As the city prepares for the annual tree-lighting ceremony at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Century II’s Kennedy Plaza, it’s hard not to notice how blessedly little fuss there’s been locally so far this year — at least comparatively — over the so-called war on Christmas. Maybe a truce was quietly signed somewhere last winter. The city’s event is called both “A Night With Santa†and “The Mayor’s Christmas Tree Lighting,†which properly leaves no doubt about what holiday is being celebrated. Since hearing some complaints in 2004 about what was then called “the community tree,†the city has called the tree what it is and has been since 1914. Those attending the event Wednesday should bring canned food items for the United Way of the Plains — the best of all possible ways to demonstrate the Christmas spirit.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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53 Comments
What, did someone call a truce on the War On Christmas, and O’reilly forgot to tell us!
No, I did.
Merry Christmas.
I am pleased the city is honoring the traditions of my pagan German ancestors.
JR
Knock it off. The city is into Christmas, Santa Clause and all the good will and smiles on children’s faces.
It’s the best of us.
Actually, I call it ‘Commerce Day.’ But it doesn’t have to be that way, you know.
Merry Christmas to you too Ed.
And, while I might feel better if someone stuffed O’Reilly into a steamer trunk, Merry Christmas to him, too!
I don’t care what they call it.
Hey if ya gotta worship something or make it the center of attention there’s worse choices to make than a tree. Very little anybody can find bad or wrong about trees.
Ed – look up the history and symbolism of the tree. And why the Old Testament says it is a ‘no-no’
Bah Humbug…..
Signed,Dick Cheney
Rage, Did you let him out? I thought I snapped that lock…
“Ed – look up the history and symbolism of the tree. And why the Old Testament says it is a ‘no-no’
Posted by: Ben | December 04, 2007 at 02:41 PM”
I don’t need to do that. I’m good with the children smiling…
And I’ll trade that for history and symbolism any day.
Oh, And a very Merry Christmas to you and yours Rage…
I will add a Merry Christmas to all. However, I also have room in my universe to wish others a happy holiday season – including Hannukah and Solstice.
My boys have had a lot of fun decorating our tree.
It ain’t Xmas, until they put up a nativity scene!
Phantom – ours went up right after Thanksgiving according to tradition.
don’t forget Kwaanza Ben. : )
Happy Hannukah, Kwaanza and Solstice to everyone.
Merry Christmas to all!
Merry Festivus!
Not being religious { there is a difference } I still like the Nativity Scene, as it marks the beginning of being civilized to me.
Besides, it’s cute.
It is a Christmas tree. That is all it is and all it ever will be. It is not a “holiday” tree, a “yule” tree, a “winter” tree, a “Kwanza” tree or a “community” tree.
“”"don’t forget Kwaanza Ben. : )
Happy Hannukah, Kwaanza and Solstice to everyone.
Merry Christmas to all! “”"
Why not forget Kawaanza. It is a phony made up holiday by black separtist types who, to me are not any better then white apartheid lovers. It was made up in the 1960s as I recall because the black militants felt that a “white Christmas” was somehow a racist thing although the term “white Christmas” refers to the desire for snow on Christmas and has nothing to do with race. This is a holiday for all people to enjoy whether or not they are Christians. It is supposed to be a holiday of love, giving, family and of course fun. I think those things pretty much cross all religions. I have even seen Muslims smile a time or two!
Don’t forget to put on Mannheim Steamroller to listen to! ;)
Kansas, you got it.
Christmas is about Christmas, not about other holidays, just Christmas. The same way that Thanksgiving is about Thanksgiving. Turkey or Ham or both { mostly both }.
Yea, Christmas is pretty irresitable to non-Christians as well. You could say thats the best recruiting tool the Christian religion has when you have Santa Claus to back up Jesus. I celebrate it, my parents were Christians, but I’m not, I still celebrate it out of tradition though. I think the commercialization of Christmas has helped it as much as it hurts it. Alot of the American style Christmas, like Bing Crosby and Coca-cola Christmas bottles, and things of that sort, are good things commercialization has brought to Christmas, while trampling over people for an X-box 360 is one of the down sides of it, and the generally impatient and stressed out people scurrying about town for presents is a down side as well in my eyes. I’m not Christian, but I’m not offended by Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays, they both work for me, hell I still use Jesus’ name in vain once in awhile still and I’m not religious, tough habits are hard to break from your youth.
I love the smell of Christmas trees, if I could have a pine tree, or an evergreen type tree living in my house I would. That would be the best air freshener. Its a good thing they don’t make pine scented mentholatum, I’d be addicted to that stuff.
Nothing like enjoying one’s taxpayer funded shrine to one’s religion while at the same time feeling morally superior to those Muslims, Jews, Ba’ahis etc. that don’t have the political clout to get their holiday publically funded.
The BEST of BOTH worlds!
I like Christmas trees, too. And yes, it is nice that tax dollars go to display a pagan fertility symbol on public property.
I’m hoping for a giant Hindu “lingam” next year . . .
Ya know thinking about it?
I wonder if the whole idea of Santa Clause wasn’t a church thing?
Sorta like Christian training wheels?
Be good or else in a gentler way?
Heh and now Santa is “stealing Jesus’s birthday!”
Ummmm J R — if it wasnt for Jesus’ Birthday, there wouldnt be a St. Nicholaus(Santa Claus)…
My goodness, Pat Herron should go and picket the City Christmas Tree… he is so much against such things!!
The OT isnt talking about”trees” in one’s house, in the way WE use them…
Trees, it might be noted, were used for carving Totems(pagan deities)… Thus making the “carved” tree a “graven image”
Let’s get our ancient mythological history right, at least!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS WICHITA!! WE ALL NEED A LITTLE CHRISTMAS!!
(BTW – Kwanzaa is not a religious holiday – Google it!)
Ahh the joy of the season! To read all the anti-Christian and anti jewish zionist liberals falling all over each other wishing each other a Merry Christmas.
It sends shivers up my spine.
I myself have spent two decades in biblical research and have posted elsewhere on the pagan celebration conversion to the Christmas dogma.
So you can drop the Christian connotation and relegate the holy celebration to the season without the reason – no matter who you are.
Yep even me.
Merry Christmas Chas.
This one’s especially for you:
http://ecard.ashland.edu/index.php?ecardYear=2004adm
There’s a war on Christmas? Who exactly is fighting in this war?
Awwwwww Chas.! I was being nice. I posted without reading previous posts. I missed your continued insult against me. What has it been? Five days, six? Since I last posted the truth about December 25th?
And again, no where in my post of christian and orientalism facts of the period of Christ – did I say I was against Christmas. Nor did I say I was NOT a Christian.(That would be tough being a born again sorta guy like I am.)
At any rate, the celebration of Jesus Christ, if you are really interested in the TRUTH – is not his birth. But rather his re-birth. What God accomplished when his only begotten son was crucified, dead for three days, and then got up!
That’s it! That’s the real significance of Christ- mas.
Not his birth. But that he got up again! On this, all the Word hangs. From Genisus 1:1 to Revelations 22:21 baby. That would not be the babe Jesus, but Jesus the main man after he got up the Christ!
The grace and point for all who followed is hidden in Romans 10:9-10 maverick! That’d be it man.
Tinsel your trees, deck your halls, and look for the red nose of the drunk reindeer! Fa-la-la,all that trash. But none of it is truth. None of it is God’s written or revealed Word. None of it matches the significance of John’s first and second verse. Those are without question – the most significant event in the universe! Because Jesus came to bear witness to it all. From the very beginning. Poof! Big Bang!
So post your Merry XMAS Chas., and enjoy your big month. But it is totally insignificant as far as man’s relationship with Jesus Christ and the Father.
Merry Christmas again!
“What God accomplished when his only begotten son was crucified, dead for three days, and then got up!”
Ahhh, zombie Christ!
You are cute doug. But I already have a dog.
“You are cute doug. But I already have a dog.”
That amounts to animal cruelty doesn’t it?
Ahh the joy of the season! To read all the anti-Christian and anti jewish zionist liberals falling all over each other wishing each other a Merry Christmas. Pat Herron
Is this blog secular? Does religion have a place here? This isn’t a church and isn’t a state, so I’m not sure.
Is it ok to be Christian here?
If so, why would the Libs attack Christians on this blog?
Seems to me if he wasnt BORN, he couldnt have died, and been raised again!! But, thats just one way to see it, I guess…
BTW, Herron, I didnt insult you earlier… I think it would be a real hoot to see you out there protesting against the Christmas Tree going up downtown!!
Might give you a chance to tell all of Wichita why Christmas is such a sacrilege!! I love it when the born again crowd melts down!!
Good night, Good luck, and God bless; whatever you conceive God to be!
Blessings all!
MERRY XRMAS!!!
“Christmas” exists for the same reason that “Satunalia” existed for the ancient Romans.
For those of us in the northern hemisphere, the daylight gets shorter and it’s time for a party.
None of the stories about Jesus’ birth coincide with a mid-winter festival. Shepherds in th fieldss? An astroligical phenomenon that might have been interpreted as a special *star>”
Nah. This is part of the year when those of us in the Northern Hemisphere have, for centuries, needed a party.
So the church came up with Christmas.
Jesus isn’t the “reason for the season.” He came along much later. And “Christmas” came much later.
Go ahead. Have a good time. Give toys to your kids and pretend you’re Santa Claus. Worship the baby Jesus and pretend you’re a wise man. Eat a bunch of food and erect a dead tree in your living room and enjoy the festival. WOrship Bonzo the Sun God and hope against hope He will start showing up longer every day ’til June (when, of course, Bonzo the Sun God will choose to spend less time with you ’til next time).
Believe in the 25th of Decemeber every year or do your best to figure out when, exactly, Honnukah or Easter shows up *this* year. Plant your corn or tomatoes or cabbage when the mone is high, or low, or midway in the sky. I don’t care. It’s *your* cabbage, after all.
There’s no “War on Christmas.” There might be, however, a war on idiocy. I’m not sure who’s winning.
Yo. Umm. What can I say.
Don’t wanna offend no chicken poop Brit what gotterself all tangled up inner moslem underpanties becuz her urchins named somethin wrongish, sorta.
Cain’t we all jist git along?
No. Ain’t gonna happen, you dumb Brit broad. How fricken stoopid can yer be?
“”"Ya know thinking about it?
I wonder if the whole idea of Santa Clause wasn’t a church thing?”"”
Of course it was a church thing! His real name is not Santa Clause but Saint Nicholas. A Saint is usually part of the Cathoilc church. I guess they did it so that the Catholics would feel included in the Christian Christmas holiday. Maybe we should have a St Muhammed or something to include the Muslims.
Geez, Kev!It was the Catholics who kept the Christmas celebration in the New World. The Puritans wanted nothing to do with it. Who can forget that the US Congress used to working on that day, e.g., in 1789. Besides, the US has only declared Christmas as a federal holiday since 1870.
Off on a little tangent here…
Speaking about religious holidays, the Islamic world is soon recreating the Abraham’s sacrifice of his son. I always find it interesting that Quran never mention which son it was, however it has become established to be Ishmael, the son by Hagar. Well, there’s another front in religious debate, Isaac vs. Ishmael.
Maybe I should use the word “re-enacting” instead of “re-creating” in the previous post.
Well, tomorrow is the day of Saint Nicholas, the real Sinterklaas, a.k.a., Santa Claus. Thus tonight, and tomorrow morning, is the best time to give gifts to the one you love, or better yet, to those in dire need. Why wait till Dec. 25th? Save that to celebrate Christ’s entrance to this world! So, kids, leave your shoes by the chimney, or by the front door!
Seems to me if he wasnt BORN, he couldnt have died, and been raised again!! But, thats just one way to see it, I guess… Chas.
Here’s the deal Chas. Do you remember when we used to celebrate Washington and Lincoln’s Birthdays in February? We had two holidays. Then, along came MLK and people wanted a holiday in January for his birth.To compromise with big business, who didn’t want to pay employees for another national holiday off (as well as our government), they decided to “combine” the presidents birthdays into one February holiday, and give MLK his own day in January.
You see, it was not the significance of the birth of either president or ANY president. Rather the significance is in their contribution to our country. MLK is the same – it is not important that he was born, we remember what he ACCOMPLISHED.
Ditto JC. Everyone has a birthday. But only one of us died and got back up three days later.
The real celebration is rebirth. Some call it Easter. But there again we stole that celebration from older customs – and added a bunny wabbit. (unless you have one of those some verse too like your XMAS tree).
Anyway, I am not protesting anything. And I am not “sacrilege”anything.
To tell the TRUTH about the birth of Christ, and the TRUTH about the religious (commercial) celebration and historical accuracy of associated holiday tradtions is NOT a violation of anything sacred.
Speaking the truth about an ancient tradition is not a crime or stealing of something which is consecrated to God.
Render under God what is His. Render unto Rudolph and the merry holiday tradition what is Rudolphs. Roo-ster has the idea and facts posted above too.
Don’t you see it? By separating truthfully, the commerical Christmas Tree and Easter Bunny wabbit – you are not violating the separation of Church and State. So like I said before, “Enjoy it!” Relish it.
Just don’t make it out to be something it is not.
Merry Christmas!
To everyone going to the lighting – BUNDLE UP! Sounds like it will be windy and cold.
Merry Christmas to all!
Pat, I dont care how you slice it, you are avidly trashing all of the “symbols” of Christmas…
(BTW — We were doing “Presidents’ Day” before there was a legal holiday for MLK..)
I have NO IDEA what actual DATE Christ was born… Furthermore, it isnt really relevant!! Shoot, there wasnt even a DECEMBER when Christ was born!! It hadnt been invented yet!! Shall we change that too, to protect your “truth” about Christmas??
The TRUTH about Christmas is quite simple.. It is about symbols!!
Christ, the Prince of Peace… Born at the time of the Pax Romana, one of the greatest periods of world peace in history!
Christ, the Bread of Life, born in the town whose name means Bread of Life!
Christ, the Light of the World, whose birth we “celebrate” in the Darkest Time of the year!!
Christ, the embodiment of Everlasting Life, and so we bring in an Evergreen Tree, as a symbole of Everlasting Life!!
Pat, read the words of the great Christmas Carols… BTW, the Catholics were singing Christmas Carols long before there were any Pilgrims/Puritans and a New World… And, Santa Claus, is a sort of “spanish” pronunciation of Sain Niklaus — just sound it out…
And there is a great contrast in the Saint Nicholas poem as well.. IF you would only take time to think about it, instead of your stupid knee jerk type reaction to the Christmas Celebration!!
How you can constantly type in here that you are not trashing the Christmas celebration, is beyond me… Look, Easter… which you keep crowing about is also a Great Holiday… But even the name Easter is borrowed from the religion of Ishtar…. And there is nothing NEW about a religion based on the theme of a Dying/Rising God… Look to ancient Egypt for that one, as well as others, like Mithraism, and Ishtar, and others…
There is nothing wrong with the way we do Christmas, with the possible exception of the over commercialism.. which I dont like all that much… But what a BETTER WAY to celebrate the Birth of Christ, than to share that Peace of Christmas that passes all understanding!!
See, Pat, the way you bash all of the symbolism of the Season, and label it all PAGAN… well, it makes you sound like one of those Jehovah’s Witness type folks that knock on your door all the time… Or one of those other folks from Worldwide Church of God, and the British Israel movement.. They dont DO Christmas either, or Easter… because they say it’s PAGAN nonsense…
Pat, wake up man/woman… Wake up to all of the wonders and sights and sounds of one of the Greatest Holidays ever, that is celebrated all around the world, in many, and diverse ways!!
So, once again, Pat,
MERRY XRMAS!!!
Everyone has a birthday. But only one of us died and got back up three days later.Posted by: Pat Herron | December 05, 2007 at 08:07 AM
Clairvius Narcisse?
Pat yu are either ignorant, or being purposefully stupid… I posted a long entry regarding the importance, and relevance of symbolism in ANY set of religious beliefs!! And you will NOT change my mind, or 99.9% of the world that celebrates the Christmas season fervently.. You also didnt answer my suggestion that maybe you are a Jehova’s Witness, or a Worldwide Church of God member, or part of the British Israelite movement… all of which share your beliefs about Christmas…
BTW, GOD didnt invent St. Nicholaus… The CHURCH did… based, as you know, on his life as a Bishop in the Medieval years…
Santa Claus is a misinterpretation of his Name… I wont back down on you spurious claims that our symbols have NO place in the celebration of Christmas… And you know why?? Cause you are just plain looking for something to fight about!! So, go fight with yourself… I am not playing your stupid, infantile childish game… Christmas is what Christmas is… It changes lives… it has power to change the world!! LET IT BE!!
AND MERRY XRMAS TO YOU AND YOURS!!
I really like to wait until the very last minute to shop. There is something about the closing hours at the mall that really get my christmas feeling up and running!
Maybe it is that by that time there are only a few desperate souls looking for a gift. Also, the choices are somewhat limited therefore making my decisions that much easier.
Merry Christmas to all
“Christmas is a grand time Chas, as long as you don’t twist the dogma to support God giving us Santa, the tree, or the egg nogg.”– pAT hERRON –
THE ONLY ONE WHO IS TRYING TO TWIST THE SYMBOLS OF CHRISTMAS, IS YOU PAT HERRON… JUST YOU!! THE REST OF US KNOW ALL ABOUT WHAT THE SYMBOLS MEAN, AND WHY WE DO THEM!! AND I ALREADY POSTED ABOVE WHAT THE SYMBOLS MEAN!! SO GO READ THEM, AND SEE WHAT YOU CAN FIND WRONG WITH THAT LIST…
You wont find anything wrong, unless you try to make it wrong!!
I am getting very tired of your drivel…
Who but a wingnut would come up with a “war on Christmas” and fight with people who say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.”
Let’s get back to the real meaning of Christmas and call it “Use your credit card day” and boycott stores that take cash. Now that’s the true meaning of this holiday in the first place.