Comments on: "Happy Holidays" means "Happy Fighting"

By: Yule dig these Christmas Eve parties

Yule dig these Christmas Eve parties — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 02:28:22 +0000

[...] Mideast Youth – Thinking Ahead » “Happy Holidays” means “Happy … [...]

By: Safiyya

Safiyya — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 09:11:43 +0000

HI, I was born in Germany and grew up here. So I am a german muslim girl with turkish roots.
I always celebrated the islamic feasts in Germany and it was always the same routine:
We put our new clothes on, my sisters and brother, who already got married, visit my parents with all their children and we started to eat, eat, eat… as if the slogan of these feasts were: EAT as much as you can;)
It was always boring for me;
but once when I started to study in a different city and I could not attend my family, i understood that it is wonderful to have all these relatives and these feasts and I just thank god that he gave me the possibility to have a family, to see them, to love such nice people…(they are like your relatives: very nice, very complicated,…)
That’s why I always go home and see my family at these days and eat, eat, eat;) and just join these moments…
Thanks god for this chance and this family…

By: Jina

Jina — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 18:58:57 +0000

Just another day… annoying and irritating day where people pretend to care when they don’t.

By: eric/canada

eric/canada — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 18:45:30 +0000

Well, first, as someone of German descent, I can attest to the fact that if you get a bunch of related Germans together for any period of time loud arguments will break out . We aren’t particularly religious people, but this is our Christmas: Christmas Eve has several stages: Traditional? Swedish smorgasboard, consisting of meatballs, mashed poatoes, pickled fish, pickles, cucumber salad, spinach dip in pumpernickel bread, (I have added sweet red cabbage with apples, and a meat and cheese plate) coffee, tea, and a variety of homemade cookies. It is presented at sunset, and everyone who comes to the door is welcomed and offered food. At 9:00, all of the guests gather who are not staying till morning and exchange gifts, and we all get a pick of the “Christmas Pie”, a huge basket of small token gifts, all wrapped, (trading is allowed if Grandma doesn’t catch you). We sing Christmas carols till midnight, when each child is allowed 1 present to welcome Christmas day. Then we get whatever sleep we can until the kids (mostly the Grandma age ones) wake us up at the crack of dawn. Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate are made, and everyone starts with stockings (full of small stuff like chocolate, tangerines, and small fun gifts) then one of the children starts handing out what gifts are there to everyone. Breakfast is a kind of quiche with bacon, eggs, lingonberries and fruit, all baked in a crust, and then everyone relaxes for a few hours, cleans up, and, weather permitting, goes skating, tobogganing, skiing, or, if we are at my sisters, horse drawn sleigh. Dinner is lighter, usually turkey or chicken, with more salad and fruit, and we settle in to watch TV, play with the kids, or catch up over some hot cider, or hot buttered rum (my personal favourite). Boxing day is usually for cleaning up, spending Christmas money (if I can be prodded off the couch) and wishing everyone well for the New Year if they are leaving. We don’t celebrate at the same house every year necessarily, but as many of the family tries to get together as possible.

By: Tor (Norway)

Tor (Norway) — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 00:41:26 +0000

How come

Your comment is awaiting moderation.

That’s never happened before. Did I trigger some sort of filter? What words do I need to avoid?

By: Tor (Norway)

Tor (Norway) — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 00:32:12 +0000

R E Konrad Wrote:

Now I wonder at what plan by whom causes all these different events, celebrated by different religions, to take place so closely together….and how it is that we are so simular in our in-family reactions to them.

The timing is simple, these religions have simply all adopted the winter solstice celebrations found across the northern hemisphere. It is natural for these celebrations to include a feast, as agricultural communities across the hemisphere, at least the ones here in the far north, would take stock of their harvested crop, and slaughter enough livestock to ensure that the remaining animals would be fed until spring. So with the harvest over, and spring a while away, both meat and time were plentiful. Here in Scandinavia daylight and warmth was not, and so people would congregate indoors, and socialize. It is natural that these people would consider the solstice, the end of the suns migration south and the beginning of its migration north, an event worthy of marking, and the widespread practice of sun worship in ancient and prehistoric times lent additional significance to the event. Our ancient solstice celebration, still called Jul in Norwegian, and called Yule in pre-christian England, lives on only slightly altered. It is what is now known, in English, as Christmas. I've just looked for a summary of ancient solstice celebrations, but most of them keep jabbing at Christianity to the extent that I don't think you'd enjoy them. This one is fairly benign, and if you just skip the first minute, and quit watching at 5:25, you're home free. Besides, the jabs included then are mere out of context references, you won't really understand them unless you know beforehand what they're getting at. The stuff in between barely touches upon Christianity. The reference, by church fathers, to Jesus being born in a cave, quoted at 2:40 stems form beliefs and scriptures present in ancient Greece, which didn't make the cut when the catholic church later compiled the first bible. As for the origins of Christmas traditions, I managed to find an account made from a Christian perspective. (I'm good) It*s made by Christian puritans, and so is to be regarded as propaganda against Christmas, so any commentary on the nature of medieval Christmas celebrations, as well as the pagan festivals from which they are derived are to be taken with a boatload of salt. They do a pretty good job of accounting for the origins of Christmas traditions though, and they don't bash or incriminate Christianity while doing so. (yay) part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4

By: Elinor (Iran)

Elinor (Iran) — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 04:36:07 +0000

Nowrooz here is the high holiday, the eve of new year for the persians, it is more a Zarostrian and pure Iranian eve. I guess in Iran, Afganistan, Tajikstan Nowrooz is celebrated. Here in Iran a couple of weeks kids won’t go to school, families party and meet the rest of friends and relatives. It has traditions going with the occasion.
Meeting relatives might not be that pleasing even though they are nice people, because that will be the only time you will see them and the rest of the year are not in touch, so it is not that pleasing to see some one after one year when you don’t feel comfortable with his/her views and comments, which are more or less critisizing. If you met through out the year you would get used to it or feel less intimidated. But perhaps there is a significance in that. We try to be nice to one another and that is hard when you don’t share the same views, politically, religiously, socially, emotionally, but you practice communicating with people who are close enough to critisize you and far enough not to get exposed to the essence of your thoughts, which you cannot intyroduce in two hours time. So, a pracice to take one another the way we are, becuase we are temporarily invited to the party of of life and any moment a person might come to the middle of the party and say, ” Sorry, the party is over”. Meanwhile it is worthwile to enjoy and make it worthwhile

By: R E Konrad

R E Konrad — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 04:34:30 +0000

Wow, what a window on the world! I live in East Tennessee, a conservative Christian area, sometimes refered to as the ‘Bible Belt”. I knew what Hannakah was, as some of my friends and even relatives celebrate it (my brother married a jewish girl), but I’d never heard of Eid ul Adha, or Yalda before and had no idea they existed or what they meant. Now I wonder at what plan by whom causes all these different events, celebrated by different religions, to take place so closely together….and how it is that we are so simular in our in-family reactions to them. Reading some of these comments actually had me laughing out loud. (my dog thinks I’m nuts, but still adores me).
Like others of you, my family is scattered…..from Hawaii to Michigan, to Mississippi, to Tennessee, to Arizona. I miss some of it and certainly don’t miss some of it. Christmas is supposed to be about Christ’s birth, and that’s what I celebrate.

By: Tor (Norway)

Tor (Norway) — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 02:20:49 +0000

Esra’a Wrote:

We also don’t celebrate Christmas, we’re not half as festive with our Eids. Maybe for some people here it feels the same, but not to me personally.

I’ve been meaning to ask, what do you do this time of year, I know you have something, but I’m not sure what it involves. The nature of our Christmas is pretty much known the world over. Also, do you have some other annual celebration that eclipses it?

Esra’a wrote:

That’s kind of what I have to deal with. So I don’t know what exactly I am “missing out” on. I couldn’t be happy at this time even if I faked it.

It sounds like you are missing out on an extended family really, or rather one worth spending time with. What you describe really does sound miserable. On the upside, I think you just made me appreciate mine that much more.

And I bet whatever you’re studying knocks the socks off literature.

Murad (Kuwait) Wrote:

my family is scattered all over the place

Mine is pretty scattered as well, and the circle of friends I grew up with is completely scattered, half of them across the country and, studying abroad being very popular, half of them across the continent and beyond. That’s pretty much what christmas is to me these days, the time of year when everyone simultaneously unscatters, if only for a few weeks. As a kid Christmas was all about the gifts to me, now they barely even register anymore.

By: Murad (Kuwait)

Murad (Kuwait) — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 13:48:06 +0000

I am just like Mohammed, my family is scattered all over the place. I moved out of my family’s house this past summer so in Eid I just go there to have lunch with them and that’s about it, there is nothing significantly different. Like Esra’a, I also wish Eid was more festive. Once upon a time, it used to be. But not so much anymore, even the kids get bored out of their skull. It’s different from one family to the other, though. You will still find families who celebrate as best and as openly as they can… probably not most.