Offending Christians..?

Question

This was brought up in my class yesterday.. Christmas holiday is now called Winter Break so we don't offend the Atheists. So why do people think it's okay to offend Christians by saying Xmas or taking prayer out of school? Even during 9/11, there was prayer in school in the moments of silence. So why is it okay to offend Christians?
I'm kind of afraid of what people will write.....I'm just curious on what others think.

Answer 1

Rachel, you are asking a very valid question, don't ever be afraid to question anything. For some reason, Christians don't have the same "rights" not to be offended as others. I am not sure why this is but remember, we have always been persecuted to some extent and we always will be. It's okay. Just hold fast to your faith.

Answer 2

Church and state were separated long ago, so the United States isn't about to go completely backwards and become a theocracy. And it's not so much about not offending atheists. Changing the name is also about honoring the beliefs of other religions, like say Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jehovah's Witness.

My mother and I have gotten into this a couple of times. And I think I've come up with a good rebuttal. Imagine you were a Christian and you lived in a, say Muslim society, where they forced their religion down your throat, while not honoring your own beliefs. Doesn't sound like fun, does it? That's what people of other religious denominations feel like when religion is mentioned.

In all honesty, I hope that having someone take the Christ out of Christmas, doesn't really offend you. If you want to pray on your own time, pray. Just don't make others uncomfortable by making it a requirement of them, too. In all honesty, Christians shouldn't take offense to the going-ons in the world. If you want a society where religion, education, and government walk hand in hand. Start a theocracy. The Puritans tried it and it didn't turn out all that great for them.

Answer 3

I don't know when it became okay to offend Christians...the winter break thing I understand, because there are two other holidays (Hanukah and Kwanzaa). I hate the "Spring Break" it's almost always the week before or the week after Easter, call it Easter break! Xmas, well, X used to stand for Christ years ago, so I don't find it offensive. It's tough being a Christian.

Answer 4

Christmas is called Winter Break because of the atheist, agnostics, Jews, Hindus, Muslim, Wicca, Buddhists and 20 or so other non-Christian religious people that are in our public schools.

You are free to pray - before school, during school, during lunch, after school, at home, at baseball practice, in the car, on your bike, while walking your dog. Just don't make all the above mentioned people do it if they don't want to.

And, you are right, it is not good to offend anybody Christian or otherwise. But it is also not right to push your beliefs on other people - Christian or otherwise.

The Golden Rule - rules,

A

Answer 5

First of all, it's not illegal to have a "moment of silence" in school. It is, however, illegal to pray to a specific god. Since there is separation of church and state, there can be no sponsored prayer in school.

As an atheist, I could care less that they call it CHRISTmas. It's another day. The meaning of Christmas has become something completely different than what it was meant to be anyway. And its roots are in Paganism; I think the xians should look into that.

The rules aren't meant to protect us atheists. Do you realise that in this country, there are millions of people who DON'T subscribe to the Judeo-Christian religion and don't believe in YOUR god?

Get over yourself.

Answer 6

I am atheist and I am not offended by the celebration of Christmas. I encourage the celebration of Christmas and the christian religion. I think it is positive and teaches people a good way of life.
I think that atheists that complain about Christians are just looking for something to complain about.

Answer 7

1) Xmas is not offensive. The word Christ comes from the Greek word, 'Christos'. In the Greek alphabet, the first letter of 'Christos' is shaped like the letter "X". It's merely reafirrming the roots of Christianity.

2) Prayer has no place public schools. I'm Christian, and I recognize this. What happens when Muslim, Jewish, Pagan, Atheist, Agnostic, Baha'i, Hindu, Buddhist children, and children of every other faith don't want to pray to Jesus? We can't force them!

Nothing here is 'offending' Christians.

Answer 8

a moment of silence is not the same as prayer.
It is a sign of respect and offers you time to reflect on what is happening. if you internally choose to pray that is your choose.
Now about the other thing. if you truly want to not offend we need to keep it all out of the school. "winter break" is all encompassing and covers all major and minor religions( christian, Jew, pagan) Taking ORGANIZED prayer out of schools insures that no kid is treated differently because they do not participate..

Answer 9

It's easy to forget that Christians in America are a powerful political & cultural majority. Being a member of the "majority" (be it white, middle class, etc.) makes it easy to start thinking that your way of thinking is the right one. Also, Christianity is one of the only religions that insists that every human should believe the way they do. Most other religions are more tolerant and don't insist upon converting everyone to their point of view.

If you really want to be a positive representative of your religion, listen to others and honestly consider the idea that your view is not the only one. Also, even if YOU think it's the right one, others don't. Insisting upon it won't change anyone's mind, it will just pisses them off.

Answer 10

First, why is it "offensive" to call it "winter break"? I don't get that.

The word "xian" was actually coined BY christians. Check it out sometime. It's just shorthand for christian. Like "g'day" is short for good day, etc.

Prayer was taken out of school about 50 years ago. They didn't do it TO offend christians. They did it because, since everybody isn't one religion, it was deemed by the courts to be more fair to not have one religion leading prayers. I doubt you'd feel very comfortable in an predominatly muslim area, if your school made you bow to Mecca 5 times a day. So you can understand their discomfort.