[SeaGrave]

Originally Posted by DeeMarieGK ↗

oh boy you had to belt out the national anthem? Only certain people could pull that off! *my ears hurt thinking about it*
I had to sing "My country tis of thee.."

The Canadian national anthem, just to verify

[Sharon]

Originally Posted by SeaGrave ↗

The only time religion was ever mentioned in any school I've ever been in, is when we would sing the National Anthem during assemblies in Elementary School. Things have changed since your time.

That was in the 1980s - my God, I'm a coffin dodger at 35yo

[Sharon]

As Columbo said, "Just one more thing..."

If she is an athiest, an unbeliever, why let it 'offend' her??? Do we as adults request all images of Santa be removed at Christmas time because we don't believe in him? That's what I'd have politely pointed out to her.

[SeaGrave]

Originally Posted by Sharon. ↗

That was in the 1980s - my God, I'm a coffin dodger at 35yo

I didn't mean to imply that you're old I was born in '89, I just mean that we're from a totally different generation.
And I don't know about the states, but Santa has been removed from schools where I am. People are forced to say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas", which baffles me, because there is a HUGE amount of people that are not religious whatsoever and celebrate Christmas. Santa isn't even a religious icon!

[Xfactor]

Originally Posted by SeaGrave ↗

The only time religion was ever mentioned in any school I've ever been in, is when we would sing the National Anthem during assemblies in Elementary School. Things have changed since your time.

And the pledge of allegends

[SeaGrave]

Originally Posted by Xfactor ↗

And the pledge of allegends

Not in Canada:

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

As far as I know, that's as patriotic as we get

[dankboosh]

The Santa comparison doesn't really work, as SeaGrave said, he's not a religious icon. I can't speak for this girl, but if I were to do something similar, it would be because religion is EVERYWHERE. I'm tired of it. We used to burn "witches" at the stake, but we moved on from that... it's time to move on from Jesus. People still believe in witches, but that's a subculture now, just like christianity should be. I could go on forever about this. The point is, less religion is the way to go, and every bit counts.

[sherrimccharles]

that chick should speak for herself

[güttsfükk]

Originally Posted by dankboosh ↗

he's not a religious icon.

he's a religious icon in disguise to fool people into enjoying the sabbath

Sinterklaas (or more formally Sint Nicolaas or Sint Nikolaas; Saint Nicolas in French; Sankt Nikolaus in German) is a traditional Winter holiday figure still celebrated today in the Low Countries, including the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as French Flanders (Lille) and Artois (Arras). He is also well known in territories of the former Dutch Empire, including South Africa, Aruba, Suriname, Curaçao, Bonaire, and Indonesia. He is one of the sources of the holiday figure of Santa Claus in North America.

Although he is usually referred to as Sinterklaas, he is also known as De Goedheiligman (The Good Holy Man), Sint Nicolaas or simply as De Sint (the saint)

He is celebrated annually on Saint Nicholas' eve (5 December) or on the morning of 6 December in the Netherlands, Belgium and Northern France. Originally, the feast celebrates the name day of Saint Nicholas — patron saint of children, sailors, and the city of Amsterdam, among others. Sint Nicholas being a bishop and this geographical spread make clear that the feast in this form has a Roman Catholic background.

Sinterklaas, Santa Claus, and Christmas

Sinterklaas is the basis for the North American figure of Santa Claus. It is often claimed that during the American War of Independence, the inhabitants of New York City, a former Dutch colonial town (New Amsterdam), reinvented their Sinterklaas tradition, as Saint Nicholas was a symbol of the city's non-English past. The name Santa Claus supposedly derived from older Dutch Sinter Klaas. However, the Saint Nicholas Society was not founded until 1835, almost half a century after the end of the war. In a study of the "children's books, periodicals and journals" of New Amsterdam, the scholar Charles Jones did not find references to Saint Nicholas or Sinterklaas. Not all scholars agree with Jones's findings, which he reiterated in a book in 1978. Howard G. Hageman, of New Brunswick Theological Seminary, maintains that the tradition of celebrating Sinterklaas in New York existed in the early settlement of the Hudson Valley. He agrees that "there can be no question that by the time the revival of St. Nicholas came with Washington Irving, the traditional New Netherlands observance had completely disappeared." However, Irving's stories prominently featured legends of the early Dutch settlers, so while the traditional practice may have died out, Irving's St. Nicholas may have been a revival of that dormant Dutch strand of folklore. In his 1812 revisions to A History of New York, Irving inserted a dream sequence featuring St. Nicholas soaring over treetops in a flying wagon — a creation others would later dress up as Santa Claus.

But was Irving the first to revive the Dutch folklore of Sinterklaas? In New York, two years earlier John Pintard published a pamphlet with illustrations of Alexander Anderson in which he calls for making Saint Nicholas the patron Saint of New York and starting a Sinterklaas tradition. He was apparently assisted by the Dutch because in his pamphlet he included an old Dutch Sinterklaas poem with an English translation. In the Dutch poem, Saint Nicholas is referred to as 'Sancta Claus'. Ultimately, his initiative helped Sinterklaas to pop up as Santa Claus in the Christmas celebration, which returned - freed of episcopal dignity and ties - via England and later Germany to Europe again.

The Saint Nicholas Society of New York celebrates a feast on 6 December to this day. The town of Rhinebeck in Dutchess County, New York, which was founded by Dutch and German immigrants, has an annual Sinterklaas celebration. It includes Sinterklaas' crossing the Hudson River and then a parade to the center of town.

During the Reformation in 16th-17th century Europe, many Protestants changed the gift bringer from Sinterklaas to the Christ Child or Christkindl (corrupted in English to Kris Kringle). Similarly, the date of giving gifts changed from December 5 or 6th to Christmas Eve

[BlueNosePit]

fuck that attention seeking little bitch.
if you dont like it, dont read it. bitch is only in HS for 4 years anyways. fuckin prayer has been there fot 50 years.