mini vent: Being an atheist at Xmas...
 

So apparently, I can't have people over for tasty food and drink right now, because I am an atheist!?! :?: :mad:

I was told this on another forum - that I have no right to have a good time during this religious holiday. Because I am a true atheist, and not just agnostic, I should not have anything to do with any merry-making for the next week or so. And you know what really got me steamed? The person that said this is a Xmas and easter only church go-er!!! :censored:

None of my friends are practicing Xtians. A couple are practicing jews, one is a shinto follower, another a buddhist, two are pagans, and the rest are nothing in particular (agnostics), or are lapsed catholics. There is no particular religious overtone to *any* gathering I host.

I like being with friends and having a good evening. I like cooking and hosting big fancy dinners for people. I like giving gifts that make people happy. Why do I have to believe there is some dude/chick in the sky in order to do this sort of stuff right now? We don't have a tree, or lights, or giant snowmen or santas up. We don't give gifts on the 25th - before or after, but not on the 25th, and we don't have a xmas dinner on the 25th. So what the heck is the problem with these people?

This isn't the first time I have encountered this attitude, but for some reason, it really ticked me off this time. I don't understand why it's so hard to be tolerant of other's beliefs. :(

I'm off to have a very un-Xmassy mai-tai and hit the tub with a good book! :D Bah humbug! :devil:

BP

I used to be a practicing Christian and used to feel that same way as this person who offended you. But this year I live in another country that is half-Christian, and the rest Buddhist, Agnostic or Atheist and it's amazing the contrast. I used to think about non-Christians, "you have no right celebrating this holiday!" But now I am Agnostic and living in another culture and I can see why Americans (and maybe Canadians) celebrate Christmas: it's marketed to EVERYONE!

Here in Korea the level of consumerism is a fraction of what it is in America. In America, the streets are decorated, every store plays Christmas songs, everything is on sale for Christmas, everyone preps to see family and loved ones... this marketing campaign is NOT just directed towards Christians, it's directed towards everyone. In Korea, there's way less fanfare and it does seem more a holiday for Christians. There's a little bit of that western influence Christmas-is-for-everyone kind of vibe, but it seems more like fun import, like Halloween.

I don't know, it's true that this holiday was originally for Christians. But in America, and maybe Canada, that's just not the case anymore. It's for everyone. If Christians are mad, tell them to blame the marketers, because they are selling Christmas to whomever will buy it!

Actually-- it was originally a pagan holiday...
But the thing is, I think life is for celebration, no matter what or when... so celebrate whenever you feel like it for whatever reason!
Being pagan, I face a fraction of what ya'll face... but people are finally coming around... though not all, and sometimes it ticks me off too.
No one has the right to tell you when you can or can't celebrate. That's a personal choice.

The consumerist angle is pretty bad here in Canada too. Maybe not quite as bad as in the US, but it's not far behind, if it is at all. The young children of my non-practicing Christian friends have no idea that the holiday is about anything other than Santa and gifts. And why should they when all they see are images of Santa and Frosty.

MissusO - I did point out the pagan origins of the timing and many of the practices, but I think they fell on deaf ears. The birth of Christ bit is of course for Christians, but lots of other cultures and religions have solstice or other celebrations. I shouldn't be celebrating Yule, Kwanzaa, or Haunukkah either, since I am an atheist, but I have never met a pagan or jew that had a problem with me celebrating friends and good times in my own way. :) I've never called my gifts or events "Christmas" stuff, so I don't know why it's a problem for some people.

Maybe I should start to say I am a New Year Resolutionist and I just like to have fun with friends! :lol: That removes any outward element of religion from my gift giving and dinner hosting! :devil:

BP

I'm pagan and I celebrate Xmas more than any Christian I know. And on the 25th, too, not on the winter solstice/Yule date. Hey, I want in on all the fun! =)

Man, I'm a practicing Jew, and I get into the holiday spirit more than any of the (non-Jewish) people I work with. Not necessarily Christmas spirit, but I love the season...and the music! But again, to me it's a time for family and sharing, and I'm pretty darn family oriented.

That being said, I am thrilled when people want to share in with my traditions and I've been happy to explain Chanukah to people (including how it's not an important holiday, just the most well known) and to teach them about the story and traditions. And people are happy to learn, when there's chocolate coins involved!

It also means that I put aside my personal decision to never switch shifts with people, and work on the 24th, 25th, and 26th, so people who do celebrate whatever with their families can do so in a non-rushed manner. (Also, I make the big bucks for putting in my 8 hours on Christmas!)

I'm a little confused as to why you would want to celebrate something you don't believe in. As a Christian I have absolutely no interest in celebrating a Pagan, Jewish, or Buddhist holiday, and quite honestly wouldn't want to participate in a religious holiday I don't truly believe in. I think you're mixing the marketing of "holiday celebration" which almost all of corporate America and beyond, has tried so hard to blend into something other than the celebration of the second most important day in our religion next to Easter.
There's nothing wrong with getting together with friends for food and drink, but please remember that for those of us who believe in Christ, we see this as a religious holiday that should be celebrated with reverence.

I am a Christian and will be celebrating the birth of Christ.

However, I see nothing wrong with non Christians having guests in for dinner.You can do whatever you want. But call it what it is, a dinner with friends. Remember that to millions of people over the years this is a jpyous holiday.

I've come to believe over the years that holidays have become a marketing strategy/technique for big business to generate revenue. My true spirit of any holiday, be it Christmas, birthdays, or any other special occasion, comes from my heart and not my wallet.

I certainly don't understand why a non-Christian doesn't have the same rights to the Santa-gift-Christmas stuff as any Christian out there! The majority of "Christmas" stuff is very secular - a lot of people are even opposed/upset when the religious elements are prominent (including the average "Christian"). While a lot of things have traditional religious-based backgrounds (whether Christian, pagan, etc), the current incarnations of a decorated tree, gifts, and Santa are about as secular as it gets.

While I wouldn't expect an atheist to put up a Nativity scene, I have a number of friends who celebrate the secular aspect of Christmas when their beliefs are not Christian - tree, Santa, and all. Regardless of the sacred vs secular intent, what is wrong with any excuse to be a little happier and show appreciation for those around you?

Of course you can use the opportunity to get together with friends!! I am and I don't "celebrate Christmas" in a religious way AT ALL.
I also get together with friends for Easter so my children can have fun with eggs. But we don't "celebrate Easter" at all either.

No one can tell you how to spend your time. Bah!! to that person!!

Enjoy life..... :)

WOW! I was raised Christian and am now an athiest. When I celebrate with my family I am celebrating being with my family and the fact that they are still alive. I am not celebrating Christ.
Plus it bothers me that many Christians are all about what they are getting and what they are buying for their various family members and I ask oh so does your church have a special service they say they don't know they can go anyway cuz they are busy. I wonder if these people should be banned from celebrating too?

Because whether you or any other Christian like it or not, American culture (and to some degree western culture) has made Christmas into a secular and cultural holiday as well as a religious one. You can protest that however much you want - but it's a fact. You cannot walk out of your home today w/out being slapped in the face with Christmas EVERYWHERE. So the choice is to get pissed off about that - or to learn to appreciate and enjoy the non-religious elements and the "spirit" of the season - peace on earth and goodwill towards men.

If Christians (or *some* Christians) really want non-Christians to stop celebrating "their" holiday (which is one of the most un-Christian sentiments I've ever heard, btw), then they need to make more effort to get Christmas out of the secular world instead of protesting their "right" to celebrate their religion anywhere and everywhere they want.

You can't complain because schools want to take Christmas out of the winter holidays and not have the kids do Christmas plays or sing carols or put up creches, protest your right to put religious themed decorations up on city property, etc., etc., ... and then complain because *gasp* non-Christians are celebrating YOUR holiday. Christians force their holidays on non-Christians and then whine when we try to make them palatable for ourselves.

You can't have it both ways.

.

Yes! It's a free country, do whatever you want on christmas!!!

It's a good day to have parties because you know damn well near everyone is going to have the day off of work anyways!

Besides what are you doing an another forum. You know 3FC is the only place to be!!!!!! :yes:

Have a happy holiday, bopeep, and celebrate this season of love and joy any way you wish :hug:

How silly of them! Don't believe a word of it (to the OP).

Just as many Christians at Christmas time celebrate in non-Christian ways (outside of church and at the mall), I think this is a time of year for people to just enjoy the season no matter what the religion. If Christmas is supposed to be about giving and celebrating time with family and generally promoting the "season's greetings", I would think everyone would be on board with that. With all the bad in the world, we can all make room for those that want to participate in the good.

Kumbyah ;)

No one person, group, nation, etc. owns a single day of the year. We each get to walk this path through life any way we choose...and that means that as long as we do no harm to others, we each get to celebrate or not celebrate any darn thing we want to in any way we please. While governments, religions, organizations, etc. may try to deny, hijack or even subjugate the outward trappings of that celebration from time to time, it is a simple truth that what we celebrate, the things that bring us joy, cannot be taken from us because they are not really about outward trappings. "Getting together with friends and family" is just an external manifestation of the feeling -- an outlet for your enjoyment of a very special, cozy and sparkly time of year. If you don't like the commercialism, ignore it. If you don't like the secular aspects, don't include them in your family's choices. If you don't like the religious aspects, avoid them. If you want to celebrate Casper the Ghost, have at it. The world is a big place, and there is room for ALL of it. It is diversity of belief and diversity of thought that makes it such an amazing place. I, for one, am waiting impatiently for Santa to come down my chimney so that I can see the looks of unbridled joy on the faces of my three little boys. It is a complicated issue, but it is, in a very fundamental way, very simple too.

I think that's going on my greeting card next year ;)

IOW, very well put.

See, this is my point. I'm not celebrating Christmas. I'm not a Christian. I have been told many times that 'this is Christmas', and I can't have a good time. It's not all about Christmas. Would you tell a Jew not to have people over for dinner or give gifts at this time? No. What about a pagan? No. A Buddhist? No. So why can I not do it? Why don't I have the right?

I don't give Christmas gifts, eat Christmas dinner, go to church, believe in Santa or any other tradition that is typical for a North American Christmas. But some people seem to resent that I enjoy giving any sort of gift at all (even a bottle of wine in a fancy bag) or host people over for dinner at this time of year.

I give gifts and host dinners at other times of the year, so why do I have to become a hermit for this specific couple of weeks while others have a good time? The answer is I don't, and I won't. But some people have a hard time seperating the Christian religious holy day from general merriment.

BP

:yikes:










... ;)

Hmmm... maybe I better change my mind on that. I suddenly need a new monitor and keyboard. Mine now have tea all over them.

:lol:

BP

Thanks! :D Tonight I am having three friends over for dinner - a lapsed catholic, a practicing muslim, and a shinto follower. We are going to celebrate Friends! :grouphug:

BP

BP - that sounds phenomenal. I'm not particularly religious (exploring things, but not practicing anything), but use the holiday time to reflect on my family traditions, value my family and friends, and generally show people that I care about them through words and deeds.

And I'll never understand why in this world, which is so devoid of love and friendship and good cheer, anyone would try to prevent anyone else from spreading it, no matter what their religion or the time of year.

Bopeep, why so much concern? Are your friends refusing to come over? Are they throwing your gifts back in your face? Is the sheriff at your door, arresting you for your atheism? Have you been refused by any retailer the right to buy the makings for dinner or a nice bottle of wine to share with the people you care about? I am pretty sure the answer to these questions is "no".

We live in a nation where the majority of the citizenry is Christian, but NOT in a Christian nation. This country, at least for now, is, for the most part, secular, and we retain the right to think and say what we please. That means, however, that Christians get to think and say what they please...including that they think you shouldn't be celebrating "their holiday" if that is what a segment of them believe to be truth, but belief is NOT action...it does not harm you unless you give those beliefs power over you, and the fact that their beliefs are different than yours and different than mine and different than Joe Schmoe's down the street, and all of us get to keep believing as we wish, is a thing worth celebrating.

Pretty much everyone goes through life doing the best they can...there are, of course, exceptions...but for the most part, it is true. We each come from a unique set of experiences, traditions and family dynamics...but with the tools we have, we all live our lives the best we can based on what we have to work with. Just embrace who you are and what makes you unique, and enjoy the things that matter to you and yours.

I was raised in a very religious home. I went to church every Sunday, youth group Sunday and Wednesday nights (middle school through high school), went to weekend retreats, summer camps, went to and later taught vacation Bible school. In our home, we always celebrated Lent, not just Easter. Christmas was about Christ's birth and we always attended the midnight candlelight service, but it was ALSO very much about Santa, gifts, and cookies and food galore. Yes, we always had a manger and an angel on top of the tree, but the secular/cultural elements were there as well. As much as it pains my mom (who is wonderfully restrained in not bothering me about it), my faith faded away beginning in high school and was for all intents and purposes gone by my early twenties, despite the fact that I found a church to attend in college and despite the fact that I wanted desperately to believe all that I was raised to believe.

I simply had too many questions that no one could answer for me. I was always told you have to just have FAITH, and well, I guess I just I just lost that faith along the way. Back to the point at hand -- For me, it would be very strange not to celebrate the season in anyway. It is VERY much a part of my FAMILY TRADITION and has been for 40 years. So, yes,I do celebrate, but I try not to do so hypocritically. I can NOT stand the hypocrisy and consumerism of the season. I have not been caught anywhere near in a mall in December for many, many years. Several years ago, I implored my in-laws and my own family not to exchange adult gifts anymore. It was always such a stress inducing enterprise - running around like crazy a day or two before Christmas buying gifts we couldn't afford that we weren't even sure the other person wanted. My in-laws (who are Christian but who have NEVER attended church) were particularly bad about spending heinous amounts of money on shockingly bad/ugly gifts. What a waste! It was tough for my MIL to let go of the spend spend spend mentality, but when she finally did, she too enjoyed the stress free nature of simply spending time with family at the holidays. My own family embraced the no gifts for adults - if we see something during the year we know a family member would love - we buy it and give it. But there is no pressure to buy just for the sake of buying. We do moderate gift for the 6 kids, ages 10 down to 1.

So, we do celebrate Christmas with my family, and I think it would just kill my mom if I were to say, "Well, you know DH and I don't believe the story of Jesus rising from the dead anymore, so call us next week. We won't be over at Christmas, and sorry, we have no gifts for the nieces and nephews." That would be just nutty. I think it would be equally odd if DH and I did not get together in a celebratory way with our friends (Christians and non) during the holidays. We are off work for 2 weeks - should we just sit home or leave town or something? I have one very devout friend, and I might add that she is one of my closest friends and she is what I consider a "true" Christian (sorry, but I don't believe most of those who call themselves Christian are very devout). Anyway, she and I have discussed this before, and she is understanding and accepting of where I am coming from. I wish everyone could be as tolerant (WWJD?? I don't think he would bash anyone for having friends over--hmm... maybe you present a small xmas gift to your friend, a WWJD bracelet!).

I think most everyone on the thread is of the mindset of live and let live... I'm sorry if I have gotten tangential, but this strikes a cord with me. Celebrate the season - whatever that means to you - and peace and good will to all!

Bravo!

.

Of course no one is *preventing* me from doing as I wish, but you would be quite astonished at the hostility I have received over the years as an out of the closet atheist. I have had several family members estrange themselves from me, and actually have lost friends over this. While I take the view that they were obviously not true friends (or family I want to associate with), it is frustrating to see people behave this way. :(

It *does* harm me to be on the receiving end of intolerance. I am not being thrown in jail for my belief, true, but I am being ostracized, and criticized for not adhering to a more common belief, and that is wrong. It doesn't matter if it is one person, ten or a thousand, that is telling me I should not be social now. If I don't stand up and say that I have every right to have friends over and give a gift today, then when should I stand up? What intolerence should I tolerate, and what should I protest?

I think it would be nice if we could all get along and accept everyone's belief's without any judgement. Most people I know already do that, and I am happy to find that as time goes on, that intolerance is becoming rarer. But it's still there, and it won't go away if I ignore it. ;)

BP

Bopeep, I'm an atheist as well, but not 'out of the closet' to everyone in my life. I'm like Claire - my parents pretty much now, but I still celebrate Christmas with them and don't point out that I don't believe what they believe. If people ask me, I tell them. I just don't advertise it. I also celebrate Christmas at home, and actually have a displayed nativity scene that was in my room when i was a small child, and another figure of Mary & Joseph that was a gift from my mother. Both of them are beautiful. I don't believe what they depict, but I appreciate the artistic beauty of the figures.

I have gotten pushback from some of those people, as well. I make my stepson an Easter basket and one of my friends read me the riot act about it, since it was celebrating the resurrection. My basket had nothing to do with the resurrection and everything to do with chocolate bunnies and jelly beans. :) I have also had people ask me what I'm doing for the holidays, since I don't believe in anything. Again, like Claire, I believe in spending time with friends and family.

I have friends who are pagan and they receive much less flack for their beliefs than I get for mine. People have more tolerance for them because they believe in something, where I do not. It was explained to me once by a Christian friend that you can try to convert someone who has a basic belief structure, harder to convert someone without one. He sees talking to me about religion as 'casting pearls before swine' or something like that I guess. :)

Have a great time, whatever you do!

Of course you have the right to stand up and say what you believe, but to think that there will not be personal consequences, like the loss of some friends or some family members who will not associate with you, is not realistic. A lot of people simply do not have the resources to deal with beliefs that contradict their own. It is upsetting to them...sometimes threatening to them...even terrifying to them to have to think outside of their own belief system. So you have a choice. Your beliefs are YOURS...to keep personal and private if you so choose or blast to the world if you so choose. It is up to you to decide what is worth losing in exchange for the right to say what you think. You can decide that not everyone has to know what you believe all the time. That it is not necessary to throw your beliefs in the face of those who you KNOW will be disturbed by them...yes, even when they are doing the same to you. It is kind to be gentle with people who cannot accept a wider view of what is possible. As long as our nation's laws remain strong protecting your beliefs and theirs, that is what REALLY counts. If and when the time comes that those LAWS are threatened, and I mean REALLY threatened, not the pissy little "ten commandments on the wall of the courthouse" kind of stupidity, I will be standing shoulder to shoulder with you, protecting your right to believe whatever you want. ****, I'd die to protect your right to believe whatever you want.

I am sorry, by the way, that you have suffered because of your views on the existence of God. Atheism is a VERY hard thing for some people to swallow because it gets to the core fear that is shared by everyone...that we are FINITE, and the possibility that we are finite leads to the ultimate question, "So why am I here?" For the atheist, there is no why...you just are. A lot of people cannot face that concept...cannot listen to it. Even if they do not "believe" it, the little niggling voice in the back of their head still asks the question...and so your beliefs represent the terror of every five-year-old lying awake in bed at night, obsessing about the fact that they are going to DIE someday. Recognize that some people's five-year-old never grows up. But those people, as long as they are given no real world power, are harmless...except in as much as you let them personally hurt your feelings or offend you, and, to some extent, you can control that with what beliefs you choose to voice to them.

EXACTLY!!!

And like PhotoChick said in her post -- that is one of the most UN-Christian sentiments ever. Get off your self-righteous high horse and start practicing what you preach.

I don't practice any religion, and yet, I find Christmas to be the most delightful times of the entire year. Everyone is happy, relaxed because they are off work, everyone makes an effort to have dinners and parties and make food and invite people and visit.

In other cultures (I lived in Saudi Arabia so I know) they make an effort to do this ALL YEAR. Unfortunately, in the western world we don't. So when we finally muster up the energy to do it once a year, there shouldn't be anyone tsk tsk'ing about how they own Christmas and we shouldn't be celebrating it. It's silly nonsense.

~CGH~

Schumeany, I love the way you say things. You just summarized my entire outlook on life, much better than I could have expressed it. :) Thanks. I'm going to copy that post and save it.

Thanks Shannon. :)

Schumeany - I think you're bang on in what you say, I just wish it wasn't that way. I don't get why some people are so upset that I don't believe what they do - why they want to deny me my celebrations and traditions. I know it's an unrealistic idea to wish that everyone was more tolerant, but I am an idealist at heart. :o

It is an extreemly small minority of people that have given me a hard time about doing my own thing at Xmas, but it's a very hard to ignore minority. I have openly been an atheist for over 20 years, though I don't push it. I explain when asked, and the vast majority of people have no problem with it, the ones that do, are generally not people I want to be friends with anyway. But we all have buttons that set us off, and this seems to be becomming one of mine. :)

There is a quote improperly attributed to Voltaire, which basically has the same sentiment that you expressed: "I disagree with what you have to say but will fight to the death to protect your right to say it." (actually properly attributed to Evelyn Beatrice Hall). I agree very much with this sentiment, and always will, but I will also try to educate when a point of view is based in ignorance. :D

BP

hey all, i consider myself agnostic but i celebrate christmas because that's the way i grew up. my mom is NOT a church go-er christmas or not i just like the pretty lights and the family get to together and who doesn't love presents! and now that i have a child she'll have fun finding presents under the tree, that's my view anyway.

happy holidays!

BoPeep, for some the mere discussion of God not being real goes against their religious beliefs. They believe they are called to speak up in the Creator's name.

For For that reason I will have to say, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS CHRIST, SON OF GOD.

Hey BP,

A couple of years ago I started a book club with some of the women in my neighborhood. We represented a VERY broad spectrum of religious and political views. Some of the women began to suggest books that pushed HARD their religious views and their political philosophy. There are A LOT of good books out there...it wasn't necessary, but they couldn't seem to help themselves. Our meetings began to get contentious. So, as I was sort of the "leader" or "host", I suggested that we have a rule that it was OK to read books that included spirituality and political ideas, but not books that came from a place that espoused ONLY one way of thought to the exclusion of others. The book club fell apart.

This past summer we were hosting the neighborhood BBQ in our front yard, and I was talking to one of my neighbors whose husband is a youth pastor, and they are very active in their church. I mentioned the book club in passing. She got upset and said that she had been offended that I had not respected her religious views. I asked her in what way. She said that I had said I didn't want to read about her beliefs. I said to her that that statement absolutely wasn't true. I was happy to read about her beliefs. That learning about different religious beliefs was fascinating to me, but I was not happy to read anything that claimed there was only one way to think, and I was not happy to have other guests in my home, some of whom had very different beliefs from hers, forced to read the same. I told her that with all the options out there, we could easily have chosen books that satisfied everyone without forcing a single viewpoint. A few minutes later, she and her family left the party.

When we see each other on the street, we are still civil to each other, but that is pretty much as far as it goes.

Oh, by the way, I am an idealist too. :)

For some reason, this situation makes me so angry and it didn't even happen to me! I consider myself Agnostic but Christmas to me is about being with the people you love and being happy. I love the decorations and buying gifts and just the feeling in the air. The fact that a so called 'Christian' would try to stop you from spreading the love just because you don't believe in God is just bull! No one actually knows what date Jesus was born on anyway. Christians (at least the ones I've met) have a tendency to be very hostile about their religion. They preach tolerance but don't actually practice it. I have a circle of friends with different religions (Buddhist, Muslim, Wiccan, etc) and I have never witnessed any or as much hostility towards other beliefs from those religions as there is in Christianity. Okay, I'm getting long winded so I'll stop. Schumeany, you said everything I would want to say quite nicely and intelligently. Bravo!

This might get me flamed, but a lot of people celebrate the holidays, but I do feel that Christmas is a Christian holiday, hence the 'Christ' part of it.

Jewish celebrate Hannukah as an example, they don't celebrate Christmas.

It's cool to get together with friends and family, visit, do whatever, but don't call it Christmas if you're not a Christian.

As far as church goes, I believe that God is in our hearts and souls. Ted Nugent finds his sanctuary with God when he's in the outdoors, among God's creation. Does that mean he has less faith than those who go to services weekly?


As far as tolerance goes, tolerance is fine, but just because I don't agree with something does not mean I'm intolerant. It just means I do not agree. I'm fine with people having other religions or lack there of, different traditions, etc. but while no one wants me to say "Merry Christmas" because it's offensive, I'm also not going to say 'Happy Holidays" to avoid offending people either.

I'm not going to go out on the streetcorner grilling people about thier holiday plans, but I'm not going to hide mine either, if I'm asked.

Atheists feel slighted because it's Christmas, the whole Christ thing, but Christians are villified for protecting what we see as the reverence of the day.

If I exchange gifts with friends and family ( of all faiths ), it doesn't mean that I have less reverence and value the day less than if I was in Church all the time.

It goes both ways.

While I may come across as intolerant because I do have passion for what I believe in, I'm also not going to push my beliefs on anyone either.

schumeany - that is so sad that your book club fell apart. Isn't that why one reads? To learn something new? I wish your narrow minded neighbour could have her blinkers removed. She would see that the world is an amazing and fascinating place and worth learning about!

I had a very interesting dinner this evening. My friends, DH and I discussed this topic almost all night. Despite the consumption of much wine, we were not able to become wise enough to figure it out :lol:

I think I will have to work on not letting the intolerance of others get to me. I will keep trying to teach them that the world is not black and white, but a rainbow of colours and really worth looking at (to be corny for a moment :D).

And I hope everyone has a great day tomorrow, no matter what you believe in. And the day after that, and the day after that...:hug:

BP