# Do Mormons celebrate Christmas? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 22, 2005, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-mormons-celebrate-christmas/336860 "2005-12-22T21:14:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-mormons-celebrate-christmas/336860/1 "2005-12-22T21:14:56Z")
Do Mormons celebrate Christmas? ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-mormons-celebrate-christmas/336860/2 "2005-12-22T21:20:20Z")
The ones I knew did. Why wouldn’t they? ---
**Author:** ![alimarx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@alimarx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alimarx)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-mormons-celebrate-christmas/336860/3 "2005-12-22T21:24:18Z")
I wish the ones I know wouldn’t. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-mormons-celebrate-christmas/336860/4 "2005-12-22T21:25:03Z")
One of my colleagues just asked me if they did. I could not think of a reason why they would not, but I did not know for certain, so I thought : why not ask the Straight Dope! Thanks for the reply! ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-mormons-celebrate-christmas/336860/5 "2005-12-22T21:32:33Z")
This is not as obvious a question as it may first appear. There are sects of people, like Jehovah’s Witnesses, who believe in Christ but do not celebrate Christmas (or any other occasions) . ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-mormons-celebrate-christmas/336860/6 "2005-12-22T21:45:55Z")
What’s the Mormon Tabernacle Choir been doing all these years, if not celebrating Christmas part of the time? [Looks like Santa is there, too!](http://www.ldsmag.com/byustudies/041217pioneer.html) ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-mormons-celebrate-christmas/336860/7 "2005-12-22T21:47:03Z")
Mormons love Christmas. Possibly slightly more than is actually good for them, especially with that whole ‘goodie plate’ tradition. Hey, sugar is the only vice we get! Carols are also big, and nativity scenes. Temple Square in Salt Lake City has a tradition of putting up elaborate lights. [Here’s a shot.](http://www.terragalleria.com/america/utah/salt-lake-city/picture.usut9043.html) It’s a little more than suits my minimalist taste, but many people love it. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-mormons-celebrate-christmas/336860/8 "2005-12-22T21:49:16Z")
You’ve obviously never been to Salt Lake City in December – or afterwards. Temple Square, in the heart of downtown, gets the most amazing display of Christmas lighting you’ve ever seen. They carefully tightly wrire to every twig and branch of every tree a gazillion lights of different colors. They also cover the lawns with lights. They set up a manger with life-sized figures, a hanging Star of Bethlehem, and all the figures, with music playing. It is a dazzling sight, and worth a visit by itself. They leave it up for over two months. Before Christmas there’s the Festival of Trees, where various groups decorate (and frequently _make_ Christmas Trees. After they’;ve been displayed in the Salt Palace they’re auctioned off and displayed by local businesses. Then there are the productions od A Christmas Carol, the window displays, etc. Yeah, Mormons celebrate Christmas. They’re _extremely_ into family-friendly and “All-American” stuff. They probably make a bigger production than most other people. You should see what they do for Halloween in SLC. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-mormons-celebrate-christmas/336860/9 "2005-12-22T21:51:45Z")
> [@Doctor Jackson](#): > > This is not as obvious a question as it may first appear. There are sects of people, like Jehovah’s Witnesses, who believe in Christ but do not celebrate Christmas (or any other occasions) . That is the reason I thought I should ask the Dope. My own denomination, the Churches of Christ, does not celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday, since they cannot find any justification for it in the scriptures. The Church of Christ does not do Easter either. No one minds if individual members celebrate these holidays on their own – they just generally do not do a special church service for either of these “traditionally Christian” holidays. (Intellectually, I am probably more of an agnostic than anything else, but I was raised in the Church of Christ, and still attend services fairly regularly!) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-mormons-celebrate-christmas/336860/10 "2005-12-22T21:59:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Temple Square in Salt Lake City has a tradition of putting up elaborate lights. Here’s a shot. It’s a little more than suits my minimalist taste, but many people love it. I protest! That shot looks positively anemic compared to the Christmas light displays I’ve seen in Salt Lake City. Every Year I was there the number of lights would’ve given a minimalist a heart attack. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-mormons-celebrate-christmas/336860/11 "2005-12-22T22:02:08Z")
More shots of Temple Square at Christmas: > **[Church Newsroom - Official Newsroom of the Church of Jesus Christ of...](https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/)** > > Church Newsroom - Official Newsroom of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints