Australian treasurer Scott Morrison vows to stand up to 'mockery' of Christians - Sensationalist Headlines

[quote]The treasurer, Scott Morrison, has vowed to stand up to “mockery” and jokes about Christians. In an interview with Fairfax Media, Morrison sought to reestablish his credentials with the conservative wing of the Liberal party by vowing to “call out” mockery and jokes about religion. He also promised to play a leading role in the push to enshrine further “protections” for religious freedom in law next year, part of a review being led by former attorney general Philip Ruddock. [B]“It all starts when you allow religious freedoms [to be eroded], mockery to be made of your faith or your religious festivals – it always starts innocently and it’s always said it is just a joke – just like most discrimination does,” Morrison told Fairfax.[/B] “And I’m just going to call that out. With what I’ve seen happen in the last year, I’ve just taken the decision more recently, [B]I’m just not going to put up with that any more[/B], I don’t think my colleagues are either.[/quote] [url]https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/dec/22/scott-morrison-vows-to-stand-up-to-mockery-of-christians[/url]

While I think excessive mocking is overall a bad thing no matter what you believe in, I think being over-zealous with protections is just as bad. In this case, I think Christians should suck up for people who don't celebrate Christmas, and I think the other side should suck it up for those who do.

There's fuck all Christian about the holiday anymore anyway, its all about shitty carols, ugly sweaters, and trampling door greeters to buy gifts.

Say what you want about any group of people, the hardcore religious folk have always and always will be the most uptight snowflake ass mother fucks out there that'll get their fists ready over the drop of a pin. I'm not going to condone mocking all religious folk, but the hardcore ones, [URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttxumEkHnKE"]especially the far far extremists[/URL], need to be laughed at. Now Christians, they're willing to take it as far as they can with other people but the moment you say shit about "Hey can we please have a fair shake too?" they bitch about their religious freedoms and have a huge shit fit claiming there is a war against their way of life because two gaybois get to have the same rights as everyone else. Maybe if you'd open your eyes people would take you a little more seriously. Conservatism (American anyways) and Christianity sure as fuck mix like oil and water no less. It's the butt end of America jokes. [editline]23rd December 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=TestECull;52999574]There's fuck all Christian about the holiday anymore anyway, its all about shitty carols, ugly sweaters, and trampling door greeters to buy gifts.[/QUOTE] I love Chrismas, best time of the year to celebrate but its all pretend and corporate but corporate in a really good way that is very genuine and beneficial to everyone

[QUOTE=J!NX;52999581] but corporate in a really good way that is very genuine and beneficial to[B] big box retail giants like Walmart and Target[/B][/QUOTE] There ya go. You made a huge typo there. There's nothing genuine or beneficial about trampling walmart door greeters to buy marked down toasters, or stabbing one another over playstations, or any of the other assorted greedy bullshit that happens because of the immensely capitalist shift the holiday has taken on in the past 30 or 40 years. We had one of the least bloody Black Fridays I can remember this year, which...is depressing, to say the least, that it's even necessary to point that out. I lack holiday cheer because of it. People call me a scrooge, I say 'Fuck this hallmark holiday bullshit'. Christmas died when Black Friday became a thing. The holiday is effectively little more than an excuse for me to get paid to sit on my ass and play Fallout for a couple days. Christmas isn't about who can give the best gift. It's supposed to be about celebrating family, about being nice to random people, about not being an absolute twatwaffle to one another for a month or so. I'm one of the minority of folk who refuse to fall in line and buy all the things this time of year.

[QUOTE=TestECull;52999805] Christmas isn't about who can give the best gift. It's supposed to be about celebrating family, about being nice to random people, about not being an absolute twatwaffle to one another for a month or so. I'm one of the minority of folk who refuse to fall in line and buy all the things this time of year.[/QUOTE] Christmas is suppose to be celebrating the birth of Christ, nothing more. Being nice to random people is there because it's a huge reminder to Christians to actually act like a Christian at least once.

[QUOTE=TestECull;52999805] I lack holiday cheer because of it. People call me a scrooge, I say 'Fuck this hallmark holiday bullshit'. Christmas died when Black Friday became a thing. The holiday is effectively little more than an excuse for me to get paid to sit on my ass and play Fallout for a couple days. Christmas isn't about who can give the best gift. It's supposed to be about celebrating family, about being nice to random people, about not being an absolute twatwaffle to one another for a month or so. I'm one of the minority of folk who refuse to fall in line and buy all the things this time of year.[/QUOTE] Black Friday should be banned, that entire thing as a concept is just fucking silly and it turns people into bloodthirsty assholes

[QUOTE=TestECull;52999805]Christmas isn't about who can give the best gift. It's supposed to be about celebrating family, about being nice to random people, about not being an absolute twatwaffle to one another for a month or so. I'm one of the minority of folk who refuse to fall in line and buy all the things this time of year.[/QUOTE] Then go celebrate with your family instead of buying shit??

I think I ate a halal sausage roll this month so I guess that means I get to join ISIS' Anti-Christmas Commandos.

this is like the fucking "war on christmas" a couple years back (it's still ongoing, don't let the globalists outsmart you). Christmas isn't being "eroded". All types of people celebrate it, because it's not really a Christian holiday anymore. Even I celebrate it, and I'm Muslim. If people want to crack jokes about Islam, Christianity is fair game as well. All religions are. The people who make a mockery out of organized religion aren't going to stop, no matter how many dumb protections you put in.

[QUOTE=Omilinon;53001124]All types of people celebrate it, because it's not really a Christian holiday anymore.[/QUOTE] It wasn't a Christian holiday to start with either, iirc.

[QUOTE=Psychokitten;53001155]It wasn't a Christian holiday to start with either, iirc.[/QUOTE] It was a Christian Holiday, first observed, as in a big celebration, in the 4th century; It was just overshadowed by other Christian holidays until after the early middle ages. If you want more information I recommend reading [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas#History"]this[/URL] Wikipedia article if you're into Christian theological history. The only real pagan elements that came anout was probably the christmas tree and the introduction of winter as part of it. Similar to Yule. [editline]I'd also like to point out that just because Christmas is often celebrated in a secular manner doesn't make it any less of a Christian holiday for Christians. Saying as much is simply wrong when to us its still about the birth of Christ primarily, even when integrated with gift giving and shit.[/editline] I'd also like to point out that just because Christmas is often celebrated in a secular manner doesn't make it any less of a Christian holiday for Christians. Saying as much is simply wrong when to us its still about the birth of Christ primarily, even when integrated with gift giving and shit.

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;53000160]Christmas is suppose to be celebrating the birth of Christ, nothing more. Being nice to random people is there because it's a huge reminder to Christians to actually act like a Christian at least once.[/QUOTE] Christmas existed far before the Christians aped it and mutated it. It was originally a pagan holiday that's been mutilated several times over the years.[QUOTE=Cuon Alpinus;53000184]Then go celebrate with your family instead of buying shit??[/QUOTE] What makes you think I don't do that? What makes you think I can't practice what I preach here?

[QUOTE=TestECull;53001659]Christmas existed far before the Christians aped it and mutated it. It was originally a pagan holiday that's been mutilated several times over the years. What makes you think I don't do that? What makes you think I can't practice what I preach here?[/QUOTE] It's kind of irrelevant what was celebrated on that day before Christians made it the day to celebrate the birth of Christ because no one today celebrates it as anything else. It's a Christian holiday. The pagan holiday everyone likes to harp about was only created about 100 years prior to the Christians first celebrating it as Christmas so it's not a "existed far before" type of thing. How many people even know the name of the pagan holiday it was prior, or why that pagan celebration happened on that day without looking it up? Not many by my guess.

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;53001698]It's kind of irrelevant what was celebrated on that day before Christians made it the day to celebrate the birth of Christ because no one today celebrates it as anything else. It's a Christian holiday. The pagan holiday everyone likes to harp about was only created about 100 years prior to the Christians first celebrating it as Christmas so it's not a "existed far before" type of thing. How many people even know the name of the pagan holiday it was prior, or why that pagan celebration happened on that day without looking it up? Not many by my guess.[/QUOTE] I will freely admit it's been 15 or 20 years since I've last opened a bible(Grew up in a Christian household but lost my faith in middle school), but I'm fairly certain that nowhere in the New Testament did it ever say people should focus on gifts, and I'm pretty sure that if God and Jesus were as described in the book, they'd be positively livid that people think Christmas means: * Trampling store employees chasing deals * Stabbing, beating, strangling, shooting one another over the last hot gift idea on the store shelf * Focusing so heavily on gift buying that they put themselves into debt so severe they don't have it all paid down by the time the next christmas rolls around * Get into fights with family and friends because they didn't get the gift they wanted It stopped being a Pagan holiday when the Christians hijacked it, and it stopped being a Christian holiday when the retail industry realized they can make more money in one month than they do in the four months leading up to it by coaching society into focusing on the gifts. Ever since Black Friday became a thing Christmas stopped being about celebrating Christ's birth and started being about the gifts, about Santa, about who can spend the most. I'm...honestly halfway seriously in support of J!nx's idea of banning Black Friday outright, though that's tempered by the massive encroachment on personal liberty such a ban would represent. Other things attributed to Christmas in the modern sense that have fuck all to do with Christ's birth: * The tree * The decorations(Some jackass out here in the countryside a couple miles down the road from me put a fucking inflatable minion in his yard for christmas, I kid you not, how the fuck is that Christmas?!) * The carols * The colors * Santa Claus(Oddly enough this does have some basis on the old Pagan holiday, albiet modified heavily over the years) * Sleigh bells * Stockings on the fireplace * candy canes * Eggnog * ugly christmas sweaters Really, the only thing left of the Christian holiday is the name itself. At this point, calling it Christmas is no different than referring to any form of aerosol bug spray as Raid or any sort of penetrating oil as WD40. The 'holiday'...and I use the term loosely...celebrated in the modern world is disgustingly materialistic and I found myself losing any pretense of holiday cheer 15-20 years ago, right about the time I realized Santa wasn't real and came to be aware of what society had twisted it into being. Hell, it might have even been one of those first steps towards me losing my faith in the first place. [quote=You!]because no one today celebrates it as anything else.[/quote] I'm sorry, but this is a bold-faced lie and has been for longer than either of us have been alive. Everyone 'celebrates' it in the fact that they get free shit from everyone they know. It hasn't been a religious holiday at all for years. If these words held any truth this google search would be pretty damn empty: [url]https://www.google.com/search?q=black+friday+door+greeter+trampled&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8[/url]

I quite like Christmas because it feels like a holiday that I can really enjoy without getting bogged down in religious dogma. Sure it can be stressful, overly consumerist and people can get very lonely, but it also prompts people to give to charity, think of others and generally be nicer to one another. Not all of it is good of course, but winter would be pretty bloody horrible without the respite Christmas brings IMO.

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;53001698]It's kind of irrelevant what was celebrated on that day before Christians made it the day to celebrate the birth of Christ because no one today celebrates it as anything else.[/QUOTE] Except plenty of people do celebrate it differently, as a general year end let's get the family together and have a nice lunch holiday?

[QUOTE=TestECull;53002458] Other things attributed to Christmas in the modern sense that have fuck all to do with Christ's birth: * The carols[/QUOTE] Have you ever heard a Christmas Carol??

Christmas has never been a pagan holiday. It may have been near a pagan holiday, it may have imagery that was shared with pagan holidays, etc., but Christmas, as a holiday, was never pagan. The whole point is to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, and pagans don't generally celebrate the birth of Christ.

Jesus wasn't born on December 25th. The reason that date exists for Christmas is to make it easier for people who already celebrated in December to warm up to it. [editline]26th December 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;53001698] How many people even know the name of the pagan holiday it was prior, or why that pagan celebration happened on that day without looking it up? Not many by my guess.[/QUOTE] Yule? Or the roman one about Saturn? I feel like so many cultures celebrated in winter that it's silly to call it this or that or say this or that is the [I]true[/I] one that everything else stole from. Humans celebrate in winter. Modern Christmas is celebrated by devout Christians, the not-so-devout, and the outright Atheist. It's a good time to get together with family and celebrate. Apparently it always has.

[QUOTE=OvB;53006217]Jesus wasn't born on December 25th. The reason that date exists for Christmas is to make it easier for people who already celebrated in December to warm up to it.[/QUOTE] TBH, I haven't done any research into it because it just doesn't matter. The point of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Jesus, and everything that it represents. Whether he was actually born on the day, or even the month, is pretty irrelevant to the holiday and the reason it exists. [editline]25th December 2017[/editline] It seems a little silly to have a holiday for the sake of having a holiday.

[QUOTE=sgman91;53006224] It seems a little silly to have a holiday for the sake of having a holiday.[/QUOTE] I would say the vast majority of Americans celebrate Christmas in a more secular manner. Maybe a lot of them will go to Christmas mass. To a lot of people Christmas is arbitrary gift giving and turkey with the in-laws day. You don't need an excuse to get together with family and celebrate. December is the holiday season not just because of Christianity. [editline]26th December 2017[/editline] The fact is people can celebrate whatever holiday however they see fit. Half my family is overseas so we didn't even give gifts this Christmas. Got together, ate some turkey, made some cookies. Parents are various denominations of christian but we haven't gone to church in years. I'm agnostic, and don't really care for organized religion, but we celebrate anyway. Whats the harm?

If a Muslim said this in Aussie land we'd have a completely different story, wouldn't we ?