Did Lincoln start the War on Christmas?

[JakeStarkey]

The attempt to Christianize the Great Emancipator ahs been going on for 140 years and has bee failing as long.

In other words, Hill and Lewis' nonsense was rejected the next year by those who knew AL best, his long time partner and his wife.

No where will anyone find an acknowledge by AL of Jesus as Savior, and almost as importantly, absolutely no indication in AL' writing of the immortality of either soul or body.

The best that can be said is the AL may have believed in an impersonal Force or Doom or Destiny that moved behind the scenes of human experience.

 

[JakeStarkey]

The social con supposed far right reactionary Christians don't even have the decency to say, "Thank you for educating me."

 

[JakeStarkey]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ bump

Reactionaries, where are you?

 

[JakeStarkey]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ bump

Reactionaries, where are you?

 

[kaz]

In 1834, Illinois voted whether to adopt Christmas as a legal holiday. Among those voting "nay" was the young Abraham Lincoln.

Christmas wasn't celebrated as a holiday until later in the 19th century. And what do conclude from this, grasshopper?

So do you have anything to back up the tread title?

 

[Old Rocks]

The most important of our founding fathers were Diests. They agreed with the philosophy of Christ, but rejected his divinity. Read the Jefferson Bible. So they were hardly interested in establishing Christian holidays, or any other kind of religious holidays.

 

[blackhawk]

Ok, so what's the point?

You don't really think there is a point to this do you?

 

[The T]

Opinion: Did Lincoln start the 'war of Christmas'? - CNN.com

In 1834, Illinois voted whether to adopt Christmas as a legal holiday. Among those voting "nay" was the young Abraham Lincoln.

In 1834, Lincoln had not yet grown out of his atheist phase, but the young Lincoln's lack of faith in God -- and his lifelong disbelief in the divinity of Christ -- does not explain his vote. In 1834, a vote against Christmas was a safe, even a conventional vote.

Not a single state in the Union closed its offices for Christmas on December 25 in 1834. Lincoln marked his first Christmas as President, in December 1861, by holding a Cabinet meeting in the morning and a dinner party in the evening. The Lincoln family never had a White House tree and sent no Christmas cards.

Nobody was much shocked by these omissions.

The public Christmas as Americans know it today did not take form until late in the 19th century. George Washington issued a proclamation on Thanksgiving, but he never made any statement about Christmas (or Easter for that matter). The first state to recognize Christmas as a holiday was Alabama, in 1836, but the North and especially New England resisted. Not until 1856 did Massachusetts accept Christmas as a holiday. The federal government took until 1870 to follow.

Interesting argument but a 1st year law student could rip holes in it big enough to drive a truck through. Apparently CNN is trying to make a case that "omission" is the same legal concept as "commission". Observance of Christmas was falling off in England until Dickens wrote "A Christmas Carol" around 1834. It took a while for the revived Christmas holiday to reach the US and gradually during the next hundred the tradition took hold. Lincoln may have had his own opinion about Christmas but only a pop-culture fool educated by CNN and Huffington would call it a war.

Statist's way of blaming today's ills on the past that they don't like. It is in their narrative. Destroy history...and everything decent for their political ends.

 

[JimH52]

He certainly ruined the southern dream of an "eternal white Christmas."

 

[Flopper]

Opinion: Did Lincoln start the 'war of Christmas'? - CNN.com

In 1834, Illinois voted whether to adopt Christmas as a legal holiday. Among those voting "nay" was the young Abraham Lincoln.

In 1834, Lincoln had not yet grown out of his atheist phase, but the young Lincoln's lack of faith in God -- and his lifelong disbelief in the divinity of Christ -- does not explain his vote. In 1834, a vote against Christmas was a safe, even a conventional vote.

Not a single state in the Union closed its offices for Christmas on December 25 in 1834. Lincoln marked his first Christmas as President, in December 1861, by holding a Cabinet meeting in the morning and a dinner party in the evening. The Lincoln family never had a White House tree and sent no Christmas cards.

Nobody was much shocked by these omissions.

The public Christmas as Americans know it today did not take form until late in the 19th century. George Washington issued a proclamation on Thanksgiving, but he never made any statement about Christmas (or Easter for that matter). The first state to recognize Christmas as a holiday was Alabama, in 1836, but the North and especially New England resisted. Not until 1856 did Massachusetts accept Christmas as a holiday. The federal government took until 1870 to follow.

Interesting argument but a 1st year law student could rip holes in it big enough to drive a truck through. Apparently CNN is trying to make a case that "omission" is the same legal concept as "commission". Observance of Christmas was falling off in England until Dickens wrote "A Christmas Carol" around 1834. It took a while for the revived Christmas holiday to reach the US and gradually during the next hundred the tradition took hold. Lincoln may have had his own opinion about Christmas but only a pop-culture fool educated by CNN and Huffington would call it a war.

Christmas in Lincoln's day was a far cry from Christmas today. Was there any reason to make Christmas a legal holiday in Lincoln's day? The commercialization of Christmas which is largely responsible for it's elevation above Easter or any other religious holiday did not get going in the US until after the civil war.

Another much repeated ‘fact’ about Christmas is that it was invented by the Victorians, and Charles Dickens in particular. While there is no doubting the fact that the Victorians, partly inspired by Dickens, were fascinated by the celebration of Christmas, they didn't invent it. Rather they reinvigorated it and brought together the many Christmas customs of Britain and threw themselves into the season in a way not seen before. Being a nation of manufacturers, industrialists and shopkeepers, it was not long before Victorians realized that Christmas, with its emphasis on generosity and hospitality, could be exploited for commercial possibilities.

By the turn of the century, festivities commenced when the shopping season began. Advent Sunday, Christmas Eve, the First Night of Christmas, Twelfth Night, the dates by which the church signaled and measured the season, were pushed aside by the new development of mass consumerism. The clarion call of Christmas was being heard earlier and earlier thanks to the desire of retailers to maximize their profits.

Today, Christmas is primarily an orgy of commercialism.

The Commercial Christmas | History Extra