Am I the only one offended by?

Question

Why do people insist on writing X-Mas?
When we take Christ out of Christmas then we remove the whole meaning of it.
Is anyone else offended by this?
My soon to be daughter in law wrot cards to me and put X-Mas and I was upset, should I tell her how I feel?
Please no silly answers, I really need help with this one.

Answer 1

I don't like it either---and I've never been a Christian. I don't shorten the words Christmas, Christianity or Christians with an "x" out of respect for those people and their holiday. I doubt if your future daughter-in-law wrote it that way to be offensive---I'm guessing that her intentions were good. Perhaps sometime in the future you can bring it up in a low-key, casual way. She may have never thought about how someone could find it offensive. Please go easy on the girl---I really doubt she has any idea how you would feel about it.

Answer 2

I agree that Christ has been taken out of Christmas and that this is not good. However, you shouldn't be offended by such petty things as the way people write Christmas. Be offended at how people don't treat each other like Christ would treat others, or be offended at the terrible things people do in the world, but the written word Christmas doesn't seem to matter that much.
Besides, the early Christians used X to symbolize Christ. Thus X-mas is not really taking Him out of the word, just using another symbol to represent Him.

Answer 3

Writing Xmas in a Christmas card is tacky regardless of how you feel about the spelling cause it says "I don't have time or want to make time to write out the whole word for your card" I mean why bother at that point?
I personally can see your point about Christ and Christmas but my advice is to go about dealing with this the way you think Christ would have. Probably through example.
Also, you say she is soon to be daughter in law. . . is this worth potentially causing trouble in the family over?

Answer 4

Most people use X-mas simply as an abbreviation, so you shouldn't assume that someone is showing a lack of respect for Jesus when they use shorthand. Besides, you shouldn't expect everyone to believe or think as you do. Your faith in Jesus might be at the center of your celebration of Christmas, but it may not be the central theme in others' celebrations. Many people celebrate Christmas as a secular holiday.

Be appreciative of your daughter-in-law's kindness in sending you a card.

Answer 5

It is NOT a term of disrespect. You need to know the actual origins of that:

http://www.answers.com/topic/xmas?hl=xmas

"Where did Xmas come from? Some transliterations of Greek spell Christos (or Kristos) as Xristos. The "X" stood in for Christos. While in modern times we regard Xmas as a kind of slang, it was originally considered to be a perfectly respectful abbreviation, especially as it included a form of the cross in the shape of the "X"."

http://gogreece.about.com/cs/agreekchristmas/a/christmasgreece.htm

And, really, shouldn't you be far more concerned with the "mass" part of ChristMASS? Holiday cards aren't actually related to anything the church has ever said about a MASS (or special church service) honoring Jesus' birth, are they?

If I were you, I'd just be happy that she sent a card at all.

Answer 6

Your daughter-in-law can write whatever she wants in the card. I'm sure she didn't know it would offend you, and it shouldn't. Maybe she doesn't believe in YOUR idea of what Christmas is.

In fact, Christmas was founded on a pagan holiday (winter solstice) that had been around MUCH longer.

She's not forcing you to say Merry X-mas, she's not trying to start trouble. She is only writing something either because she's tired of writing Christmas over and over again, she doesn't believe in it, or any other number of reasons. It's a free country. Let her write what she wants.

Why start trouble over something so trivial? Just let it go. Throw away the card if you want...who says you have to keep it.

Answer 7

Actually, X does mean Christ, it's just abbreviated. Problem solved?

No, I guess it isn't. If you are annoyed by what your daughter in law has written, mention it casually when you're speaking with her. She'll know what she did wrong. Get on the subject of Christmas and talk about bad things about Christmas, and say something like "It really bugs me when people write Xmas!" She'll get the drift.

Answer 8

Thats the way you feel and your certainly not wrong and your reason makes alot of sense. Done overreact but do let her know That the CHRIST in Christmas means alot to you and in the future youd appreciate it if she and others wrote it out for your sake.
Im no longer a Christian but when I was I didnt really care then,but in a situation like this its what you think that counts.

Answer 9

Considering that Christ was born at the end of August, and everything from Christmas trees to mistletoe are based on pagan traditions, it makes you wonder how much of Christ there is in Christmas anyway.
Christmas is celebrated in December due to the Winter Solstice, considered to be the holiest day in the pagan year. The church compromised many of their beliefs in trying to convert pagans during the first centuries.
The History Channel actually has an excellent documentary on the history of Christmas. It'll probably show it in the next few weeks. You should watch it.

Answer 10

Some people do not believe as you so.
How is someone to get out of christmas???? I do not want to partcipate...yet I'm a mother(my kids know how I feel), this is something that is expected. I partcipate as minimally as possible. But I still have to be the one to cook the turkey and put up that damn tree. I want nothing to do with it put have to put up with it.(pagan celebration or not and I do take a special notice of different things but Xmas isn't my thing)