Christmas: Majority of Americans do not view Christmas primarily as a religious holiday - by Eugene Scott

Christmas was a big day for President Trump. His first Christmas as president gave him the opportunity to fulfill a campaign promise —technically
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Trump had promised his supporters — many of whom are upset at the increasing secularization of the Christmas holiday — that they would be able to say “Merry Christmas” again if they elected him.

On Sunday night, Christmas Eve, Trump tweeted: "People are proud to be saying Merry Christmas again. I am proud to have led the charge against the assault of our cherished and beautiful phrase. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!"

Although no American was barred from wishing others a “Merry Christmas” before Trump entered the White House, some of his supporters were frustrated, if not angered, by the number of politicians saying “Happy Holidays” in addition to “Merry Christmas.” President Barack Obama, Trump’s predecessor, wished Americans a “Merry Christmas” multiple times when he was president — and continues that tradition to this day.

But some within Trump’s base, especially the white evangelicals who voted for him in high numbers, are uncomfortable with America increasingly becoming a multifaith nation.

Evangelical leader Franklin Graham told Fox News that it is essential that people know that Christmas is a Christian holiday. “Christmas is really about the birth of Jesus Christ, and that's what we're all celebrating,” he said.

But the likelihood of Americans getting on “the same page” as Cobb and other Trump supporters about the meaning of Christmas is not good.

The majority of Americans do not primarily view Christmas as a religious holiday. According to Pew Research Center polls, only 46 percent of Americans celebrate Christmas as primarily a religious (rather than cultural) holiday, a 5 percent decrease from 2013.

And this doesn’t appear to be changing anytime soon, considering that millennials are even less likely than older adults to include a religious component in their Christmas celebration.

And most Americans recognize this, with a majority of adults — 56 percent — saying the religious aspects of Christmas are less emphasized in society than in years past.

When asked whether Christian symbols such as nativity scenes should be allowed on government property, the percentage of Americans who say such displays should not be allowed is growing — from 20 percent three years ago to 26 percent today.

Although most Americans gladly celebrate Christmas and probably will continue to wish others a “Merry Christmas,” for many Trump supporters, America won’t truly be great again until Christianity regains its central position in this increasingly multifaith and secular society.

“Christmas is all about Christ. I'm so excited that the president isn't afraid to mention the name of Jesus Christ,” he added.

But the data suggests that for many Americans, what would make the nation great is acknowledging the diversity of its citizens' values while allowing them the freedom to celebrate the birth of Christ as they please.

Note EU-Digest: Hopefully the Christian community will keep reminding those of other faiths and Christmas shoppers about, the reason for the holiday season.

Read more: Majority of Americans do not view Christmas primarily as a religious holiday

Almere: NDIC wants your Christmas holidays to become festive "Holy Days"

NDJC right in the center of the Almere Filmwijk

When Sunday arrives in Almere, the Netherlands, one of Europe's most modern, functional and multi-cultural cities, its inhabitants can make a variety of choices,varying from sleeping in, sports, reading - or - attending a Church service and strengthening their relationship with the Creator through the Gospel.

Yes indeed, there is a lot the citizens of Almere can be grateful for.

Grateful that they not only live in a free and democratic Holland, but also that they are blessed to live in a unique modern European city.

Almere: 200.000 inhabitants in 40 years

Almere, situated east of Amsterdam, was created only 40 years ago as part of a huge Dutch Government land-reclamation project, which  eventually also resulted in the birth of a new Dutch Province, called Flevoland.

This project has been a hugely successful venture.  In the past 40 years Almere attracted over 200,000 residents, 14,800 businesses and more are moving in every day.

Almere is now the Netherland`s 7th largest city. and expected to grow to more than 350.000 inhabitants by 2022.

NDIC: a truly International Church with families from 25 Nations

What also makes Almere unique is that 38 % of the population originally came from somewhere else in the world.

Consequently, this also created an urgent demand for an International English language Church, which would be sensitive to the prevailing culture and provide a spiritual home for people from all over the world.

Not only for those living in Almere and the surrounding area, but also for those native Dutch folks, who prefer to worship in English.

This is how and why NDIC was born

The Church opened its doors at the beginning of September 2007 and has steadily grown in the past 9 years  Currently, individuals and families from some 25 nations are usually in attendance each Sunday.

John, Joy and their daughter Sarah Sisk

John and Joy Sisk became pastors at New Day International Church in June of 2016, following the retirement of previous pastors, Melvin and Louise Ho.

For 30 years, the Sisks have served in ministry with one goal: To bring people into a personal relationship with God.

They first served as pastors in the United States for 12 years, and now for 18 years as missionaries abroad.

In the US, they began as children’s and youth pastors, and then became senior pastors.

As missionaries, they have trained pastors and worship leaders in Cambodia, planted and pastored an international church in Taiwan, and directed a Bible college in Micronesia, while interim pastoring an international church.

This coming Christmas season NDIC will hold holiday services on both Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, at their regular time Church service, starting time of 10:30 AM on Sunday2 and everyone is welcome.
   
Christmas Day service program will culminate with a Birthday Cake for Jesus. New Year’s Day is also the regular monthly “Family Sunday”, where parents and children enjoy the entire service together, including a puppet show before the message, and communion at the conclusion of the service.

John and Joy Sisk hope that Your holidays this year can become “Holy Days” at NDIC.

NDIC is located at the Walt Disney Plantsoen 76/78, in the Almere Filmwijk Center, and faces a Vomar supermarket. For additional information check out the NDIC website.

© Almere-Digest

Christmas: celebrating the birthday of my hero - Jesus Christ - by RM

Bethlehem

This morning as I was waking up I remembered a program the other night which focused on people which have influenced history over the years gone by..

I  can't remember them all by name as I write this,  but it was quite a long list. Some they mentioned had stuck to my mind, and I arranged them randomly:  Cleopatra, Wolf Messing, Saud bin Abdul Aziz, Napoleon, Nero, Jeanne d'Arc, Ben Gurion, Hitler, Gandhi, Buddha, Ben Laden, Churchill,  Ataturk, Socrates, Mandela, Saladin, Mother Teresa, Djamila Bouhired, Attila the Hun, Yassar Arafat,  Simon Bolivar, Mao, Samora Machel, etc., etc. 

The makers of this TV program, in order not to step on any sensitive religious toes, however, left out most of the  key "religious figures", who have profoundly impacted history and are even doing so today. 

Among those left out, I really only have one favorite - Jesus Christ, whose birthday we are celebrating every year on this day.. 

He is my hero for several reason. First because I don't consider him "religious" in the sense how we humans qualify religion as such .

Jesus is unique in the sense that his message was only about love -" love your neighbor as yourself" and he never encouraged violence or revenge. Even when he was nailed to the cross by the Romans and Jews he cried out: "God forgive them because they don't know what they are doing".  A message of love which still resonates all around the world.

Yes indeed, among all these people listed , or not, during that TV presentation,  Jesus Christ is on the top of my list.

Merry Christmas and may Peace on Earth become a reality and part of daily life around the globe - also for you in 2016.

EU-Digest 

Holidays and Christmas: Which European countries get the most time off over Christmas? - by George Arnett

Europe is a varied continent with plenty of different Europe has at least one statutory day off in the period between 15 December and 15 January. This includes the majority Islamic countries such as Turkey.

Who gets the most though?

The majority of countries in Europe are Christian, whether that is Catholic, Protestant or Orthodox and bearing that in mind there are four key dates to look for:

1. 25 December - Catholic/Protestant Christmas Day, which is the purported anniversary of the birth of Christ
2. New Year’s Day - in terms of the Gregorian calendar, which every single country gets as a holiday
3. 6 January - Epiphany, when Jesus was supposed to have appeared to the Magi (or three wise men)
4. 7 January - Russian Orthodox Christmas Day

Around that there are several eves and and saints’ days but those four are the bedrock of the holiday season. There are secular days too, usually related to revolutions or new declarations of statehood that happened to fall in this time of year.

Russia, the home of the eastern Orthodox church, has the most days off over the Christmas period of any European country. Every day between New Year and the day after Russian Orthodox Christmas is a holiday, giving them eight off in total.

Read more: Which European countries get the most time off over Christmas? | News | The Guardian

Christmas - the reason for the season: Muslim, Jew And Christian On What Jesus Means To Them - by Antonia Blumberg

Jesus plays a distinct role in each of the Abrahamic faiths. This time of year, when Christians celebrate Christ's nativity, his significance in faith traditions across the world is particularly potent.

Rabbi Jason Miller, Imam Shamsi Ali and Fr. James Martin joined HuffPost Live host Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani to discuss what Jesus means to them.

"As a Muslim I do believe that Jesus Christ is one of the mighty prophets of God," Ali said. "In the Quran, he reminded the Muslims that 'Worship God and obey me' means that if you want to worship God then follow me in worshiping the almighty one, the almighty God."

Ali noted that the one place where Christians and Muslims disagree is over the divinity of Jesus, as Muslims believe Jesus to be among five mighty prophets from God.

In Judaism, Miller noted, devotees typically do not "believe in" Jesus as the messiah but rather see him as historical figure who offered certain wise teachings that resonate for Jews. Miller added that Jews do feel utmost respect for "our Christian brothers and sisters" to whom Jesus' divinity is a central teaching.

Read more: A Muslim, Jew And Christian On What Jesus Means To Them

Sinterklaas: Tensions mount in the Netherlands as UN questions ‘Black Pete’ Christmas tradition - Elisa Criado

It emerged last week that a UN working group is investigating the Dutch custom of white people dressing up as ‘Zwarte Piet’ (Black Pete) as part of their traditional Christmas festivities.

The leader of the UN group, the Jamaican academic Verene Shepherd, has spoken out against the practice on Dutch national television, condemning it as ‘a throw-back to slavery’.

The figure of ‘Zwarte Piet’ is an integral part of the Dutch Christmas tradition. In the Netherlands, children receive gifts on the fifth of December from ‘Sinterklaas’, a version of Saint Nicholas, along with his black slave helpers. These were originally portrayed as scary figures that would beat naughty children with a bunch of twigs and take them away in a sack to Saint Nicholas’ fictional home in Spain.

Today they are mainly characterised as the clown, acrobat, joker and entertainer. Although the custom is clearly linked to slavery and colonial times, most children are currently told that Black Pete gets his colour from the soot in the chimneys when he delivers their presents.

A few weeks before the culmination of festivities on the fifth, Sinterklaas and his ‘helpers’ arrive by boat and are greeted by the local children in large-scale events that are staged across the country. The largest event takes place in Amsterdam and is broadcast on national television. Both professional ‘Pieten’ and many volunteers paint their faces black, their lips red and don curly black wigs and gold earrings.

It is also customary for the children watching the event to do the same. They greet the procession of Sinterklaas and the Pieten by singing traditional songs, lyrics of which include: ‘Even though I’m black as soot, I mean well’.

 Note EU-Digest: What an utter waste of time and money  for the UN  to meddle in this traditional Dutch children and family celebration which in no way is meant to degrade or mock black people.Doesn't the UN have better things to do?

Read more Tensions mount in the Netherlands as UN questions ‘Black Pete’ Christmas tradition - World - News - The Independent