I guess its that time of year again, so for the purposes of education Id ask yall to read this. Internationally, Christianity is only 33.39% of the world population. In the US: 34% In Canada: 29% I write something like this post every year, because I start seeing memes on facebook, and signs along the sides of the road, all along the lines of Its Merry Christmas, NOT XXXX and Keep CHRIST in Christmas. Yes, its your wall, post what you want to, yes, I post what I want on my wall too. Im quite capable of clicking unfollow (though I often choose not to, cause a lot of you are people I dont want to cut ties with) That said...do you really know what you are saying to me and everyone else who sees these memes? What you are really saying with those isnt that this is what I believe, and Im happy with my belief (that would probably read something along the lines of Merry Christmas one and all!!) what you are really saying with those memes is that Im right, and all the rest of you are wrong and should believe/talk like I do. How very rude. The origin of christmas isnt christian you know. The origins of the holiday are from many different cultures, historically there have been winter solstice celebrations in almost all cultures. Currently there are around 58 winter festival holidays that are currently celebrated around the time of the winter solstice (which is usually between the 21st and 23rd of December). 11 of them (counting from the beginning of December to the 14th of January) are christian. 11 out of 58 or so. (I deliberately am not counting saints days) As a member of a faith which has its own winter solstice traditions, and who practices a secular form of santa bringing gifts as a sap to family and our kids cultural concepts, I find it disturbing to see these memes every year (though thank goodness Im seeing fewer and fewer of them.) If we lived in a society that was predominantly Christian, I suppose its possible that I wouldnt feel quite as strongly about it, sure Id want people to acknowledge the fact that there are other faiths, because its just good manners to be aware of other peoples feelings. Or so I was taught. Im happy to provide the specifics of my research, but frankly, its a long list. I would take it as a kindness if the Im right and you are wrong memes would stop please. There are better ways of professing your faith in memes. I dont care if you are unaffiliated, christian, buddhist, muslim, wiccan, druidic, sihk, I hope you find happiness and joy in whatever faith you profess. Please dont jam it down my throat and dont try to claim a very well celebrated solstice type holiday as being the one true faith and that everyone should do what you do. Now, since I have a clue about how to do research (which means digging in depth a bit further than a simple google search) here are a few more details for you. (I do have the sources, but its a long damned list, PM me if you want it). In the US, Christianity is largely touted (especially by christian websites and mass hypnosis news feeds) at being at 72% of the population, this does not bring into consideration the percentage of unchurched or post-church christians. Those who default to saying that they are christian, for various reasons such as their families are christian, its what they were raised as, etc, but who do not actually believe in nor practice the tenets of the faith. These are often known as survey christians which is basically where, when surveyed, people will check off christian because there isnt anything else that they affiliate with. So popular number of Christians is 72% (as of data collected in 2012) the survey christians come in at 38%. This is the survey christians or the unchurched, and the statistic comes from a study in 2014. 72%-38% = 34% of those who say they are Christian on surveys are actually practicing (meaning they go to church, read the bible, attempt to follow the precepts of the faith). In Canada, 67% christian: 67%-38%+/- *survey christians* = 29% christian.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 15:01:00 +0000
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