awrui wrote:Linguaphile wrote:xBlackHeartx wrote:Americans honestly find it strange how non-Christians often see it as a Christian holiday.
I'm not really sure how to respond to this statement except to say that it hasn't been true in my experience. Also, many Americans
are non-Christians (which is one reason I find this statement especially hard to respond to).
Wait- isn't that country founded by religious colonists and now run by hardcore evangelical old men? In a country where you have so many christian extremists and catholic immigrants I find it hard to believe that it is not known as a religious holiday...
But I find *murican christmas weird generally. What's up with that fat old house invader, stockings and red-deer looking reindeer??? Also that colour coding of red-white-green. Actually, some shops here have started selling items labled as "christmas red".
The people who founded the country were religious, yes, though that was normal at the time. Most of the people who colonized America came to escape persecution from Catholics. This is why the nation has 'freedom of religion'; they wanted the nation to be a place where you could be any religion you wanted. Of course, in practice this just meant any non-Catholic christian. Its often debated today whether or not the founding fathers meant 'freedom of religion' as we see it now, or just 'be any denomination you want'. Also, catholics are considered a minority group here, so they're not exactly common, even if they do exist.
As for who rules the country, yes, we have an evangelical party who currently rules the country. Well, depends on what you count as 'evangelical'. In reality, they're all just corrupt businessmen whose policies are dictated by who gives them the biggest bribes. Also, most of their supporters are either nationalistic or (now-a-days) racist. Yeah, they tend to be Christian, but that's just because its tradition, and they hate the idea of the country changing, regardless of whether its for better or worse.
As for 'nativity' plays in America, I find it surprising Swedes don't actually depict the crucifixion. Of course, here that part just involves some guy, pretending to be Jesus, lying on a cross on the floor, and screaming while another guy (often dressed as a roman soldier) hits the floor with a hammer a few times right next to him. I don't think I've ever seen a play where they actually tied someone to a cross though. I think after that part they just jump ahead to where his tomb is discovered empty. Also, come to think of it, I've never seen a play where they depicted what happened after his resurrection. Essentially, the crucifixion part is the main event. Of course, you have to keep in mind that Americans are kinda desensitized towards violence (as I'm sure everyone can see in the media we put out).