Jesus gradually being phased out of American society?

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Is Jesus Christ gradually being replaced by Santa Claus in the USA? On Thanksgiving Day there is a very large parade (and quite wonderful in its own way) in New York City which ends with an appearance by Santa Claus. The theme is Believe and if you believe (have strong enough faith) then, Santa is real. It looks as if the idea that Christmas is Jesus's 2010th birthday is completely/almost completely overlooked today. Should the term Christmas Day be changed to Santa Claus Day? Should Thanksgiving Day be clarified as the day on which Santa Claus delivers turkey dinners to many homes and diners are expected to get a few hours rest prior to getting up at 2 am in the morning to start shopping at 3 am on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) for Christmas present bargains? Your insights into modern American capitalism? Will a future step be changing Santa Claus into a Chinese Santa based on all the Christmas items today which are manufactured in China/the Pacific Rim?

Well, the Thanksgiving Day Parade is held by Macy's so it's only natural that Santa rules since he's the God the retailers pray to. This has been the case since the parade's first run. Nothing new.

There's a rather wacky guy known as Reverend Billy and his Church of Life After Shopping. He's been in a couple of films including What Would Jesus Buy (2007) by Morgan Spurlock. I found it interesting.

"Gradually" ??! !??

Of course, you have to define "American society".

Are we talking about the trimmings, or the tree?

The "elements" which the normal associates with Christmas are the trimmings, not the essence.

I was born on March 17th. I tend to get birthday cards with shamrocks. That has NOTHING to do with what is commemorated in our family March 17th.

I'll take Santa any day over Jesus.

Jesus is being phased out?

Lol

Seriously, the Christian faith is doing very well for itself in this country. Jesus isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Now as for Santa overtaking Jesus... That's captialism for you. Jesus just isn't profitable.

there is no jesus having birthday at christmas.

it's all made up.

juletiden was the norse tradition of the vikings. the christians didn't like that. so they made up that jesus was born... and the foolish believers accepted that.

It's because people hate Christians because they think all Christians are like Pat Robertson and Fred Phelps.

I'm Buddhist and I don't hate Christians and I have reason to, believe me. But no, I know some very kind loving Christians. My mother's Christian and I love her dearly.

I'm not opposed to Christians or Christianity, but some misguided parents and politicians actively try to sabotage the science education of American children in public schools based not on any actual evidence but instead on their interpretation of the book of Genesis. That really ticks me off because I love truth and I hate lies. Also, dumbing down our children will not help our country in an ever more competitive global economy nor will it help humanity in general.

MOST mainstream Christian denominations accept the fact evolution happens, or at least say that whether or not it happens does not threaten their faith. The few that are Biblical literalists though are very vocal. Augustine wrote a very long time ago about the dangers of taking Genesis literally, that if Christians make ignorant statements about the natural world that nonbelievers can easily see are false, that it makes Christians and Christianity look stupid and may turn people away from Christ. I agree with Augustine on this.

The fact that humans share common ancestry with chimpanzees and other living things is quite possibly the most well-proven fact known to modern man. I personally am unaware of any other fact that has as much evidence of so many different types all clearly showing it happened. Evolution is just as much a fact of nature as gravity is, and we actually know more about the mechanisms of evolution than we do about the mechanisms of gravity. I am highly offended by the quotes taken out of context to imply the opposite of what was meant, the misquotes, the distortions of evidence, the denials that the evidence exists, and the outright LIES told by creationists in their attempts to deny what is real because it conflicts with their interpretation of the Bible.

I was greatly encouraged by the Kitzmiller v. Dover trial, but still amazed that so many otherwise sane adults in this country are so misinformed about evolution. For most of these people, they base their opinion of evolution on the LIES they have been told by sources they trust such as their pastor or so-called Christian web sites such as the Institute for Creation Research or Answers in Genesis. What they deny is not the fact of evolution but a strawman caricature. Many times the evidence these people demand to show evolution happens would actually falsify evolution if it were found. No scientist ever said a cat will give birth to a dog, or that creatures exist with half a leg or half an eye. Such silliness shows great ignorance of what evolution is, how it works, and how much evidence there is.

That so many Americans deny the fact of evolution is just as ridiculous and just as wrong as if they were to insist the earth is flat in spite of all evidence to the contrary. It really is that obvious. I feel like I'm living in the Twilight Zone or the Dark Ages when I encounter people who deny this fact.

The strongest evidence for evolution are the nested hierarchies of many different types of data that all produce the same tree of life. That these hierarchies match is yet another piece of evidence. More and more evidence is being found all the time: whales with legs, dinosaurs with feathers, fossil hominids so transitional that creationists disagree whether a particular species is "fully ape" or "fully human." Some of the most striking evidence is being found in DNA. Human chromosome 2 shows many clear signs of being two ape chromosomes fused together. It is practically a "smoking gun" showing common ancestry with chimpanzees. Endogenous retroviruses are also strong proof of common ancestry; pseudogenes are too, and that's not even mentioning the fossil record which is being added to all the time. Tiktaalik, anyone? Even if we had no fossils at all in the rocks, there is enough evidence of evolution from other sources to show way beyond a reasonable doubt that it happens.

I wrote a song about this in 1991 called Evolution (link) that is sadly still relevant.