I still call it Christmas. To me it doesn't need to be about religion. It is simply a family holiday and a time for the family to gather share gifts, enjoy company, and mostly watch the younger members of the family go crazy playing with toys and such.
To others such as my boss I might see the message sent out that says "Happy Cultural Appropriation Day" which as far as I am concerned takes something positive and spins it negative.
I've said before Cultural Appropriation does not exist. I was wrong. In truth Christmas was appropriated and more accurately hijacked to be what it is now. This happened with at least two holidays (Christmas and Easter). There were holidays for those the Christians (primarily the Catholic church) would call pagans that existed at these times. In this case some of the culture of those so-called pagan groups was appropriated and supplanted with a modified version.
Today Christians and those that inherit from that faith celebrate the birth of Christ. It is not actually the appropriate time of the year for such a birth given the information we know but there is nothing wrong with celebrating it now.
In my youth when I lived with my parents we celebrated it as the birthday of Jesus Christ. If anyone else in my family wishes to do so that is fine by me. Gathering as family, friends, loved ones, etc. while sharing stories, gifts, and memorable moments is what it is about for me. I do not need to use religion to justify doing that. Yet I am fine with people who do wrap it up in religious trappings.
I actually embrace freedom of religion. I am fine with you believing and practicing whatever religion you want as long as you don't force it upon others directly, or via laws forcing them to adhere to a religion. I am also fine if you are an atheist. It may sound like I am. I am not. I am a Deist.
I believe in a creator. I simply believe this creator cannot so simply be described in our limited languages in books. I also don't trust governments and those in power to be corruption free. So when I know Roman Emperor Constantine brought together the First Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. which would have been 325 years AFTER the death of Jesus to me that is a government formed group that decided what should go into the bible, what tales to excise from the bible, and what changes might be needed to make them fit together more coherently. That is the word of man to me. I know many consider it God inspired and that is what the priests have told them.
I don't blindly follow anyone or anything. With that said I still see value in what is called the Bible which was born from that council. There are historical elements, and there are good moral teachings. There are also some very nasty and I'd say evil parts of the bible (especially the older versions) but that is all found in the old testament. I typically tell Christians that I can get behind the Sermon on the Mount from Jesus Christ and that I personally think Christians who follow the teachings of the New Testament and don't use the Old Testament to justify their actions will generally be pretty decent people.
I read other bibles as well. I collect them. You can find wisdom in most such texts. I am of the opinion that there must be at least some things of substance within most religious texts if they are to survive. They are like the pillars to hold up the roof upon the structure of that text. What is shoved between those pillars can be a very different matter.
I don't say any of this to attack your religion. Especially on this day of all days. I've always seen Christmas as a very loving day to spend time with the family. This is a good thing.
I also don't have problems with Christians who actually practice their faith and don't just label themselves as such while being vile people... An evil person can easily put on a robe. That doesn't suddenly make them good.
As to my past posts about Cultural Appropriation. I have said it does not exist. I was wrong. It exists. It simply is not present in the places most people claim. For me the truly deserving things for that label are those that take something of another culture and then wipe the memory of the older culture from history. It is taking a pagan group's holiday and turning it into one for your religion so that it is easier to convert the pagans and then banning, condemning, and erasing the rest of the pagan culture.
These days I'd say that almost every use of the label "Cultural Appropriation" is false. It is not appropriation. It is appreciation. They are not erasing a culture. They are saying I really like those clothes, I really like that music, I really like that food, I really like those ideas. I am going to add those things into who I AM.
Culture is not static. Culture is not owned. Culture is ideas.
It is not the same as race. Race you don't have a choice in.
Culture you do. It can be added to. You can remove things from it. It can and should change with you.
It is also at the heart of such things as "Lead by example".
How are you supposed to lead if those who follow you are then attacked for cultural appropriation?
Some potentially upsetting and negative things went into this post. I truly did not plan on going that way today of all days. Yet that is where my mind and my stream of consciousness went. I can view these things without them becoming a negative anchor on my soul or my day. Words are things to think about. They are not shackles, mandates, demands, etc. I hope that I have not upset anyone too badly today. If I have. I apologize as that was not my intent. It is simply the path my mind wandered upon today.
EDIT:
I was in a hurry and didn't properly spell the VerifyYourBrain tag. Oh well.