Who are people who find Christmas offensive

[Blopi]

It really boils my piss when organisations curtail Christmas stuff as it may offend people.

Who are these people who find Christmas offensive? In my life I have worked and met people from various religions, cultures and countries. NOT one found Christmas and things that go with it. I didn’t work with Jehovah Witnesses but they don’t get offended. Most said they decorated their homes, wore Xmas jumpers and ate food which was suitable or tailored to their religion. Those who didn’t decorate their homes love seeing trees lit up.

My parents read the Daily Mail and I can clearly remember them talking about “PC gone mad” and the word Christmas being banned when I was a child. I’m nearly 40 and Christmas still hasn’t been cancelled. It’s divisive shite.

It gave the Reform type people a chance to sneer at woke lefties and get on their soapbox.

It’s a huge claim to make that anything literally never happened

I was assuming that posters would have enough commonsense to understand I meant in recent times in the UK* as that's what is brought up and not going back to the Puritan ban in 1644.

Despite the frothing no-one is ever able to show any evidence of a ban.

*apparently sometimes cited as occurring in other Western counties too

It's shocking in my local Tesco.

Alongside the masses of Christmas puddings and cakes they actually have a few other things like mini syrup sponges and chocolate bombes, presumably as "alternatives".

It's just woke nonsense to indulge any refusal to eat traditional Christmas fare. Pathetic people who plead "but I just don't really like dried fruit" should be force fed currants and sultanas for the whole of Advent.

It'll be Easter next. Regular as clockwork.

Seasonal egg, anyone?

In some organisations Christmas has kind of been rebranded but it's to cover various religious events, not that they're anti Christmas. Everyone I've ever met who's of a different faith has celebrated something.

My experience is of multi nationals for whom Happy Holidays covers a multitude on a corporate level.

It's just a lie created by the bigots. I've worked with people from different cultures and religions, they all get involved with the Christmas traditions, helping decorate the office, Christmas works meal, secret santa.

When I lived in Dubai they had Christmas decorations everywhere!

Think it’s DEI peeps in these organisations. My University seem to have had no issue with posting on Divali etc, but we are apparently closing for the ‘Winter Festival’. So, the cultural sensitivity seems to only go one way.

This annoys me because I was raised in a mixed faith household - dad muslim, but LOVES Christmas. It was always a big thing in my house, so I don’t understand why all of a sudden it’s culturally insensitive to refer to it as Christmas!

You’re talking an insane amount of bollocks. I was there last weekend, it literally says Birmingham Christmas Market on ever sign and the menu’s are even Christmas Menu’s. Where have you got this rubbish from?.

Stephen Fry talked about this very issue back in 2007 on QI

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sorry about the adverts!

I have never come across a single person who was offended by Christmas or by the use of the word Christmas. But I’ve come across a lot of people claiming that this is the case. Usually if you ignore them for long enough they go away.

Depends what you mean by 'banned'. In a widespread way, obviously not, no. I'm certainly not claiming it has been.

The claim is usually about orgs changing how they term things. I'd be amazed if not a single org ever has told their staff to avoid saying Christmas.

We're getting a bit off-topic here, but I maintain that in almost everything to do with human society 'not one instance ever' is a huge claim. At least for things where the population is enormous (all orgs, of any size, at any point in history). The obvious reply is your one, i.e. well find one instance then, but that only works if we can search all instances. But clearly this isn't one of those cases.

Well I’ve just googled Tesco and they definitely say “Christmas Trees” why don’t you check yourself.

You’ve reminded me of the time DH came home saying that a colleague had told him Easter eggs weren’t allowed to be called that anymore. He wanted to check DS’s eggs (he’s 20, but too old for eggs)

Sure enough they all said Easter on the box.
DH is not usually so gullible but DS and I had a good laugh and proceeded to call them ‘spherical holiday chocolate’ until they’d all been eaten.

Which organisations do you know have done or are proposing to do this? I’ve never come across any.

I can't stand the phrase "boils my piss." I don't think anyone tries to ban Christams. I do sometimes refer to "the holiday season" as I live in a multicultural country and a more general phrase acknowledges that not everyone celebrates Christmas but we all relax and rest. But there's no banning it.

Mainly this.

I worked with a Jewish teacher who didn't like taking part in Christmas events at school but did what she had to do and Jehovah's Witness parents who want their child removed from anything around Christmas which was quite difficult. Some took their children out of school for a holiday in the last couple of weeks of term but I don't know if they'd be able to do that now. I've never had Muslim parents raise any objection and they have been quite happy to see their little girls dressed as angels.

I agree it's a horrible phrase.

We have a local independent stationers that has been running my whole life by the same family who are Hindu. Every religious festival, for all religions, they stock up on cards, decorations etc . It's always been a very multicultural area. I grew up with Irish, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Jamaican kids

Recently they were attacked and abused for having a nativity scene in their window, because it was Christian. Its lovely melting pot atmosphere is becoming very focussed on division. It's sad

They are labelled as Evergreen as opposed to white or tinsel type trees. Tescos, Sainsbury's, Lidl, Aldi - all full of Christmas products.

I don't think anyone thinks Christmas is offensive, but if an atheist is organising it, maybe they don't feel the need to make it overtly Christian? I mean loads of us celebrate Christmas which is basically a rebranding of the pagan winter solstice feasts and celebrations. It's okay to want to do winter festivities without virtue signalling to Christian religion since most of the people complaining don't even go to church or practice Christianity anyway. 🤷‍♀️

I'm atheist and I don't care if its called Christmas and call it Christmas myself, but I also don't care if its called wintervus by some nameless organisation, council at the other end of the country or whatever because I really couldn't give two fucks about all this manufactured outrage since noones stopping me celebrating how I want.

We can still call it what we want in our own homes you know or even organise our own ultra religious community events.

Btw this same fucking non issue comes up every bloody year, Christmas and Easter and I'm getting sick to the back teeth of it. 🙄

So! I always thought this whole debate was just utter bollocks until last year when I managed to offend two people by asking them what their plans were over the Christmas break, and they both reacted badly and made it clear they were offended to be asked.

Both I think were Muslims, and I suppose saw me as asking how they were celebrating a religious holiday of another denomination. They weren’t anyone I know personally or worked with - think person working in a shop I was chatting to level of interaction.

I’m not even religious, to me Christmas is basically ‘the 1-2 weeks in December when everything grinds to a halt and most people get time off work’.

TBF I don’t think it will impact my asking people exactly the same question this year, if you live in the UK you’re going to be asked about your Christmas plans, it’s part of the culture here (rather than a religious festival per se). And every other person I’ve ever encountered who is actively another religion and discussed Christmas seems to still celebrate it in some format just for the fun of it… usually to the extent of buying presents, a tree etc.

I do however try and remember now to comment when it’s other people’s religious holidays - as I think it’s nice to do so.

We have people of all faiths attending our Xmas dinner and joining in the secret Santa. And we always cover Eid for those who want it.