<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mystery Squid @ Dec 12 2006, 11:08 AM) [snapback]360860[/snapback]</div> ARe you kidding? It's an excuse to decorate.
If you did a poll of homosexuals, i think you'd actually be surprised. Just like heterosexuals, they come from all walks of life, religions, etc. Just because the church doesn't agree with their lifestyle doesn't mean they can't still feel religious. There are many life style choices people make that the church doesn't support. for example, premarital sex. Tons of people, even devote religious individuals, practice it. True, some don't, but that doesn't stop people from getting some on Saturday and praying on Sunday. Of the homosexual individuals I've known well (i can think of 9 off the top of my head, and many more that i don't know very well), I know for a fact that 8 of them decorate (and celebrate) for the Holidays - Some with Christmas trees, some with Menorahs. Do you happen to have numbers on the percent of people (as a whole) or of heterosexuals who celebrate various religions? It's a bit ridiculous to be guesstimating numbers for one subculture without providing numbers to compare those too. what if the percentage of all people is only 50%? would that mean that not having the number be above 50% for heterosexuals means it's low?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MegansPrius @ Dec 12 2006, 10:13 AM) [snapback]360863[/snapback]</div> And those clothes at the mall! Who can resist?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Dragonfly @ Dec 12 2006, 12:52 PM) [snapback]360927[/snapback]</div> It teached us not to get attached to material things, because, look, here's all these new things that are cooler than your old stuff
"What does Christmas have to do with religion?" Everything. It is the central feast day of our true religion - Consumerism, with its vast cathedrals (malls),its high priests (advertisers) and its prophets (ie. profits). There are even money-lenders (Visa, Mastercard).
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jared2 @ Dec 12 2006, 11:11 AM) [snapback]360943[/snapback]</div> Oh please, everyone knows that Visa and Mastercard are the collection plates, where you're "encouraged" to "donate" 50%+ of your income each year...
The gay person I know best is very religious, attending church every sunday and donating thousands/year to the church, but doesn't decorate at all.
The holiday season - regardless of one's personal religion - is the perfect reason to be jolly and gay. But if you're going to be gay at my house, please step outside before lighting up a fag. (and oh please people, if you can't take the linguistic humor then I'll just go ahead and warn myself.) Personally, I'd like to know what percentage of United States citizens who claim to "celebrate" Christmas actually go to church.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer @ Dec, 11:55 AM) [snapback]361045[/snapback]</div> Some of the "Christians" I know only go to church at Christmas and Easter!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MegansPrius @ Dec 12 2006, 07:13 AM) [snapback]360863[/snapback]</div> LOL! <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(eagle33199 @ Dec 12 2006, 07:15 AM) [snapback]360864[/snapback]</div> or. . . praying on Saturday to get some on Sunday! <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer @ Dec 12 2006, 11:55 AM) [snapback]361045[/snapback]</div> That will be the day! Go ahead I double dare ya! :lol: Personally I'd go for the suspension that kind of behavior is just too egregious for a mere warning. Wildkow p.s. Congrats you get a dancing banana!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mystery Squid @ Dec 12 2006, 07:08 AM) [snapback]360860[/snapback]</div> When the typical "celebration" of Christmas is a festival of greed and consumerism, I am of the opinion that only non-Christians celebrate Christmas. But that aside, it's pretty well accepted that GLBTs make up somewhere between 3% and 10% of the population, evenly divided among all racial, ethnic, social, and religious groups. So I'll answer your poll question as follows: The number of homosexuals who celebrate Christmas is exactly the same as the percentage of the overall population that celebrates it. Of course your poll won't answer the question. You'd have to poll homosexuals and ask the question "Do you celebrate Christmas?"
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer @ Dec 12 2006, 12:55 PM) [snapback]361045[/snapback]</div> I take it you mean step out the rear entry? Am I unusual in that I don't care who celebrates what as long as they invite me for the festivities, and that if I choose not to go/participate it means I don't want to be recruited/saved or otherwise encouraged?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Dragonfly @ Dec 12 2006, 11:59 AM) [snapback]361054[/snapback]</div> Hey, I don't even go then! Weddings and funerals are about it for me. And at all the family funerals, I'm on the "entertainment" list so I don't sit in the pews (well, sometimes the front one). Since I was never raised in a church, I never fit into the social structure. I did go "religiously" for about 15 years, but found that you really only hear three or four main themes from the pastor/preacher/teacher. Small churches creep me out because everyone knows you (I like anonymity) and the larger churches are too focused on marketing for me to be really comfortable in them. In my experience, gay people celebrate Christmas at the same rate that heterosexuals do, and it has more to do with their background than it does their sexual orientation. Gay men or women raised in protestant homes are usually celebrating just like the rest of us protestants do, and the Jewish gay people I know celebrate with their families too. Besides which, there are several "gay friendly" denominations that welcome people of all orientations.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(fshagan @ Dec 12 2006, 11:00 PM) [snapback]361373[/snapback]</div> You might find more range of themes if you give the Unitarian Universalist church a try. It's a different kind of church. Instead of telling you what to believe, they tell you you have to think for yourself and make up your own mind. As a result, the range of beliefs within the church is astonishing, from atheists to all the mainstream religions, to generic spiritual, to various kinds of neo-pagan. The only requirement is to respect the beliefs of others, and the inherent worth and dignity of every person.