I have, unfortunately. Also: “Well, if you’re not Christian, why do you get a day off for Christmas?”
Yes, I read the post. Why should it reflect badly on Kwanzaa? Just because one group puts out several principles, whether or not they abide by them, and that group is considered evil means that others can’t adopt the same principles without being stained by the other group?
Suppose I want to start a terrorist group with the motto “Be Prepared”. Would that reflect poorly on the Boy Scouts?
Ugh. This is the time of year where my Mom starts bitching about anyone who celebrates Christmas as a secular holiday.
Separate-but-equal bathrooms are considered a bad thing.
Separate-but-equal lunch counters are considered a bad thing.
Separate-but-equal schools are considered a bad thing.
Why, then, is a separate-but-equal holiday considered a good thing?
Whut?
Let’s don’t get into a habit of that.
So, uh, let’s pick a set of holidays to celebrate and stick with it. I’m kind of partial to Hindu holidays. What do you say?
Monstro, just wanted to say you win this thread, like usual.
I say let’s go one better. Let’s celebrate all of them. I am Hindu, am in a relationship with a man of Chinese descent and I live in a predominantly Christian country. Plus my sister in law is Jewish.
I start my celebrations in October-November and celebrate Diwali. Then Thanksgiving. Then my birthday in November. Then Hanukah because my nephew and niece celebrate it. Then Christmas. Then New Year’s. Then Chinese New Year.
My year is awesome! And I pick and choose exactly what I want out of every holiday, so even more fun!
Uhm, let’s see… Because that last one is not enforced by law to be separate?
pours the libations over my head to symbolize my people’s victory over the ignorami
Anyone can celebrate Kwanzaa. It’s not separate.
Anti-ignorami sounds like it should be the 8th principle of Kwanzaa.
Well sure; and anyone can celebrate Hanukkah or Diwali.
But as an African American and pan-african holiday celebrated throughout the african community, Kwanzaa brings a cultural message which speaks to what it means to be african and human. Not (say) scandinavian and human.
That’s fine (whether or not Kwanzaa itself is kind of lame), but it’s not very likely any non-african would “celebrate Kwanzaa” other than just to be polite.
I see nothing wrong with any self-organized group having their own thing.
I don’t see anything wrong with it. But this doesn’t mean it’s “separate” in any way, and practices vary widely enough (like for most holidays) that some others will consider it, and celebrate it, differently.
I have heard that the guy who invented Kwanzaa admired how the Jews had their own holiday, and the imitation isn’t accidental.
When my kids used to sell expensive wrapping paper to support the school, I always bought some of the Kwanzaa paper. Outside of the “holiday season” it looked like attractive, high-quality non-holiday wrapping paper. I would have felt weird wrapping birthday presents in Christmas or Hannukah paper, but the Kwanzaa paper became non-holiday paper. 
lol. I have a friend who refers to “God is dead Saturday”. you know, the day after Jesus died, but before he was ressurected.
We light candles at the start of supper, while saying a prayer. That’s pretty much all we do most of Hannukah, and we sometimes forget to do that. We also usually have one family meal where we all pig out on latkes (fried potato pancakes) once during the holiday, and maybe someone will pick up a box of donuts or other oily foods.
But I kinda think Hannukah is a “fake” holiday, that gets a lot of press so the Jews have something to do while everyone else is off celebrating Christmas. The “real” Jewish holidays in most American Jewish households are Passover and the 10 days starting with Rosh Hashanah and ending with Yom Kippur.
I vote for Songkran because what part of having giant public street party water battles where you can squirt people with elephants is not completely awesome? Plus this.
I really hate when people say this. People may want Xmas to be secular to justify the fact that it dominates society this time of year, but I promise that to lots of us Jews even the “secular” parts of Christmas don’t feel secular. Nonreligious (cultural) Christians or for people of religions not so closely linked with Christianity may enjoy the secular aspects of Christmas and that’s great. But ultimately is a celebration of the a birth of Jesus and for many Jewish folks you can’t dissect that part away.
It may be celebrated in a secular fashion, but it’s not like Thanksgiving which might have religious aspects added on, but is at it’s core, not a religious holiday.
I vote for this too. Giant wet t-shirt contests for all races.
Yep. Frosty the Snowman. Rudolph the Reindeer. Santa Claus.
It actually isnt much a Christian Holiday, since Christians for centuries celebrated Easter, not Christmas. Altho the idea that the Christians picked Dec 25 to coincide with the many pagan holidays around then is 99% bogus- it is true that the celebration of Christmas is mostly drawn from Pagan or Folklore sources. And quite a few Christian sects dont celebrate Christmas.
So, I know many Jewish people dont consider Hanukkah much of a a religious festival- even tho there’s a small kernel of religion for which the day is selected. But the celebration is mostly secular, no? Dreidel, fried food, gelt- all traditional but with little or no religious significance.
Chanukah is probably one of the best known Jewish holidays, not because of any great religious significance, but because of its proximity to Christmas.