Sometimes, not too often, I go to the mall or Sprawl-Mart during the shopping madness. I park on the outer edge of the lot so I don’t get frustrated trying to find a spot close to the door and then I enjoy watching the human condition in the stores. Ever seen people rush to get the last of toy off the shelf before somebody else can?

My lovely atheist husband attempted to go to Wal*Mart yesterday for a non-holiday related household item and said the parking lot was completely full. This was about 2PM.

Happy fictional birthday of an imaginary deity born of an allegedly virgin mommie to all, and to all a good night.

What do you mean they were all non-Christians? Just because they were shopping late in the day on Christmas eve?

I think that’s just more of the fact that religion and capitalism have blended into one all-out holiday called Christmas. That’s just one reason why I think it’s silly to try to divide them into one thing that’s religious and another thing that’s not religious. The two angles are displayed and enjoyed by both religious and semi-religious people. But the vast majority of devout Christians seem to be doing both very reliably every year.

Greed and Christianity have always gone together. Even Jesus was greedy, in wanting so much glory for himself, while he could get it. He got a lot of it too.

My pastor used to say Jesus rode into town on a donkey, which was a great priviledge in that town, so he looked great. Just like Christians do now, at the mall.

At least that’s how it seems to me. Plus now corporations admit to being reliant on the Christmas shopping season. It’s really quite sad. lol

Joe Zamecki
Austin

Has the non-Christian population grown? Yup. They are more vocal and more obvious too.

According to the Pew Forums 2008 US Religious Landscape Survey 16.1% of Americans self identify as unaffiliated with any religion. This places us third after protestant and catholic xians as the largest religious affiliation group. The nonreligious are just now finding our voice and the next few years will see the nonbelievers become a force to be reckoned with.

http://religions.pewforum.org/affiliations

“My pastor used to say Jesus rode into town on a donkey, which was a great priviledge in that town, so he looked great. Just like Christians do now, at the mall.”

One of the gospels relates, that just before he was executed, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on his ass, I mean mule. His followers laid palm branches along his path. This likely never happened, it was an attempt to claim fulfillment of a prophecy of Isaiah about the coming of the Messiah.
But, we can still draw modern day parallels if we want to stretch them far enough. In modern mall parking lots, the asses are not being ridden, they are doing the driving. Santa Claus finally got his Christmas wish, and the average American is as fat as he is. And that rattling bubbly sound you here in the food court of the mall, it used to be some naive innocent teenager finishing his Pepsi, but now its the sound of the greedy bastards sucking the last life out of the middle class. And now stand back and watch and see the truth, Reagan was full of shit, prosperity does not trickle down, pain trickles up. Hang on to your seat folks, this is going to be a rough ride.

NeoWolfe

The proof is in some of the answers…

Dave…when you were younger, only one parent had to work. Now, thanks to mostly taxes and the belief that fulfillment of life can only occur in the work place, both parents work…

And besides…what’s wrong with believers shopping later on Christmas Eve?

You seem to argue from both sides of the fence. In a thread like this you want all to believe that Christians ruled the shopping season years ago. That non-believers were far and few between. Very low in numbers. Christmas Eve as Christmas was considered a holy day. Sure sounds like a nation running as if it were based upon Christianity.

Now, you want to claim that the secular and non-christian part of our society have grown to the point (as Alex trys to prove) that malls are overwhelmed with them, and that they are shopping on what use to be considered the beginning of the holy season of Christmas.

Either we are a religious nation or we are not. These types of threads tend to weaken the concept of the “myth”…

Alex…

Not true. Your suvey states 1.6% are atheists. 2.4% agnostic. 12.1% nothing in particular. Nothing in particular does not necessarily mean non-beleiver…

http://religions.pewforum.org/affiliations

Neo…

Comment from: neowolfe [Member]

…it was an attempt to claim fulfillment of a prophecy of Isaiah about the coming of the Messiah.

Ah…no. Shallow studies revealing themselves again I see….

Try Zechariah 9:9

But hey…Isaiah…Zechariah. What does it matter if one gets the facts straight…

Joe Zamecki
Austin, Texas

Alex said:

According to the Pew Forums 2008 US Religious Landscape Survey 16.1% of Americans self identify as unaffiliated with any religion.

You said:

Not true. Your suvey states 1.6% are atheists. 2.4% agnostic. 12.1% nothing in particular. Nothing in particular does not necessarily mean non-beleiver…

Where, oh where, did Alex say that 16% were atheists? It only said unaffiliated with any religion.

His quoted numbers are dead on, whether you like it or not. A little reading comprehension is needed, me thinks.