Quote:
Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate
Sure you did. When we discussed the issue last year and the vast majority of posters here said that Santa puts gifts under the *CHRIST*mas tree because the three wise men gave gifts to Jesus.
Jewish children typically do not have Santa come to their houses.
Muslim children typically do not have Santa come to their houses.
As an athiest, I would have have my children believe in Santa Clause.
To believe that the tradition of Santa Claus is not intertwined with Christianity is assinine.
My point to that section, which is why I don't think this off topic, was that during that debate people were just talking about Santa being non-inclusive of people of other faiths. As if those without faith didn't belong in the conversation at all. The athiests are always forgotten. And when we do speak out about things like "God" being in the national anthem, we get shouted down.
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As an atheist I can say I have never felt left out or forgotten.
I would say that Santa, particularly in NA, is as much if not more intertwined with our culture rather than religion. There are numerous people/families that celebrate Christmas without any religious conotations or activities. Christmas doesn't have to be about the birth of Jesus, Three Kings etc. It can be a time to celebrate family, charity or just the greed of recieving presents.
Those muslim, jewish and atheist kids were not going to have to sit on Jesus' lap and worship him as the messiah. They had the opportunity to sit on the fat guy in the offices lap and pretend that they can tell him what they would like.
Not sure about this Christmas party specifically, but at the ones I have been at there have been fun activities for the kids that did not involve religion, decent food and entertainment for adults and are a way to thank employees and let them have a little fun. I have yet to attend or hear of any Christmas party that involved the conversion or ostracising of people from different faiths.