To think we should move Christmas to a different month?

[Allandria]

Christmas and all it’s super-spreading events seems to come smack-bang in the middle of Covid and flu season.

Since covid and it’s ever-changing variants appear to be here for good would it not make sense to rearrange Christmas dates?

Perhaps March or April instead.

Why does it HAVE to be in December?
Because that's when it is. It already exists and has been in December for hundreds of years.

You can move all the parties and dinners and shopping and meals and drinking that you like

But no, you can't move Christmas!

well to be fair, he wasn't born in December anyway. Wasn't he actually born closer to Easter?

No. That’s when he died.

[quote Vapeyvapevape]@ilovesooty and Father Christmas would look a bit naff sitting in a grotto (or beach hut) wearing a cozzie![/quote]

Please send Jesus the memo he needed to be born on a different month. Perhaps he wouldn't mind swapping his birth date and death date or even subsequent resurrection so that we can avoid 'covid and flu season' great idea!

@XenoBitch

This has to be one of the mot batshit things I have seen on MN lately.

I might petition to have my birthday changed too.

Now don't be selfish, will changing your birthday affect the covid situation? One must think of the greater good at all times, remember? 🤣

Jesus was not born on December 25th.☺️

No, leave Christmas where it is, as our midwinter celebration. But it would be a good idea to add a midsummer one. (It's a bit odd that there isn't one already - we have Easter and Harvest festival roughly at the equinoxes. )

Our neighbourhood usually has a Xmas get-together - this year it's just going to be a short outdoor bring your own glass toast, it'll be on the winter solstice. We're thinking of suggesting a Summer Solstice street party.

@Allandria

Are posters really arguing that Christmas being wintery and snowy and sparkly is more important than reducing covid outbreaks at the worst time?

You weren't doing TOO bad (for a WUM,) but you jumped the shark with this one.

And, you have a short memory @Allandria as the first covid outbreak (2020,) started in the month of March! D'oh! 😬

I don't believe I'm reading this. Cancel Christmas this year if you're scared of covid, but Christmas is not a movable feast.

Just putting out there that there's no evidence Jesus was born on 25th December.

I'm not advocating for a change... daft idea.....what about the Southern hemisphere? If you move if to say June the Australians will have the same issue. So Christmas Day different throughout the world?

[quote LuckyAmy1986]@GutsInMay oh thank you for sharing that with me. Regardless of whether that was the ACTUAL date or not, it's the ACTUAL date that has been chosen to commemorate the birth of Jesus.

Oh here you go, google will help explain better than me; if you are not religious you may not know this:

it was around the year 273 that the church considered commandeering the existing pagan festival of winter solstice as fitting time to honor the son of God. ... Western Christians officially began celebrating December 25 as the birth of Jesus in 336 AD. So there you have it!

I'd love you to come back to me on this, love to know what point you were trying to make![/quote]
Well you were being a bit condescending in your response, with your rhetorical question.

I just don’t understand why so many people have cited the religious reason for the fixed date. Easter moves around by almost a month.

Anyway, the message is Peace and Goodwill which seems more important than the actual date!

Christmas jumpers would be a thing of the past, it will be too warm to roast chestnuts on an open fire, my snowflake decorations would look ridiculous, Father Christmas would need a whole new summer wardrobe. It won’t work.

Maybe we could trick covid and pretend we aren’t celebrating?

@xxxGirlCrushxxx

the religious aspect makes it obvious that it cannot be moved

Nowhere in the Bible mentions the 25th of December- the actual date of Jesus's birth is debatable. It's not like Easter and Passover which are tied to the first Full moon after the Sping equinox.

@Allandria

How many of you are actually going to feel comfortable doing Christmassy things this December? Work dos, pantomimes, Christmas parties, family get together? Ditto last year. Likely the case next year. It just doesn’t seem to work in peak germ season, just an unfortunate coincidence but it falls slap bang at the wrong time and makes things worse.

Are posters really arguing that Christmas being wintery and snowy and sparkly is more important than reducing covid outbreaks at the worst time?

Very comfortable thanks. I'll be partying like its 1999. If you want to stay in for...well, ever, then do so but butt out of what other people do.

I am assuming this thread is a joke?!

There have been mid-winter religious festivals around the winter solstice since the Stone Age. It's feasting, retreating and warmth around the shortest day. Evolving religions focused festivities around the solstice, until one religion proved more enduring.

You can't move the winter solstice to a more convenient time! The point of finding joy and light from darkness, Pagan or Christian, would be a little lost.

I think we may have to adjust how we find its meaning, and how we create its joy, for a few years. Which is not to say that I didn't perfectly well like the way it was before, as much as anyone else!

You should write for the daily wail op! They would love this story!

Whatever trappings the culture piles on top, It’s the celebration of the winter solstice. It has to be at the darkest time of the year or it loses all meaning.

I will be honest and admit I don’t understand why people in the Southern Hemisphere celebrate Christmas in December. It would make much more sense to do it in June.

Don't be ridiculous. Tell you what OP - you celebrate Christmas whenever you like. Or move to the southern hemisphere.

Hahaha

I know

Our Xmas party was cancelled, should have done it two weeks ago

Why does it HAVE to be in December?

Because it's a hijack of Yuletide and that's when it happens.

@DrunkenKoala

Perhaps March or April instead.

There is already a religious festival then - Easter. Why not make more of that?

@DrunkenKoala

That's a better suggestion

global warming has changed the seasons.....it did used to be snowy at christmas

Some Aussies do Christmas in July.

March is still pretty chilly.

Can you honestly say that if it had a positive impact on covid numbers and made the situation better overall every year that you wouldn’t support moving Christmas just a couple of months? I’m not seeing any compelling arguments on this thread to keep it where it is.

I get it seems like a radical concept, but if you really think about it it makes sense!