Are we seeing the demise of Christmas?

Christmas is whatever you make it. Churches and cathedrals have services, radio and TV have services. Radio and TV also have Christmas music of all sorts and "Christmas editions" where the regular presenters act daft, retailers sell as much as they can. Families get together and celebrate according to their own wishes.

No-one can force you to buy what you can't afford, laugh at non-funny jokes, get pissed enough to fall over or fall out with your relatives.

It depends, doesn't it.
Christmas is everything to do with the birth of Jesus for some people.

Sadly Christmas has absolutely nothing to do with religion any more. It's just a huge shop/gorge fest. I detest Christmas now with all the hype. There seems to be little festive spirit when your out and about shopping or trying to park your car. People are just head down and focused on things they have to buy.
Mad thing is every year we all get dragged into it.

youtu.be/9-aic4qHQWA

(They do work, you just have to be careful to leave a clear space before and after!)

I have worked with Muslims & Hindus who always sent Christmas cards & celebrated Christmas - the children pick it up at school, they do however often have only small gifts as they save larger celebrations for their own Festivals.

I live in a small Town, lights are all up & tree - big switch on was 3rd December with Santa present. Churches have Carol Services, don't know about schools but last week at our monthly Lunch (Farm Shop & Cafe) a local school choir, all Primary age, came & sang Christmas Carols, very good they were

sorry didn't know youtube links dont work here ,its the beautiful Sol Invictus by Thea Gilmore

JUST FOR YOU Bluecat,https://youtu.be/9-aic4qHQWA

Our two grandkids in this country have a Pagan grandmother (me!), Pagan parents and a Hindu grandfather, and they all celebrate Christmas with all the usual stuff - carols, angels, Jesus in the manger, etc. None of us object, and it would be pretty hard to avoid the nativity story if your kids go to school, (in our little girls' case, it is a Monetessori group run by two devout Christians), watch tv or receive Xmas cards. Sometimes, when they're belting out "Away In A Manger" at the top of their voices, their mum and I look wryly at each other and say "Christian brainwashing..." but it just makes us smile. I think that it's the same for most people of other faiths. Certainly all the younger Hindu families I know have to do Xmas, with presents and all, because their children expect it!

We live in an extremely multi-cultural city and we've got a huge Xmas tree in the city centre and another outside the football ground, and there is always a crib alongside the other decorations in Town Hall Square.

Anyway, the Christian Church nicked the winter celebration from the Pagans and today is Yule, so Happy Winter Solstice!

the minister who wrote it is in my and thousands of others view a true christian,his church is always standing room only EVERY week,he fights for the people who cant fight for themselves and will help anyone who needs it,His sermons are renowned for being topical ....and true .Glad you liked it Granny23

Excellent Message Paddyann

I hope this is allowed,its my local ministers christamas msg in the local newspaper :Hi Pat, Is this any good? In those days Donald Trump was about to take the reins of office in Washington while Theresa May held sway in Britain. Brexit was about to happen, many things were in doubt. There was the ever present threat of terrorism. Monopoly money was to be spent on Trident Mark 2 while services at the local hospital continued to be sliced.
At that time Joseph from Bellsymyre was out of work. He and his wife Mary piled all of their belongings into their 15 year old Skoda and set off for Sunderland. Joseph’s cousin promised him work there. The journey was not a comfortable one for Mary, the heater was not working and the car shook with every bump on the road. Joseph also knew the MOT was out of date.
Late that night she started into labour. They decided to try to reach Newcastle When it looked as if she was not going to make it Joseph turned quickly into a Premier Inn parking lot just outside the town. It was there that she gave birth to her first child, assisted by Magda a waitress, just off duty. They wrapped the child in towels with the company emblem on it.
I have taken some liberties with the story but more or less that is it. Government legislation in first century Palastine coupled with an accident of birth forced a young couple to make an unnecessery journey. There search for a room was met with a litany os similar responses….NO ROOM and so she was forced to give birth in a cow shed. 21st Century Britian can also be a place where for some, through accident of birth or disadvantage there is still no room….
As I watched the children of Christie Park School a few nights ago sing Christmas songs with such joy and enthusiasm I was touched, and uttered a silent prayer that the light in their eyes and hope in their hearts may never be dimmed. For them may there always be room and a meaningful future. We owe it to them.
I wish you peace and joy at this special time.

My Gp's surgey has a lovely tree. I complemented the staff on it. A pleaseure to look at when waiting for a prescription.

I totally agree with durhamjen. The turn of the year, the passing of the shortest day, the gradual, but visible, lengthening of daylight hours was celebrated for obvious reasons long before Christianity. These celebrations naturally involved feasting and the giving and receiving of gifts. For this reason I cannot understand why we honour the same event twice in one week! (I mean Christmas and New Year).

sarahellenwhitney I do not recognisant the Christmas you describe. As a child, in the 1960s, Christmas always involved adults getting drunk. Visiting friends and family was impossible because very few owned a car and the complete lack of public transport. Home made 'goodies' were scorned as home made cakes were normal everyday fare, and shop bought was special.

How Christmas is celebrated has changed over the last 40 + years.As a much ??younger person in those years Christmas was all about friends and relatives getting together in each others homes each taking with us home made goodies to share.No arguments who you should be with or who you shouldn't be with.Large stores closed xmas and boxing day allowing shop staff time to be with family like everyone else. A visit to the pub xmas eve, never saw paraletic bodies strewn along our streets full to bursting with booze like there was no tomorrow and emergency services were able to deal with the seriously ill not having to pick up those inebriated individuals.Do we appreciate any more what Christmas is really about.? Are we so frightened of upsetting someone else opinions by wishing them a Happy Christmas so we say Happy Holiday or The seasons greetings? What I observe now makes me realise how lucky I am to have experienced what Christmas was once all about but is not, sadly, any more.

I celebrate Yule - the return of light and the birth of the Lord of Light. I will defend to the death anyone's right to celebrate Christmas/Eid/Diwali/Hannukah or whatever they wish. Less keen on "Winterval", but guess it covers all the above religious celebrations. But hate the insidious nonsense insurance cover blockage of decorations, local celebration etc because "someone might strangle themselves on a piece of tinsel"/"fall off a desk"/"be hit on the head by a Winterval card/whatever other nonsense they can come up with. Most of my non-Christian friends prefer to pay respect to this being a so-called "Christian country"

I don't personally celebrate Christmas but am happy to be neighbourly and wish those around me a lovely time, and to appreciate all the special efforts they have made to make their surroundings festive. I write Christmas cards to thank people as well. (Of course I could (and do) write thank you cards at other times, but Christmas seems a good a time as any)

We are best with blooming Christmas fairs now.......acres of garden sheds full of eleves and toot.........we could change the name to Spendfest, that would be closer to the truth of it.

Plenty of Carol services, Nativity plays, church services etc but most people don't want that now they want a binge night out, too much of everything bad for them and a fortnight off work........

Yorkshire I wasn't referring to immigrants either. I was trying (perhaps not very successfully) to make the point that for Christians Christmas is an occasion, like any other, to express through our actions the importance Jesus places on inclusivity, on peace, love and joy.

Jesus wasn't born in December. Christmas is not one of the designated 'Holy Days' of scripture. There is no bible based imperative to celebrate the particular time of Christ's birth and 'Christmas' as we see it celebrated now is a mainly Victorian construct.

However, I do believe Christmas gives Christians opportunities to explicitly celebrate our faith in ways that may give others a glimpse into the meaning we attribute to the baby who was God and became like us.

Based on a large survey in 2013 50.6% of the British population describes themselves as not religious, 67% believe that religion should not be part of public life (schools, local authority events, Church Bishops in the House of Lords etc). British society has changed. Those of us who are Atheists, together with people from varied religions, don't want other people's religious beliefs pushed at them. Lessons in religion at schools should be focused upon teaching children about religions, not indoctrinating them. Practicing religion should (and I don't use the term lightly, as I tend to take a live and let live attitude) be a private matter.

My area of London is as multi-cultural as you could hope for and I love it. My Muslim neighbour asked how my Christmas preparations are going. There are Christmas lights everywhere we look and the usual Christmas tree by our town centre clock. Every shop seems to have a 'Merry Christmas' greeting in the window, which I particularly notice as I prefer the 'Happy' Christmas wish myself. I have been to a school nativity play and there were carols being sung outside the supermarket. My little grandson has a Christmas party at his childminder today with 7 children from 4 different nationalities.
The OP lives in a sad place methinks.

Same with Easter. A pagan festival adapted by Christians.

www.goddessgift.com/goddess-myths/goddess-Ostara.htm

They were our celebrations first. The Winter Solstice, anyone?
Christians adopted and adapted the winter festival as people were celebrating that time anyway.
Christ wasn't born in December. Maybe Christians should find their own dates, somewhere in March, I believe, although they do not know the exact date.

If you are not a Christian what exactly are you celebrating at Christmas then? Same for Easter - I don't understand why you would celebrate something you don't believe in. Find your own celebrations.

grannyactivist, I am not bringing immigration problems in to the discussion, that was not what I meant. I do not mind any immigrant from any country coming here as long as our own traditions are not altered to accommodate theirs. I was talking about the real meaning of Christmas, the spiritual meaning vs the commercial Christmas we see today.

Anniebach you seem to know what I meant. We are bombarded with Christmas adverts about buying things. Not the true meaning of Christmas...which is spiritual. It is about celebrating the birth of Christ. It is about coming together, giving and receiving and resting.

I loved the Christmas of my childhood where we woke up as soon as it was light to empty our stockings then went to church on Christmas morning, came home to open presents that Santa had left under the tree, and then sitting down together to eat our Christmas Dinner. After that we either played with our games or went outside to play on our new bikes etc while Mum and Dad watched the Queen's speech. If it wasn't raining we would go for a walk to use up some calories.

It all seemed so simple then. Now it is all about 'things' and what we can spend in the sales. Repeats of old films and everything seems to be rushing about or travelling here and there. One positive thing I like though is this 'Secret Santa' where you buy one present for someone and they do the same. Great fun.

I no longer live in Yorkshire by the way, but that is where my heart is.....the Yorkshire Dales.