I think that is the point for some, that Christians now "own" these symbols so adapting their use in any way is a challenge to Christianity.

Who is coordinating this?

Amazon search (entire store): Christmas: Showing 1 - 16 of 6,916,518 Results Hanukkah Showing 1 - 16 of 49,874 Results Kwanzaa Showing 1 - 16 of 2,860 Results Holiday Showing 1 - 16 of 3,498,118 Results

And the nativity sets? And angels? And the millions of dollars of religious Christmas music sold every year? Heck Barbra Streisand has at least one Christmas album. I don't get Christians who simultaneously complain about the secularization of Christmas, the celebrating of a cultural Christmas AND about those who say "Happy Holidays;" the commercialization of the Christmas season AND a (perceived) lack of Christianity in the commercialization of the season. Which is it?

And I've never seen a Nativity set called a Doll Holiday Playhouse/Farm. The tree is actually not originally Christian, which is why many Christians eschew it.

But it's not new. So much of what we're "supposed to do" comes to us from Victorian England, a (relatively) new and increasingly industrialized and urbanized society putting on the trappings of the country. Me, I'd prefer Hogmanay... Well maybe in my youth; I'm not sure I could stay up that late anymore.

They aren't "lumped into it" because they get their own discrete aisles (or shelf) in a sea of Christmas.

Yup. Those years were very nearly the end of SNL, and deservedly so.

Don't! Seriously....

You must have missed the Whiners and Charles Rocket in the early 80s.

I make happy muffins. Not joyous; there's nothing joyous about muffins. But happy.

I'm not a big fan of frosting, except for really good buttercream.

I'm not a fan of cupcakes.

How so? Do I have a paranormal belief system if I think all that is bunk? Or a extraterrestrial belief system if I don't believe in Greys? Atheism is not based on faith in a supernatural being or power or force and is therefore not a religion.

I thought that's what the alcohol was for.

Not the way I say it, all attitudinal with my hands on my hips. :D

The Infinite Monkey Cage Jon Ronson On...

They sounds nummy. Good strawberries are invariably local, U-Pick or at farmers markets and a few stores (Whole Foods here gets Hoods and other local varietals in daily, delivered by the farmers, when in season). The rest of the crop is processed or frozen immediately after picking because the berries are highly perishable. Packaged California strawberries may be edible, sometimes even pleasant with a bit of sugar, but they nothing like their fragile and highly perishable cousins bred for flavour. (Good strawberries don't need sugar.)

I'm sorry.

H8ter :tongue_smilie:

Yep. I think it's telling how many of our community events center around food, beer, and wine. :D

I think it's fine for the city to get a tree and place it in a public square, to put up lights downtown at an otherwise dreary time of year. To say they shouldn't is little different than saying there should be no cultural displays ever. I'm all for a sense of a larger community. We celebrate (with city and county support to varying degrees), winter holidays, Cinco de Mayo, Brewfest, Rose Festival, Bones and Brew, local chefs, the Blues Festival. These are all important parts of our local community and culture, and there are a number of smaller events too, including outdoor movies at the main public square and the Italian festival. Not all may be your or my cuppa, but it's still nice. :)

IIRC, there is a strong correlation between gun ownership, particularly with readily available guns in the home (i.e. not locked up with ammo stored separately) and *successful* suicide attempts. It makes sense that this method would have greater efficacy than others.

Is yours also confused as to why everyone is "against her"? It's the complete lack of self awareness that gets me. Neither of her sons are talking to her at the moment. BIL stopped after MIL sent his eldest daughter, E, (then 20) back every card, letter, etc. she'd ever sent her Grandma on E's birthday, because she was insufficiently grateful for Grandma's advice. E's entire interaction with MIL for a decade had been hearing about how she should do this, this, and this or she was going to be a failure in life, and, "See, I told you so." I'm in awe she lasted that long. But, neither DH nor BIL learned to set boundaries other than cutting her off, so this has been an ongoing pattern in their adult relationship with her and they haven't been able to model healthy boundary setting for the kids with respect to her.

RanchGirl, how is MIL with the kids? If she's OK, maybe being able to focus on that will help you get through. Mine is uniformly misery generating. Two-ish years ago she gave my youngest a remote controlled tarantula (something she'd been asking for seemingly forever), then proceeded to tell her how when she was a kid the neighborhood boys used to rip the legs off them and you could hear them scream. Nice way to traumatise a 7yo. Toy never touched after the unboxing. At least this was short and sweet (and easy to relate), she is an expert needler and is willing to go the distance. We don't invite her for holidays anymore... well, at all actually, as my husband hasn't talked to her since she berated him for the terrible manners of DD the Elder for being sullen while in a hospital bed, in pain and summer ruined, less than 24 hours after having been hit by a car.