No Religious Christmas cards

[mumofEandE]

I was in one of those 'cheap card shops' and a customer asked if there were any Religious Christmas cards.
There weren't.
I am not a practising Christian/ or practising anything (!) but this really made me feel that this is wrong!

[quote MrsTerryPratchett][/quote]
Thanks for that @MrsTerryPratchett - as an antipodean dweller living thousands of miles from family (the reverse Minchin, I think it’s called ), that was beautiful and bittersweet to listen to.

It doesn't matter when Christ was born (in Spring if anyone is interested, about the same period he died 33 years later)

What matters is we celebrate it at the darkest time of the year - and that's why they put the celebration around the same time of other deep winter festivals

It's the best time (for many reasons) to have it and it was decided in the first 100 years of his ascension so it's a long tradition

Yep- in that sense it's just the latest in a cultural progression of solstice festivals. I say the latest because the dull avalanche of plastic crap that typifies modern Christmas doesn't really reckon with the solstice.

Same with Easter.

Do you mean Card Factory? They had some yesterday.

If you look in the window of any charity shop they'll have this year's cards on display. They'll usually have around 8 options, 2 of them featuring a religious scene.

Yes, I am a charity shop volunteer and we have the traditional nativity scenes, three wise men, angels, and all that sort of thing. But the box of traditional Madonna and child cards are (I think) £4 for 10, although they are on a 3 for 2 at the moment. so £8 for 30. Cheapie places like the Card Factory sell 50 cards for £2. They obviously don't think there's a market for religious themes.

We also stock the traditional paper advent calendars and they sell very well too.

If you want religious Christmas cards, you can order them from the Catholic Children’s Society website. They have a beautiful selection, all taken from famous works of art. Or, for extra holiness, there is a convent in Norfolk that also has a mail order service.

Ive seen plenty around, they might not be in every single shop but they are in many others

There was a lovely pop up nativity in the garden centre shop as well

If you're a Christian you probably go to church and a lot of churches sell them.

You didn't look that hard then, there are religious cards being sold in many, many shops...

Yes I've just googled and in 2 minutes found them at Oxfam, Cancer Research, BHF, Tesco, John Lewis, Paperchase, WH Smith...

If you buy a card to celebrate a religious holiday and give to someone who follows the faith connected to that holiday then it's a religious card. Doesn't matter if it's a snowman or jesus

Hi all. We've removed a post from this thread by a returning banned poster (and the posts which quoted it). We've banned them once again and hopefully they'll get the message this time.

The truth is... despite any claims to be Christian, I suspect the majority of people in the UK are secular. As a result "invasion" is simply people being born (you know, IN THE UK) and growing up with less deference to Church and state. If anyone wants to celebrate Christmas, Diwali, whatever, go ahead - knock yourselves out. Not for me to say you cannot.

The simple truth is that if people wanted to buy lots of religious cards, then shops would SELL lots of religious cards. Shops offer them, but they do not sell as well as more "neutral" cards.

Finally (and yes, this is a bit of a diversion :-) )- as noted, the early Christian church had a great habit of taking over existing festivals and "re-purposing" them - along with religious sites. Take somewhere where people had been meeting for the past couple of hundred years for the local druidic/wiccan faith and build a church there. Though... to be fair.... the Romans were the best at this kind of stuff, but that is another story.

@WhatdoImean
The truth is... despite any claims to be Christian, I suspect the majority of people in the UK are secular
Most recent stats, including ONS, show that around 50% of Brits self-identify as “No Religion”.

I bought cards with a nativity scene from Asda last year, not bought any yet this year

What matters is we celebrate it at the darkest time of the year - and that's why they put the celebration around the time of other deep winter festivals

Some posters are bending over backwards to erase the fact that Christmas is a religious celebration.

For many people the Nativity element of Christmas can be distasteful, when you consider the coercive nature of Mary's impregnation, given the considerable power imbalance between a humble peasant girl and an omnipotent creator of universes with a history of violent tantrums.

@Moonmelodies

For many people the Nativity element of Christmas can be distasteful, when you consider the coercive nature of Mary's impregnation, given the considerable power imbalance between a humble peasant girl and an omnipotent creator of universes with a history of violent tantrums.

I hope this is ironic.

Not least because the "many" claim.

Never heard or seen written one such objection.

For many people the Nativity element of Christmas can be distasteful, when you consider the coercive nature of Mary's impregnation, given the considerable power imbalance between a humble peasant girl and an omnipotent creator of universes with a history of violent tantrums

Ridiculous

I’m not religious, but I still like to include Christian tradition in my Christmas. I have angels on my Christmas tree, a little crib on the hall table, listen to the carols from Kings……..

"Christmas" is a festival that encompasses several elements.

There's obviously a significant Christian element. But there are also strong midwinter festival elements which aren't really religious at all. Yule logs/Christmas trees, celebrations of seasonal animals/weather (Robins, snowmen etc). The oldest representations of Father Christmas are associated with midwinter feasting etc and are often secular rather than religious.

Given that most people in the UK aren't practising Christians/regular churchgoers, it's not really surprising that the secular aspects of the festival are more of a focus for most people.