a family that had been Baha'i for generations. The father was from a country that didn't celebrate Christmas on a large scale. The father's boos gave the son a Christmas present and the boy sent a thank you note before going on holiday. The boss was offended that the boy opened the present before Christmas day. Some people really don't understand not celebrating Christmas
2:44 I was hoping for a split between Church-and-Necktie Republicans and Biker Foil Hat Republicans.
But it turned out to be Bikers vs "I wear a t-shirt to look relatable."
Perhaps one reason people assume that all Americans celebrate Christmas is that you don't tend to get as much paid vacation time as other countries and therefore celebrate the few holidays that you do get.
Coming at the Christmas question from the perspective of someone who is Jewish and never celebrated Christmas (as opposed to a lot of other folk that I see in the comments who used to celebrate but don’t anymore):
Something that a lot of Christians and ex-Christians don’t seem to get is that even a super secular “I only do Santa stuff, but no Jesus” Christmas celebration still reads as Christian to many people who aren’t. Christianity (as a whole) views religion (belief in Jesus) and culture (in the case of Christmas - trees, presents, decorations, Santa, etc.) as being completely separate things. So in their view, you can do cultural Christmas without being Christian because it’s just a nice holiday to celebrate.
As a contrast, many non-Christian religions view these things as irrevocably intertwined. Using Judaism for an example, you don’t have to believe in G-d to be Jewish - if you are culturally Jewish, that’s still Jewish. So to someone with that sort of view, something that is culturally Christian, like celebrating Christmas without the Jesus part, still feels *very* Christian and therefore something we would prefer to not participate in.
So, “Why do so many Christians, even when told I’m not Cristian, refuse to acknowledge that I don’t celebrate Christmas?” Because for many of them they don’t see the difference between celebrating Christmas and celebrating (in the US) Thanksgiving. To them, it’s just a nice day to be with family and give gifts. They don’t understand that they’re asking/demanding that you participate in a culture that isn’t yours and that you’d prefer to not do that.
(the alternative is that they believe that their way of doing things is superior to yours and are trying to force you into their belief system against your will. But I’m inclined to give most people the benefit of the doubt here. I really do believe that for most people it’s just a cultural misunderstanding.)
I celebrate being with my family during the holidays. I don't put up decorations, so the neighbors may realize I'm not a believer, but I've not been bothered about it.
So enjoy your commentaries. ❤
What makes people think that Christmas is a christian holiday? It's just a re-name of multiple cultures' celebration of the return of the sun. **When asked, just say "I'm not doing anything special-just enjoying the break this year." The reason for you choices (probably many and complex) can be kept for those that you choose.🙂