@evan Secular and as an introvert. One obligatory visit Christmas Day if I am able for less than an hour either before the crowd comes or after they leave. "Christmas Dinner" for many decades was Waffle House.
@evan
Very much mainline Christmas for being here in Sweden, I think.
That is to say; still calling it Yule since pre-Christian times, post-christian secular, family gathering with somewhat traditional food and presents on yule eve (December 24).
@evan I don’t, but I have family members who love decorating. Luckily, not overboard.
@evan I observe Christmas like I observe deadlines, giggling at the whooshing noise it makes as it flies by.
@evan Yes but it feels like 30 days of pressure to enjoy and participate in it and I have yet to enjoy any of it this year
@evan I put up with it for the people I love 😐
@evan
No. We observe Solstice instead. Our family got together last weekend.
@evan No, we're atheists, but we like presents and shiny things so we decorate and get loot anyway!
@evan it's everywhere, it's impossible to avoid observing no matter how you try
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/observe
"To take note of and celebrate (a holiday or similar occurrence), to keep; to follow (a type of time or calendar reckoning)."
@evan I do Hanukkah and Solstice so I am DONE for 2025, but I've gotten better at wishing people the best in whatever winter tradition they observe AND I always sponsor some kid artwork for the local newspaper. Reading/enjoying it isn't really observing Xmas per se, but I enjoy it as someone who grew up celebrating Xmas and no longer does.
@evan
Yes,but usually from afar... Definitely don't want to become tainted by it or whatever.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pun
"a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect."
@evan that dwarf holiday in the moralizing religion belt? I remember growing up they had TV shows about it. My observational probes have moved on, but it seems others retain an emotional attachment.
@evan I guess I think of "observing Christmas" as a religious observance. But you're right, we don't do anything for Hanukkah or Eid or Holi or, etc. So we are observing Xmas, albeit in a secular fashion.
@evan Me 'n my family just call it 'solstice day'. We do gifts and decorate a bit, but recently we've been trying to dial back the whole capitalist/consumerist aspect of it, which is cool I think. This year I knitted something for everybody :3
@evan socially, but not religiously.
The way it might be observed on Eternia.
@evan at least once: https://youtu.be/pJgeO2wL8zE?feature=shared
@evan It's interesting that on another thread I'm talking about teachers that lied to me, but in this case, Roman Catholic education told the truth.
I was taught that there was no chance a Roman census would have occurred in December & Jesus was likely born in a sheep cave in spring.
They told us how Constantine merged all holidays, and they needed spring & winter so Jesus was suddenly born 5 months earlier b/c can't celebrate birth & death in same month! & they needed a Solstice replacement!
I've meanwhile worked for small charities for 25 years. I've worked every single Christmas day since then, usually on fundraising.
I think a lot of people do not realize how much we at small charities work during these end of year holidays.
@evan Yes, but I'm only in it for the presents and food. And to see my kids' faces as we perpetuate the societal lie about a dude who commits a billion b&e's in a single night, and is nice enough to not only not steal things, but drop some cool swag on his way out.
Not as religiously (in multiple senses of that word) as some of the people around me, but yes
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@evan It is both christmas and not christmas until someone observes it
@evan No (not as a Christian tradition), but yes with a traditional Yule tree, lights, feast, and gifts.
@evan We went out to Midnight Mass last night; this morning we opened gifts; just finished watching the King's Christmas message; the feast comes later today. So, yes, in my household we observe #Christmas.
@mpjgregoire nice! It was a good message.
@evan I observe Christmas entirely because I like my in-laws
@evan Not much going on here in Tajikistan, since the general population doesn't celebrate it, but it sort of gets shoehorned into (communist) "New Year", so we've got Christmas trees, Santa, and decorations and everything. Russian Orthodox Christians will celebrate on January 7th. We don't do anything special at our house, but my parents and siblings celebrate it. Our plan this year is to all have Chinese food.
