Muslims & Christmas

[Ban Hammer 13,334]

Nope, neither, but my mother is Catholic. I'm atheist.

um how is that possible then? i was under the impression (from vp) that muslims had a strong dislike for unbelievers.

YOu should stop watching so much tv

so that's why vp isn't here - she has her own tv show!

[mybackpages 0]

Nope, neither, but my mother is Catholic. I'm atheist.

um how is that possible then? i was under the impression (from vp) that muslims had a strong dislike for unbelievers.

YOu should stop watching so much tv

so that's why vp isn't here - she has her own tv show!

a little too quick on the trigger there Charles...see my Edited to add

[peezey 0]

Nope, neither, but my mother is Catholic. I'm atheist.

um how is that possible then? i was under the impression (from vp) that muslims had a strong dislike for unbelievers.

Who's Muslim?

I'm assuming you are referring to my husband, and I don't normally say "my husband believes this" as some do (other than to express that he likes getting gifts on Dec 25), but since it's causing confusion, here you go: my husband is agnostic, however, what forms him more than that is, he is quite disdainful of religion and religious people, especially Muslims. There are long stories behind all this, but that is the gist. And then you will ask, why does he fast, etc? Well, we all do things to make our mothers happy.

[mybackpages 0]

Nope, neither, but my mother is Catholic. I'm atheist.

um how is that possible then? i was under the impression (from vp) that muslims had a strong dislike for unbelievers.

Who's Muslim?

I'm assuming you are referring to my husband, and I don't normally say "my husband believes this" as some do (other than to express that he likes getting gifts on Dec 25), but since it's causing confusion, here you go: my husband is agnostic, however, what forms him more than that is, he is quite disdainful of religion and religious people, especially Muslims. There are long stories behind all this, but that is the gist. And then you will ask, why does he fast, etc? Well, we all do things to make our mothers happy.

darn it, I was hoping we were in for a good game of 20 questions to uncover the religion of everyone in your family qand then you went and spilled all the beans

[peezey 0]

Nope, neither, but my mother is Catholic. I'm atheist.

um how is that possible then? i was under the impression (from vp) that muslims had a strong dislike for unbelievers.

Who's Muslim?

I'm assuming you are referring to my husband, and I don't normally say "my husband believes this" as some do (other than to express that he likes getting gifts on Dec 25), but since it's causing confusion, here you go: my husband is agnostic, however, what forms him more than that is, he is quite disdainful of religion and religious people, especially Muslims. There are long stories behind all this, but that is the gist. And then you will ask, why does he fast, etc? Well, we all do things to make our mothers happy.

darn it, I was hoping we were in for a good game of 20 questions to uncover the religion of everyone in your family qand then you went and spilled all the beans

I know! I was tempted to leave "Who's Muslim?" as my response to go along with the rest, but someone would come along and tell me I'm being argumentative or difficult or some such.

My mother raised us atheist and then when we were all good and Godless (and adults), she went back to the religion of her childhood.

[Caladan 19]

szsz, I'm really sorry your boss is being a jackass. A holiday party is one thing; a holiday party with communal prayer is in poor taste when there's an employer-employee relationship.

I do think that Christmas is also a secular holiday in the U.S. It's hard to deny, as too much of American retail, customs, etc, is influenced by it. And it's not secular just to get at Muslims. It's secular because there are so many adults raised Christian who no longer believe, but still identify with the traditions.

But that's neither here nor there, as if you don't want to celebrate a holiday, don't celebrate it, and it's dumb of your boss to expect a prayer service.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Nope, neither, but my mother is Catholic. I'm atheist.

um how is that possible then? i was under the impression (from vp) that muslims had a strong dislike for unbelievers.

The Quran tells us that God guides whom He may as He may. Some He allows to stray and some will follow different paths to Him. He also tells us that we are a test to each other, that we must find a way to live together and do justice as we find our way to Him. Under the law, no Muslim should hate others for their religion or lack of it. If we understand that we are all part of God's plan, then we can allow Him to lead and we must follow in the way He has directed us.

szsz, I'm really sorry your boss is being a jackass. A holiday party is one thing; a holiday party with communal prayer is in poor taste when there's an employer-employee relationship.

I do think that Christmas is also a secular holiday in the U.S. It's hard to deny, as too much of American retail, customs, etc, is influenced by it. And it's not secular just to get at Muslims. It's secular because there are so many adults raised Christian who no longer believe, but still identify with the traditions.

But that's neither here nor there, as if you don't want to celebrate a holiday, don't celebrate it, and it's dumb of your boss to expect a prayer service.

Thx, sweetie, but my boss is wonderful and not part of this equation. She's also Muslim, like most all of the employees, so Christmas parties are not a major factor for us. I have consulting business on the side, and these are my non-Muslim clients I need to appease. So, if anyone is to blame for getting me into an awkward situation, it's dumb me! Lord knows I should know better!

Edited December 17, 2006 by szsz