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turtlespeed

Either you do or you don't . . .

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Decorating a tree with people you love, that love you...



That is something my friends and I will be doing on Thanksgiving. I have invited several friends over who ... like me have no family close by. I have a large Blue Spruce tree in my front yard that the previous owners bought as a live Christmas tree about 10 years ago, and we will be stringing up lights on it and the house. We will be a diverse group who hail from varying religious backgrounds. To be honest I do not care what their beliefs might be... if they go to church... if they are athiests. As long as they are good people.. who treat others well in this life.. they have the CHOICE of how they come to God or not. That is what the FIRST AMENDMENT is supposed to be about.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Ultimately I believe god gave mankind the right to CHOOSE in this lifetime... to believe or not to believe. Mankind does NOT have the right to judge one another.. only god has that right and to usurp it could be detrimental to how those judgemental types get to spend THEIR eternity.

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In the end, it's about sociology. I like the way the church gives structure to our families and our social life. My kids like it too.




Edit: Picture: This is more about what the church means than most everything else; the kids you hang out with, and their families.

:)


Nope. Can't argue with that. Those are very good things.
“There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

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Decorating a tree with people you love, that love you...



That is something my friends and I will be doing on Thanksgiving. I have invited several friends over who ... like me have no family close by. I have a large Blue Spruce tree in my front yard that the previous owners bought as a live Christmas tree about 10 years ago, and we will be stringing up lights on it and the house. We will be a diverse group who hail from varying religious backgrounds.



Must be good friends indeed if they're willing to come hang your christmas lights for ya...lol

(Just kiddin'. Sounds like a great time!)
“There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

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yeah... And I am cooking... 2 turkeys.. one traditional in the over... and the other in my smoker.. and those who have tasted some of the smoked salmon that I did out at the DZ ... KNOW I can make some kick ass smoked goodies in that big ole Texas Smoker I have. Its gonna be a feast. I do KNOW how to cook:)

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Why Christmas sucks:
They close the DZ.
They play whiny music on the radio.
All the retards drink as much alcohol as possible and play psycho bumpers cars to see who can live through a high speed accident.
Every body is trying to sell you some junk at discount.

Dave
D830
http://www.skydiving.co.za

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Yeah man, I don't celebrate Christmas as much as I endure it.

Expectations of family members blah blah.

I prefer a nice Saturday family dinner instead - all the "we r happy fam e lee" pretense BS removed.

Christmas. Was cool when I was a kid, but nowadays I go "oh no, is it that time of the year again? ALREADY?".



Santa Von GrossenArsch
I only come in one flavour
ohwaitthatcanbemisunderst

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Too many people don't know that chuch is more about community, and less about world domination. Not to say there's anything wrong with dominating the world with community...



That was part of my father's argument all of these years. He said church was mostly about socialization, not about the sermons that the followers hear. He pointed out that there's only 10 Commandments...if the people who go to church for many years haven't caught onto it by now, they ain't gonna. :P He has a very dry sense of humor, but he does make a good point.

He also has more integrity and higher morals and values that anyone I know. I fail to live up to his standards all the time! So, it's not like we lacked in any moral lessons growning up, it was all about the orgazined religion part that he was against. We also had our own group that the whole family hung out with, the swim team. It was a year round program that spanned 16 years of involvement between us 3 kids. It truly was our wholesome, family community while growing up.
She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

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That's what we have Thanksgiving for.



Pretty much why that's my favorite holiday. There's no pressure to buy presents, or go to church, or do anything except get together and enjoy each other's company while stuffing yourself silly.

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Christmas was started as the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.



Actually, it was started as the celebration of the winter solstice by pagans. The date of Dec. 25th was assigned during the council of Nicea in 325AD, coincidentally (not) that date was already used to celebrate the birth of Sol, the sun god. December 25 is the birth day of Tammuz, the son of Semiramis, and the rebirth of Nimrod.

Christmas trees: The ancient legend is that a green tree sprang up on Brumalia, with the stump symbolizing Nimrod (Baal) and the green tree Tammuz.

The northern Europeans worshiped the same gods from ancient Babylon, but under the name Odin. The evergreen fir tree was sacred to Odin and people decorated it during the festival of Saturnalia. Legend has it that Odin would bestow yuletide gifts to those who approached the sacred fir tree on Brumalia. The giving of presents on December 25 happened long before Rome arbitrarily chose December 25 as the supposed birth day of Jesus. What about sparkly spherical balls hung on the evergreen tree to symbolize the sun?

Mistetoe: It is from ancient Babylon, Rome, northern European pagan practices, and from the Druids of England and Ireland. The mistletoe is thought to give magical healing powers to pagan practitioners on December 25.

That's the start of Christmas.

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I learned all that stuff from my ex who became a Jehovahs Witness after we got married. The JWs could quote you a reason for every holiday and why you shouldn't enjoy anything. They also didn't do anything else social because of "bad associations". They made themselves and all around them miserable. No one cared what their reasons were.

Holidays are for fellowship and being among friends, no matter the "real" reason. I don't care what religion people are, if they don't support friendship, they suck.

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Holidays are for fellowship and being among friends, no matter the "real" reason. I don't care what religion people are, if they don't support friendship, they suck.



Hey, I agree with that. Just pointing out that to claim the holiday exists for the express purpose of worshipping Jesus is false. It exists because it is human nature to want to occasionally gather and celebrate, no matter the reason.

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