Christmas Dolls Rejected by Military

[Technosoul]

This guy here in California has a wearhouse full of talking dolls, each is in the image of a famous Biblical person, Moses, Jesus, David, and so forth. When you push the button to make them talk they speak a passage from the Bible.

Example: Moses would say "thou shalt not steal".

The doll maker donated a few hundred of his dolls (new in the boxes) to a toy drive, where they collect new toys to give to poor kids at Christmas. The toy drive is being done by the USA military.

The Talking Jesus dolls were returned to the doll maker because the Military group said they are not appropreit because not all the kids they give toys too are Christians, some might have other religious backgrounds. Along with the Moses dolls, etc.

The toy maker said that he thought the dolls are okay as Christmas gifts because Christmas is all about Jesus and related biblical beliefs. The organization collecting the toys for the military thought it is wrong to force the idea that Christmas is all (only) about the birth of Jesus when giving gifts to disadvantaged children.

Whatcha think, are you a "happy holiday" person or a "Merry CHRSTmas" person.

(I know, we debate this every year, and this is an early start, but what the heck, it's gonna happen anyway -right?)

[phoenix_fire]

Christmas is about the birth of Christ. That is an inescapable fact, even in view of the other things that have been tacked on as more recent additions. I think I might, however, have found such a gift strange as a child.

[Fonceai]

I think those gifts would be more entertaining to me now, as an adult.

I do think it's humorously ironic that the military won't give Christian dolls as Christmas gifts because of the religion thing.

That always irked me... when other kids were so proud to say they were Jewish, but they loved Christmas break.

[Technosoul]

It is true that Saint Nik was a tag on, some say it was a true story that some old guy made toys for tiny kids and passed them out as gifts on Christmas eve in some small village, the idea then got "expanded on". He did it in memory of the three wise men who brought gifts to the babe jesus.

But I do not agree that the original reasons for celebrating the solar event which pagans knew about was a tag on, the time when winter starts to move towards springtime again was an important thing to celebrate in the old days if you were a farmer or sheep herder. At least for them - but when science got the boot they (the Chruch) moved the birthdate for Jesus so that it would be celebrated on the same day as people celebrated the solar event. Not sure what different kinds of cultural events took place on New Years it was no doubt a long celebration lasting through the whole month. In Rome it was the day you had to pay your taxes (if you were Jewish). Year end taxes.

So in a manner of speaking it is a celebration the evolved out the invention of the calendar, and other time keeping methodolgies. Oddly Jesus was born at around close to the same day when Joesph had to journey to his home town to pay his taxes, for which reason they could not find a room at the Inn as a lot of people were arriving to pay their taxes.

However Santa was the biggest boon for Christians because if it were not for our materialistic side tracking Christmas day would not have all the attention it now gets as a major holiday. It would have become a tiny celebration done in chruches or at wiccan gatherings without all the hoopla we give it nowadays. But because of our big materialistic Santa version a lot more people end up hearing about the Jesus story, and so Santa was a lucky break for Biblical advocators.

[Morgan_Freeman]

I celebrate Saturnalia.

[Jack]

I can't imagine a Winter Solstice action figure...

[Lotharia]

As an atheist, I think X-mas is the best thing we ever got from the X-tians. Pretty lights, decorations, good food, parties, presents, days off work! I'd guess that about 95% of the holilday observance is unrelated to anything remotely religious.
Thursday is for worshipping Thor, isn't it? :-)

[Osborn F Enready]

I think its GREAT they were turned down.

Toys for Tots doesn't just give gifts to "christian kids", so they shouldn't be handing out propaganda dolls for Christian churches.

[ItsDarts]

I can't imagine a Winter Solstice action figure...

What's wrong with Frosty the Snowman?

[The Fyrdman]

Christmas is a Christian holiday. Just about every Christmas tradition however is pagan, stolen from Saturnalia and Yule celebrations. Just because the Church plagiarised everything around it doesn't mean the whole purpose has shifted for Christians.

On the other hand Christians should accept that today it is a secular holiday for many. This doesn't mean that nativity displays should be erected (I'm a heathen and I always have a nativity set for sakes of family tradition) or shows put on. I just think they should accept that it has a very different meaning for many and it's not a bad thing.

As for the toys, they should be handed out because they are crap toys. I don't care how poor I was as a kid, I would have never been happy with a Jesus or Moses doll.

[phoenix_fire]

Christmas is a Christian holiday. Saturnalia is a pagan holiday. If you want to celebrate a pagan holiday, call it what it is. Don't call it Christmas.

[Lotharia]

Christmas is a Christian holiday. Saturnalia is a pagan holiday. If you want to celebrate a pagan holiday, call it what it is. Don't call it Christmas.

Why not? I call the day after Wednesday "Thursday" (Thor's Day) but I know Thor is fictional. I can celebrate Christmas even though it's also based on a different fictional god. What it's called has become quite irrelevant.