# Survey: Christmas and Religion



## Daniel Wu (Jan 5, 2012)

Hey guys! For one of my classes, I have to write a research paper on Christmas. I need more primary research data so if anyone would be willing to spend 4 or 5 minutes to fill out a survey, that would help me a lot. Thanks!

Survey link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/78WFP5J


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## chris w (Jan 5, 2012)

completed, post the paper here after you've finished it?


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## insane569 (Jan 5, 2012)

Done.
Would like to see the final outcome.


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## Yuxuibbs (Jan 6, 2012)

I would do the survey but I don't know what religion I am :fp . I go to youth group at a christian church but I don't know what sect and I'm not sure if I believe in God. I live by Gibbs' rules.


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## collinbxyz (Jan 6, 2012)

Atheist 12 year old who celebrates Christmas.

Submitted.


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## Specs112 (Jan 6, 2012)

Entire family is atheist but celebrated just because, went most of my life without knowing it was supposed to be religious.

Submitted.


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## emolover (Jan 6, 2012)

Atheist 16 year old that celebrates christmas.

Can you post the results when the survey has enough data.


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## HelpCube (Jan 6, 2012)

14 year old Roman Catholic who celebrates christmas. 

Hope to see the results, and it sounds like an awesome paper  Wish we got to do stuff like that in our school. And I go to a catholic school XD.


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## Kirjava (Jan 6, 2012)

Religion spoils Christmas.


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## The Bloody Talon (Jan 6, 2012)

25 yrs old
Roman Catholic
celebrates Christmas


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## PandaCuber (Jan 6, 2012)

Done.


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## Specs112 (Jan 6, 2012)

Kirjava said:


> Religion spoils Christmas.


 
lol religion is lol


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## Cheese11 (Jan 6, 2012)

15 year old Evangelical Christian. Yes I celebrate Christmas (My birthday is on the 25th lol).

Submitted.



Kirjava said:


> Religion spoils Christmas.


 
Religion is the main part of Christmas...


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## Specs112 (Jan 6, 2012)

Cheese11 said:


> Religion is the main part of Christmas...


 
Stimulating the economy by buying cheap imported Chinese crap that you can't afford to give to people who don't want or need it is the main part of Christmas.


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## Kirjava (Jan 6, 2012)

Cheese11 said:


> Religion is the main part of Christmas...


 
Only for christians.


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## aronpm (Jan 6, 2012)

Cheese11 said:


> Religion is the main part of Christmas...


 
Being with family is the main part of Christmas (for everyone that isn't religious)


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## MalusDB (Jan 6, 2012)

Kirjava said:


> Religion spoils Christmas.


 Not mine.

Assuming you are interested in peoples opinions on the matter since you are doing this research, here's my two cents. Feel free to ignore 

I'm not well read on the history of the gift giving phenomenon that occurs at that time of year, or why it coincides with Christmas, but what we really have are two different occurrences in tandem erroneously being called the same thing. The very act of coupling them together takes away from the religious aspect of that time of year. Personally I'm an agnostic atheist, but I think it's a bit sad that an important religious event should be diluted by such mundane things as a world wide commercial orgy (inb4 "CHRISTMAS ISN'T UBIQUITOUS HURR DURR" you know what I mean). Its nice to have an event that brings family and friends together in a moment of appreciation, but I think that the exclusivity of the religious and family/commercial/derp aspect is really a moot point.


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## Godmil (Jan 6, 2012)

MalusDB said:


> , but what we really have are two different occurrences in tandem erroneously being called the same thing.


Only two? I can think of at least four


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## cuberkid10 (Jan 6, 2012)

15, Christian-Agnostic (Believe in Jesus and all that, but some stuff I don't believe at all). Celebrate Christmas.


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## Specs112 (Jan 6, 2012)

Did you read the part of his post that said "for everyone that isn't religious"?

Because that's the part that makes your argument invalid.


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## The Bloody Talon (Jan 6, 2012)

yeah, read it after i post. sorry.


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## mdolszak (Jan 6, 2012)

15-year-old Roman Catholic; I celebrate Christmas.


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## thackernerd (Jan 6, 2012)

12 year old christian who celebrates Christmas.


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## Stefan (Jan 6, 2012)

Why is there a star in front of question 3? Why do you require a religion?


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## Muesli (Jan 6, 2012)

I celebrate the "Lets get drunk and eat too much and give gifts to each other just because it's fun and the weather fricking miserable in winter so we all need a break" festival.

That's all it ever has been for me.


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## chrissyD (Jan 6, 2012)

17 years old
athiest 
Don't celebrate Christmas. Why waste money?


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## Stefan (Jan 6, 2012)

chrissyD said:


> Don't celebrate Christmas. Why waste money?


 
So, you never celebrate anything?


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## chrissyD (Jan 6, 2012)

Stefan said:


> So, you never celebrate anything?


 
Nope.


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## d4m4s74 (Jan 6, 2012)

I celebrate holiday, which is really just christmas combined with an answer to "you're an atheist, why do you celebrate christmas" question that doesn't require a five minute explanation they don't believe anyway (christmas was originally a pagan festival, you stole it from them, that's where the tree is from, christ wasn't even born in december, that kind of things).
I mean, it's much easier to say "I don't, I celebrate a different holiday which coincidentally falls around the same date, just like Hanukkah, Kwanzaa,etc.


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## Specs112 (Jan 6, 2012)

d4m4s74 said:


> I celebrate holiday, which is really just christmas combined with an answer to "you're an atheist, why do you celebrate christmas" question that doesn't require a five minute explanation they don't believe anyway (christmas was originally a pagan festival, you stole it from them, that's where the tree is from, christ wasn't even born in december, that kind of things).
> I mean, it's much easier to say "I don't, I celebrate a different holiday which coincidentally falls around the same date, just like Hanukkah, Kwanzaa,etc.


 
Festivus.


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## Stefan (Jan 6, 2012)

chrissyD said:


> Nope.



Well, I'd say you're odd and that most people do celebrate lots of stuff. Holidays, anniversaries, they or "their team" achieving/winning something...

Anyway, the point and the answer to your question is that it's *not *a waste of money if you get something for it that's worth it for you.


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## hic2482w (Jan 6, 2012)

13 year old atheist who celebrates christmas.


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## DarthCuber (Jan 6, 2012)

14 year old anti-theist who celebrates Christmas. 

Only reason I've written it this way is because of your post.
I'm sorry if it sounded offending in any way.


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## RyanO (Jan 6, 2012)

The last question was hard for me to answer. I think commercialization and religion both take away from Christmas, but there wasn't an option for that.


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## AgentKuo (Jan 6, 2012)

Why does the survey ask gender? And why isn't "other" an option? (just wondering)

I finished the survey.


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## cubersmith (Jan 6, 2012)

aronpm said:


> Being with family is the main part of Christmas


 
That's your opinion. Christmas means different things to different people


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## Cheese11 (Jan 7, 2012)

Kirjava said:


> Only for christians.


 
Noooo, if we didn't have religion, we wouldn't have Christmas.


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## Cheese11 (Jan 7, 2012)

Sahid Velji said:


> True, but for me, Christmas is just a waste of money in general, people waste so much money buying those trees and then not to forget about the lights. Some people just leave those lights on throughout the whole day for the whole Christmas season wasting so much electricity. Pointless, just my opinion though, don't get offended.


 
No I'm not offended. In fact, I have a lot of respect for non-Christians that don't celebrate Christmas.


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## TheMachanga (Jan 7, 2012)

15 y/o Roman Catholic, celebrates Christmas.


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## Daniel Wu (Jan 9, 2012)

Thanks to everyone that has responded so far. Much appreciated.  I'm not sure exactly where I'm going from here as far as the paper (as my English teacher wants things done a specific way). Interesting results so far though.


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## Kirjava (Jan 9, 2012)

Cheese11 said:


> Noooo, if we didn't have religion, we wouldn't have Christmas.


 
And everyone would celebrate some other holiday for the winter solstice. 

Christianity made have a hand in creating christmas, but a large aspect of christmas is now non-religious.


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## Cheese11 (Jan 9, 2012)

Kirjava said:


> And everyone would celebrate some other holiday for the winter solstice.
> 
> Christianity made have a hand in creating christmas, but a large aspect of christmas is now non-religious.


 
But Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.


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## E3cubestore (Jan 9, 2012)

Cheese11 said:


> But Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.



I agree cheese11 as I am a Christian.

However, you can celebrate whatever you want on Dec 25th, and many people choose to celebrate nothing with a fun but essentially meaningless exchange of gifts, gluttonous meal, wasteful expenditure of electricity, time off from work, fun with friends and family, and just sort of a feel-good time of year.

There's nothing wrong with all of that IMO, all of these things have their place and the celebration of Christmas by non Christians is simply a fun and sometimes debt-inducing tradition.

I don't hold it against anyone for celebrating Christmas even if they don't celebrate Christ coming to earth, however I get a little PO'ed when people call it Xmas, (I mean seriously guys, give Christians some credit-you wouldn't have Christmas otherwise) 

As for me personally, I enjoy a lot of the commercial and social aspects of Christmas, but since the day holds deep symbolism to me, it means more to me than I'm sure it does to those who don't celebrate the religious part of Christmas.


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## Cube-Fu (Jan 9, 2012)

I celebrate the mid-winter; for me it's a time of sharing foods, so you can have a balanced diet, at the hardest time of year. And it's a good time to meet women, who can help keep the cold out.


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## Godmil (Jan 9, 2012)

E3cubestore said:


> ...I get a little PO'ed when people call it Xmas, (I mean seriously guys, give Christians some credit-you wouldn't have Christmas otherwise)



Maybe you should read up a little on where 'Xmas' comes from.


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## E3cubestore (Jan 9, 2012)

I am aware of the different arguments for the origins of Christmas and I know that Dec 25th was a pagan holiday, so the Catholic church thought it was a clever idea to make it unpagan (a silly tradition that has confused many people about several Christian holidays throughout the centuries) 

The truth is non Christians celebration of Christmas stems from the Christian celebration on dec 25th, not the original pagan one


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## Godmil (Jan 9, 2012)

No I'm meaning that X is an abbreviation for Christ (from the Greek), it's been used for more than a thousand years, and long before the term 'Xmas'. So your objection to the use of 'Xmas' is either a misunderstanding of what it means... or you really hate abbreviations.


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## E3cubestore (Jan 9, 2012)

I wasn't aware that's what you were thinking, and you are right!

I remember hearing that once, but you just reminded me.

Even though what you are saying is true, that is not the motivation for many people substituting Christmas with "Xmas" or "holidays", do you understand now?

Sorry for incorrectly guessing your meaning when you disagreed with me, clarify what you mean next time


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## Kirjava (Jan 9, 2012)

Cheese11 said:


> But Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.


 
For christians.


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## PandaCuber (Jan 9, 2012)

"But Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ." To whoever said this.

Since the Bible gives no actual date for Christ's birth, it is a topic that has been left to interpretation and debate. Early Christians did not bother to attempt to pinpoint the date of his birth because they were more interested in deaths and feast days at that time.

By the fourth century, however, church leaders decided that they needed a Christian celebration to compete with the solstice celebrations of nonbelievers. They settled on December 25th and celebrated the first Feast of the Nativity in Rome in 336 AD. This directly challenged the preexisting celebration of the birth of the Cult of Mithras's infant god of light!

Nevertheless, taking a closer look at the Bible's text, we realize that Luke 2:8's "shepherds keeping watch over their flock by night" can mean only one thing - Jesus' birth had to have occurred in the spring! This is because shepherds would only watch their flocks both day and night during the lambing season.


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## Nestor (Jan 9, 2012)

33 years old atheist (although I prefer to be labeled as Secular Humanist) that celebrates Christmas for cultural reasons only.


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## E3cubestore (Jan 9, 2012)

Yes it is common knowledge that Christmas is not the actual day Christ was born.

However, that doesn't mean it isn't a celebration of that event.

So your information is incorrect but it doesn't challenge the claim you were attempting to challenge.


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## PandaCuber (Jan 9, 2012)

"Christans celebrate December 25th, Christmas, as Jesus' birthday. ....
In accordance with Christianity and Catholism...Christmas day is celebrated as it is the birth and the birthday of Jesus christ, the son of God.
However it is also said that this day may not have been Jesus Christ's actual birthday..and may have been chosen to correspond with either exactly nine months after some early christians believe jesus had been conceived."


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## E3cubestore (Jan 9, 2012)

This is not true, no one really believes that dec 25th is the day of Christ's birth.

It is accepted that there will mostl likely never be a way to know.

However, the event happened so it's not like the event can't be celebrated because we don't know exactly what day it is.

On dec 25th Christians celebrate the birth of Christ in full realization that dec 25th is not a likely date for the actual event.


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## AgentKuo (Jan 10, 2012)

The only reson Christmas is celebrated on Dec. 25, and in Dec. in genereal for that matter is because of the Roman holiday, Saturnalia (Winter Solstice), the Norwegian sacrifice day, Dísablót and the Germanic holiday, Yule (and probably a bunch of other days). Christians at the time wanted a holiday that they could also celebrate in the winter, and they wanted it to celebrate something significant to their beliefs. The Pagan's celebrated their sun god. The Christians took the idea of the "sun" and applied it to Jesus, the son of God. And thus, Christmas came about. (if I remember correctly)

It has been said that Jesus' actual birth was approximately 9 months earlier (sometime around March or April).


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## Thompson (Jan 10, 2012)

15 years old Rubik's cube solver that enjoys holidays


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## insane569 (Jan 11, 2012)

The reason they celebrate it on the 25 is because everyday before that day gets shorter and shorter(daylight). And for 3 days it stays at its shortest. on the third day it rises and the days get longer. Like the so called resurrection of christ.
Zeitgeist? Anyone?


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## cmhardw (Jan 11, 2012)

Please keep discussion in this thread relevant to the survey.


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## Rpotts (Jan 11, 2012)

One question was sorta difficult, you asked what religion we were, and I had to answer Atheist, which isn't a religion. The next question was how religious you are. I'm strongly atheist, but I had to answer not religious, which may give the opposite indication that I have.


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## Hershey (Jan 11, 2012)

Rpotts said:


> One question was sorta difficult, you asked what religion we were, and I had to answer Atheist, which isn't a religion. The next question was how religious you are. I'm strongly atheist, but I had to answer not religious, which may give the opposite indication that I have.


 
I just said "No religion" and "strongly not religious" (whatever the second one was).


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## David Zemdegs (Jan 11, 2012)

Ive often wondered how many do the xmas thing on the night of the 24th. Thats when we do the dinner and prezzy thing. A european sort of tradition I think...


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## thackernerd (Jan 11, 2012)

fazdad said:


> Ive often wondered how many do the xmas thing on the night of the 24th. Thats when we do the dinner and prezzy thing. A european sort of tradition I think...


 
What my family usually does is we go over to my dad's side of the family for the 24th, and then we go over to my moms side for the 25th.

Edit: We can do this because we all live in the same town.


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## Nestor (Jan 14, 2012)

Results of the poll?


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