# Evangelical Christmas Cards.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evangelical-christmas-cards/281172
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [December 22, 2004, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evangelical-christmas-cards/281172 "2004-12-22T16:24:18Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2004, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evangelical-christmas-cards/281172/1 "2004-12-22T16:24:18Z")
I’m kind of a black-sheep atheist of the family. One of my aunts, a sister of my mother, is married to an Assemblies of God preacher. So of course, they all so worried about my immortal soul. I received an interesting Christmas card from them yesterday.
The front of the card:
Hundreds and even thousands of year before Jesus the Messiah was born in Bethlehem, God had spoken many prophecies about His coming. (blah, blah, blah) He had to fulfill every prophecy that was ever spoken and written … and He did. Every single one.
That’s just the set up. Inside there’s a long list of supposed prohecies and the verses where they were “fulfilled”. Then there’s the bit about prophecies concerning his “second coming”. I swear I’ve never seen a card wo so much text.
Isn’t it enough to prostelyze every time I see you in person? Why can’t you send a basic “wishing you a merry Christmas” card. Jeez. I know that you’re super religious. I know you think I’m going to hell. But do you have to annoy me with every interaction?
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### Author:  [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2004, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evangelical-christmas-cards/281172/2 "2004-12-22T16:35:48Z")
> [@Homebrew](#):
>
> Why can’t you send a basic “wishing you a merry Christmas” card.
Um, perhaps because it’s _Christ_mas, a religious holiday which many Christians celebrate with friends and family?
You’re pitting someone for sending you a religiously-themed card on a religious holiday? How dare they! The bastards! :rolleyes:
---
### Author:  [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2004, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evangelical-christmas-cards/281172/3 "2004-12-22T16:37:26Z")
> [@Homebrew](#):
>
> Isn’t it enough to proselytize every time I see you in person? Why can’t you send a basic “wishing you a merry Christmas” card? Jeez, I know that you’re super religious. I know you think I’m going to hell. But do you have to annoy me with every interaction?
Well, given your description of her, I doubt that this card was aimed specifically at you; more likely, she just bought a box of _uber_-Jesusy Xmas cards to distribute. Considering also that this is putatively the celebration of You Know Who’s birth, you really ought to let this one slide. Pick your battles and all that.
For shits and giggles, you might want to e-mail your aunt a link to this [page](http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/jim_lippard/fabulous-prophecies.html).
> [@](#):
>
> I have examined more than two dozen alleged messianic prophecies which Christian apologists claim are fulfilled by Jesus. Although there are many more claimed such prophecies (e.g., McDowell (1972) lists 61 in some detail and refers to numerous additional verses without details), these are by far the best examples, by the apologists’ own reckoning.[9] This examination shows that none stands up as a specific, detailed, and accurate prediction of an event which came to occur in the life of Jesus.\*\* Instead, the purported prophecies appear to be the result of deliberate attempts by the gospel writers and Christian apologists to find post hoc similarities between events described in the New Testament and the Hebrew scriptures. Messianic prophecies, contrary to apologists, do not provide evidence for Christian faith.\*\*
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### Author:  [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2004, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evangelical-christmas-cards/281172/4 "2004-12-22T16:49:10Z")
> [@XJETGIRLX](#):
>
> You’re pitting someone for sending you a religiously-themed card on a religious holiday? How dare they! The bastards! :rolleyes:
Yes, it’s fucking annoying that every single interaction with someone has to be a chance for them to save my soul. They had to search for a special distributor for this card. When’s the last time you saw a card with 20 Bible cites at the Hallmark store? Hell, I’d not been bugged if it was simply a “Jesus is the reason for the season” type or a quote of Luke 2:11. But this thing is chock full of preachin’.
Don’t you think they’d be annoyed if I used every opportunity to try to debunk their religious convictions? When I visit for the holidays I avoid religious discussions out of respect. Why can’t they?
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### Author:  [@Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greenback)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2004, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evangelical-christmas-cards/281172/5 "2004-12-22T16:54:34Z")
Because your annoyance on the matter pales in comparison to the eternal damnation of your soul.
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### Author:  [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2004, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evangelical-christmas-cards/281172/6 "2004-12-22T16:57:51Z")
> [@XJETGIRLX](#):
>
> Um, perhaps because it’s _Christ_mas, a religious holiday which many Christians celebrate with friends and family?
>
> You’re pitting someone for sending you a religiously-themed card on a religious holiday? How dare they! The bastards! :rolleyes:
I send out _holiday_ cards in December. I make sure there is no mention of “Christmas” or any images denoting a certain religions (Christmas tree, Santa Claus, angels, etc.) Just “Season’s Greetings,” or “Happy Holidays” and perhaps a nice winter scene (mine this year have birds). The _holiday season_ is not religious for everyone, **XJETGIRLX.** And more than one religion celebrate a holiday this month too.
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### Author:  [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2004, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evangelical-christmas-cards/281172/7 "2004-12-22T17:04:15Z")
> [@XJETGIRLX](#):
>
> Um, perhaps because it’s _Christ_mas, a religious holiday which many Christians celebrate with friends and family?
>
> You’re pitting someone for sending you a religiously-themed card on a religious holiday? How dare they! The bastards! :rolleyes:
Except that, since you apparently didn’t read the OP, they didn’t send him a “religious themed” Christmas card. For instance a manger scene and God Bless you. They sent him a shortened Chick Tract.
Look, I’m a christian (NOT FUNDIE), and even I’D be annoyed with that sort of arrogance. Not to mention, it says right IN the bible (in more KJV verbiage of course), that we’re not supposed to go around shoving our beleifs down people’s throats, and alll sorts of other verses to that effect.
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### Author:  [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evangelical-christmas-cards/281172/8 "2004-12-22T17:09:55Z")
**Homebrew** , I sympathize, but seriously, did you expect for your fundamentalist relatives to let the second most important holiday in Christianity go by _without_ taking the opportunity to loudly trumpet their faith/proselytize to you?
Ah, of course you didn’t. You’re just venting. Well, vent away. Also, I’m sure that while cards toting a score of bible verses on them aren’t at many Hallmarks, they’re probably the first thing inside the door at Christian bookstores this time of year.
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### Author:  [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2004, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evangelical-christmas-cards/281172/9 "2004-12-22T17:16:05Z")
You could just throw it away. That’s what I do when I get those Jehovah Witness newsletter thingies in my mail (how did they get my address anyway?).
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### Author:  [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2004, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evangelical-christmas-cards/281172/10 "2004-12-22T17:18:52Z")
> [@Homebrew](#):
>
> Isn’t it enough to prostelyze every time I see you in person? Why can’t you send a basic “wishing you a merry Christmas” card. Jeez. I know that you’re super religious. I know you think I’m going to hell. But do you have to annoy me with every interaction?
Yeah, fuck them for thinking about you during the holidays!
Asshole.
---
### Author:  [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2004, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evangelical-christmas-cards/281172/11 "2004-12-22T17:21:35Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#):
>
> Yeah, fuck them for thinking about you during the holidays!
>
> Asshole.
Hey, fuck off! **Homebrew** is expressing a perfectly normal irritation at being preached at in an over-the-top Christmas card. He’s venting, so let him! The Godbotherers won’t let the rest of us enjoy eggnog and cookies oh no, we have to genuflect to their godling in the manger, too
Judgmental dipshit.
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### Author:  [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evangelical-christmas-cards/281172/12 "2004-12-22T17:38:24Z")
> [@nyctea scandiaca](#):
>
> I send out _holiday_ cards in December. I make sure there is no mention of “Christmas” or any images denoting a certain religions (Christmas tree, Santa Claus, angels, etc.) Just “Season’s Greetings,” or “Happy Holidays” and perhaps a nice winter scene (mine this year have birds). The _holiday season_ is not religious for everyone, **XJETGIRLX.** And more than one religion celebrate a holiday this month too.
But he’s not bitching about a _Holiday_ card. He’s bitching about a _Christmas_ card, sent by an admittedly very-religious family member.
It’s one thing to say, “I don’t celebrate the religious aspect of the season and would appreciate a more neutral greeting”. He specifically derided the use of religion in a _Christmas_ card.
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### Author:  [@5que](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5que)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2004, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evangelical-christmas-cards/281172/13 "2004-12-22T17:39:18Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Yeah, fuck them for thinking about you during the holidays!
> Asshole
> [@](#):
>
> Judgmental dipshit
I just **LOVE** the holidays!
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### Author:  [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2004, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evangelical-christmas-cards/281172/14 "2004-12-22T17:40:40Z")
> [@XJETGIRLX](#):
>
> He specifically derided the use of religion in a _Christmas_ card.
He did nothing of the sort. Why don’t you read the OP, then try again.
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### Author:  [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2004, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evangelical-christmas-cards/281172/15 "2004-12-22T17:40:43Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#):
>
> Except that, since you apparently didn’t read the OP, they didn’t send him a “religious themed” Christmas card. For instance a manger scene and God Bless you. They sent him a shortened Chick Tract.
>
> Look, I’m a christian (NOT FUNDIE), and even I’D be annoyed with that sort of arrogance. Not to mention, it says right IN the bible (in more KJV verbiage of course), that we’re not supposed to go around shoving our beleifs down people’s throats, and alll sorts of other verses to that effect.
I don’t see how giving someone a card (that they can do with what they please) is ‘shoving’ your religion down someone’s throat.
Christ almighty, I understand that he’s not religious, but you can’t dictate how other people celebrate their religious holidays. If his family wants to send out religious holiday cards, more power to 'em. If he doesn’t agree with the sentiment, he can drop it in the trash - no skin off his back.
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### Author:  [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2004, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evangelical-christmas-cards/281172/16 "2004-12-22T17:40:44Z")
> [@gobear](#):
>
> Hey, fuck off! **Homebrew** is expressing a perfectly normal irritation at being preached at in an over-the-top Christmas card. He’s venting, so let him! The Godbotherers won’t let the rest of us enjoy eggnog and cookies oh no, we have to genuflect to their godling in the manger, too
>
> Judgmental dipshit.
He can vent all he likes. I’m still free to think him an asshole for bitching about somebody trying to be nice.
Of course, you’re still free to think I’m a judgmental prick as well.
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### Author:  [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2004, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evangelical-christmas-cards/281172/17 "2004-12-22T17:43:09Z")
> [@andros](#):
>
> He did nothing of the sort. Why don’t you read the OP, then try again.
Oh bite me. Here’s exactly what he said:
> [@](#):
>
> Isn’t it enough to prostelyze every time I see you in person? Why can’t you send a basic “wishing you a merry Christmas” card.
He’s saying he wants a non-religious christmas card. He didn’t say he wanted a ‘holiday card’, but rather he was bitching about the use of religion in a christmas card sent to him.
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### Author:  [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2004, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evangelical-christmas-cards/281172/18 "2004-12-22T17:49:07Z")
> [@XJETGIRLX](#):
>
> He specifically derided the use of religion in a _Christmas_ card.
No. I derided the use of an overwhelmingly, decidedly fundamentalist, preachy Christmas card. They know I don’t believe. They could have just as easily sent a simple “Merry Christmas” card; but they went to the trouble of finding evangelistic one. It’s not a celebratory card, it’s a witnessing card. It is annoying. My mother sent me one with Mary and the baby Jesus on it that says “Have a Blessed Christmas” on the outside and “Let’s remember the reason for Christmas” on the inseide. It was simple and religious; but not evangelical. It didn’t bother me and I didn’t feel like it was preachy. If you can’t tell the difference than you’re a simpleton.
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2004, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evangelical-christmas-cards/281172/19 "2004-12-22T17:55:30Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#):
>
> Yeah, fuck them for thinking about you during the holidays!
If I had relatives like that, I’d prefer they not think of me at all.
Thank God I was raised by heathens.
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### Author:  [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2004, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evangelical-christmas-cards/281172/20 "2004-12-22T17:57:52Z")
> [@Homebrew](#):
>
> No. I derided the use of an overwhelmingly, decidedly fundamentalist, preachy Christmas card. They know I don’t believe. They could have just as easily sent a simple “Merry Christmas” card; but they went to the trouble of finding evangelistic one. It’s not a celebratory card, it’s a witnessing card. It is annoying. My mother sent me one with Mary and the baby Jesus on it that says “Have a Blessed Christmas” on the outside and “Let’s remember the reason for Christmas” on the inseide. It was simple and religious; but not evangelical. It didn’t bother me and I didn’t feel like it was preachy. If you can’t tell the difference than you’re a simpleton.
And how do you know it was any trouble? How do you know she doesn’t have half a case of them left in her basement from Y2K? Why do you feel the need to let it bother you so much? Seriously, she was trying to send you a message that was powerful and meaningful for her, hoping to share it with you. You happen to disagree with the sentiment, no harm, no foul.
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