Merry Christmas!
Wow! How nice it is to be able to say “Merry Christmas” and not be politically incorrect? I give President Trump a lot of credit for that.
Christmas should be celebrated for lots of reasons, but the main reason is that Christians believe it represents the birth of Christ. We should celebrate Hanukkah in an equal and high way. I think we should be given a lot more information about how to celebrate different holidays.
I think we should make room for every holiday belief. Religion should be inclusive, not exclusive.
Christians invite people into their churches every day; anybody can go to any Christian church anywhere in the world. I believe it’s the same within the Jewish religion; people are invited to go into their synagogues anytime.
Religion is wonderful, as long as people practice their faith peacefully.
Naturally, I don’t consider terrorists to be representative of Islam, which is also a peaceful religion.
There are radicals in every religion who interpret their religion in a negative way. Within Islam, thank God, these radicals make up an extremely small minority, relative to the 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide. Still, I wish more Muslims were open to teaching people about Islam and their beliefs and practices. I wish Muslims would invite more people into their mosques. That would really help them get more people to understand – and possibly join – the Islamic faith.
I’d love to know more about Islam. In fact, I think most people would like to know how to celebrate alongside Muslims and to gain an understanding of their beliefs and prayers.
Obviously the terrorists are not helping the Muslim religion right now, but I believe that over time there influence will diminish. But it’s going to take some effort on the part of peaceful and welcoming Muslims to take back their religion’s optics from the fanatics.
America is an inclusive country. I don’t think we should be removing Bibles or the Star of David from public places. Instead, we should include even more representations of religion in public areas. We should also allow space for atheists and agnostics to display their emblems.
Religious people and institutions continue to do the most work when it comes to taking care of the poor and hungry around the world. Do enough people know this? More people should learn how religious people do the charitable work they do. Religions should do a better job of promoting themselves and their good works.
I think we should celebrate all religions and beliefs. Merry Christmas. Merry Xmas. Happy Holidays. Season’s Greetings. Happy Hanukkah. Happy Kwanzaa. Let’s learn about as many different religions as possible. How about a Happy Atheist Day? Or an Agnostics Day? The more we learn about each other’s beliefs, the more likely it will be that we can create a world of no hate and no violence.
Let’s be inclusive. I want everybody to have a happy holiday, no matter what holiday they celebrate. Enjoy it! Have a good time!
And let’s also educate people who may not be of the same religious persuasion about our beliefs in order to better understand each other. We can all work on including people, rather than excluding them because they don’t share our beliefs.
Stop talking and do something.
The true meaning of Christmas is the birth of Christ. But the Christmas holiday has become hyper-commercialized. I get caught up in it just like everybody else. But the best part about Christmas isn’t presents or the Christmas tree. The best part about Christmas is that we get to celebrate together with our families and loved ones – to look back on and appreciate the year gone by and to take stock in our good fortune. This is the true spirit of Christmas. Now wouldn’t it be wonderful to share that meaning with people of other faiths?
God wants us to live in peace. But some people interpret their religious scriptures in negative and even sadistic ways. The Christian Bible is not immune to this type of misinterpretation – “take an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” for example.
Religious people who encourage and support violence make no sense to me. I don’t understand it. Just as white people have an obligation to refute the beliefs of white supremacists, so must religious people when it comes to those who use religion for violent and hateful ends. These beliefs need to be challenged, and the challenge has to come from within the individual religions or cultures.
Only when we remove hate and violence from religious beliefs will be able to celebrate the holidays as a time of true and total peace.
I believe in peace on earth for everybody. I wish that the money we waste on hate and violence and weapons of all kinds could be used instead to promote peace and to help those in need. The United States should be the world’s leader on this. Let the world see the U.S. as a place that’s welcoming to all beliefs and religions. Let’s teach positivity and openness, rather than focus on tearing down religious symbols.
That’s not who we should want to be.
God wants us to be here, and he wants us to be tolerant.
