# Christmas, what a crock.



## The_Banker (16 Dec 2011)

Does anyone else hate Xmas?

Ok, so hate might be too strong a word but I certainly dislike it. The season seems to start in the middle of November and finish is early January. The decorations everywhere look cheap and tacky and real Christmas trees are dumped willy nilly by the so called ho ho ho fraternity. 

While I am as capitalistic as the next man there is definitely gouging in prices just because it is the time of festive cheer. I do however hate the clowns of middle age men who wear xmas themed ties and Ryan Tubridy type toy show jumpers to work. I want to shoot them or cut out their livers. It should be a firing offence. 

All day today I have people coming up to me in work asking why I am not going to the company get together tonight (I refuse to call it a party). While I have to work with them I am under no obligation to socialise with them. And it this current economic environment I certainly am not going to face the icy roads for an Xmas party that consists of 2 beers vouchers and some paltry finger food in a local pub. Why do all Xmas parties have to revolve around alcohol?

Xmas is for children and letting them enjoy it rather than fools of adults who see it as a time for them to get blotto at parties and act the maggot. 

I am not a total grinch as I love the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” but the Christmas season should start on Christmas Eve and end when St Stephens Day is over.


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## micmclo (16 Dec 2011)

I hate the use of Xmas


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## The_Banker (16 Dec 2011)

micmclo said:


> I hate the use of Xmas


 

Good... if I am annoying other people then bloody good.


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## xeresod (16 Dec 2011)

I looooooovvvvveeee christmas!

(And don't mind xmas either)


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## TarfHead (16 Dec 2011)

I agree with much of what you say, but would not go so far as to say I hate Christmas.

I love Christmas morning with the kids discovering their presents. I love Christmas dinner and all the trimmings. I make a point of avoiding turkey & ham and mince pies at all other times. I love the time off work and those lazy days when getting dressed is optional.

I hate the first sights and sounds of Christmas. To me anything earlier than 8th December is too soon. I can't bear the ads on TV after Christmas Day advertising the sales. The general assumption that everyone spends Christmas in a drunken haze annoys me.


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## micmclo (16 Dec 2011)

I love the fact that in our parish "midnight mass" is at seven pm 

Only in Ireland


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## z107 (16 Dec 2011)

There's enough bad stuff happening in the world to start hating the enjoyable (for some) stuff.

Certain parts of Christmas I feel are disagreeable - crowds, rush, religion, trying to think of presents to give people etc, but I try to enjoy the good parts.


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## liaconn (16 Dec 2011)

I normally love Christmas but am not really getting into it this year for some reason.   Maybe because its not very Christmassy where I work, and I'm nowhere near the city centre for all the general may hem and meeting up with people for a drink after work before doing some late night shopping etc.


The worst thing about Christmas is that as soon as its over you're into January.


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## micmclo (16 Dec 2011)

umop3p!sdn said:


> Certain parts of Christmas I feel are disagreeable -religion, .



There are a few different smilies I could use here
Not sure whether you're being funny or confusing or sarcastic


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## shopgirl (16 Dec 2011)

I'm not usually a great fan of Christmas however last year I was unwell & not able to take part in any of the Xmas stuff.  This year I'm feeling great so I'm really enjoying it all, I've been out every night this week and have lots more social stuff lined up for the next week!  We don't go mad buying presents but it's nice to give & receive even token gifts.  So this Xmas for me is one of the best, simply because I still have clear memories of how I felt this time last year & this year I'm appreciating how good it feels to be healthy.


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## Leper (17 Dec 2011)

I look on Christmas as a special time of year.  I enjoy contact with those who travel from other countries just to be near their family and friends. It is a time to settle disagreements and reflection.  Sorry to be sounding like a priest giving the homily at 7.00pm Midnight Mass.

But, people are ruining Christmas.  Over commercialism, hyped up rat-race, sacred-cows, etc have degraded Christmas.  Worse again, many participate in the fake, forgetting that you cannot have a rat-race without rats.

Christmas/New Year is a wonderful time, let's keep it that way.


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## BOXtheFOX (17 Dec 2011)

I just wish that I had purchased a bigger fridge when I was getting it replaced. I can't seem to fit all the extra bits and pieces in my current one. 
The storing of and putting up of Christmas decorations is a pain but lovely when they are up.
I love my all year round family and friends visiting, not just the Christmas ones.
I like the peace and quiet also.


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## june (17 Dec 2011)

I have small kids so Santa and getting them to mass are the only important things to me  at christmas time. Santa appears at the end of the christmas eve mass and tells them all to go off to bed quickly.

I'm allergic to fuss and hassle so I opt out of all the rest of it. I often think Christmas is only work for women!!! 

It is particularly hard for people this year with all the talk of impending financial armageddon. The commercialism has I think been put into perspective.


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## Sue Ellen (17 Dec 2011)

Season of goodwill - try gettin' out of a side road in front of them and see how good they are to ya.

Tried walking down Grafton St. yesterday evening and the sighing, pushing and shoving that went on didn't seem like much goodwill to me


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## BOXtheFOX (17 Dec 2011)

Sue Ellen said:


> ried walking down Grafton St. yesterday evening and the sighing, pushing and shoving that went on didn't seem like much goodwill to me


 
Was that you walking in a determined straight line then?


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## Sue Ellen (18 Dec 2011)

BOXtheFOX said:


> Was that you walking in a determined straight line then?



Eh, not really when it was just after work Christmas lunch


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## oldnick (18 Dec 2011)

I've always hated Xmas. yes, hated. My depressioj increases each day closer and I feel a new lease of life after St Stephens.
My wife loves it. So do her parents and siblings family. Odd,really, considering I married into a Punjabi Sikh family and I'm the (supposed) Christian.

Many years ago I put my foot down. I said no more Xmas in cold weather visitng every relation and swapping gifts nobody wants. I'm a travel agent,for goodness,sake and I'm booking two tickets to Morocco and some great hotels in exotic locations. I waved the tickets in front of her and showed her pictures of the hotels.

So as I flew off alone to Agadir's sunny beaches I thought, well at least I'm free of all that Xmas crap for a fortnight. And I made especially sure that on Xmas Day i'd stay off the beaten track where there'd be no Merry-bloody-Xms types. I stayed in a third rate hotel twenty miles down the coast from Agadir. A few Moroccans from the cities. No tourists except back-packers in tents on the beach. Great !

On Xmas Day I  see the owner and his wife with Santa Claus hats, shouting Happy Xmas and boasting of their special Xmas lunch for all the British,irish ,American etc backpackers. The place got jammed packed with carol singing hippies.

aAAAAAAH !

I'm not sure why i wrote this.


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## Liamos (19 Dec 2011)

Bah humbug! What is wrong with you people? We live in bad enough times as it is without moaning about Christmas. Some people have nothing better to do than moan, moan, moan. If you want to moan get onto Joe Duffy.

For me Christmas is a wonderful time, watching the look on your kids faces when they open their presents from Santa,catching up with family and friends as well as enjoying a few days off from work.

So to all the moanies, cheer up and Happy Christmas!


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## Purple (19 Dec 2011)

june said:


> I often think Christmas is only work for women!!!



Tell that to my wife. I’ll be cooking for my own family (4 kids, wife and me) plus ten of her family. So that’s 16 for Christmas dinner. I’ll be lucky if she helps with the washing up!
Women!

Anyway, I love Christmas. I love the break from work when everyone else is off so no phone calls from work or customers or suppliers and so 400 emails when I get back.
I love Christmas eve and Christmas day and the few lazy days between Christmas and New Year.


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## Firefly (19 Dec 2011)

Purple said:


> I love Christmas eve and Christmas day and the few lazy days between Christmas and New Year.


 
Best week of the year and the week leading up to it (ie today onwards) is pretty good too.


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## liaconn (19 Dec 2011)

Liamos said:


> Bah humbug! What is wrong with you people? We live in bad enough times as it is without moaning about Christmas. Some people have nothing better to do than moan, moan, moan. If you want to moan get onto Joe Duffy.
> 
> For me Christmas is a wonderful time, watching the look on your kids faces when they open their presents from Santa,catching up with family and friends as well as enjoying a few days off from work.
> 
> So to all the moanies, cheer up and Happy Christmas!


 
I enjoy Christmas but I do recognise that many people find it a difficult/lonely/stressful time of the year. They're not all 'moaners' you know.


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## Complainer (19 Dec 2011)

oldnick said:


> I've always hated Xmas. yes, hated. My depressioj increases each day closer and I feel a new lease of life after St Stephens.
> My wife loves it. So do her parents and siblings family. Odd,really, considering I married into a Punjabi Sikh family and I'm the (supposed) Christian.
> 
> Many years ago I put my foot down. I said no more Xmas in cold weather visitng every relation and swapping gifts nobody wants. I'm a travel agent,for goodness,sake and I'm booking two tickets to Morocco and some great hotels in exotic locations. I waved the tickets in front of her and showed her pictures of the hotels.
> ...



This may be a dumb question, but just to clarify - she declined your kind offer and sent you off on your own? Were there any kids around at that stage?


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## oldnick (19 Dec 2011)

No, comrade, this was pre-child -about 20 years ago. Once kid came along we put up Xmas decorations ,tree, and I went along with the whole thing -preparing snacks for the reindeers etc etc.
Now child is 18 yr and Xmas means going out with friends to clubs and parties, so i'm sinking back into my pre-child Xmas depression.

On a side note she blames me for creating doubt re Santa Claus .

She wanted a go-kart. We got the best. She hardly used it. One day ,without thinking ,I said  "what a pity you don't use this considering how much trouble we went to searching and then assembling it."
"What do you mean Dad? Father Xmas brought it. Didn't he? Dad, did Father Xmas bring it...?"
Having just learned there was no Tooth Fairy and because of my mumbling  response 
she was quick to ask " *Is* there a Father Christmas ? "
I'm sure doubts had already been raised by her  school friends -not aided by my stuttering  unconvincing response, because she answered her own question "There isn't is there ?"
And ,then ,scariest of all comments .."I'm telling Mum you said there's no Father Xmas"  (which I had'nt actually said)
Followed by
" What about This post will be deleted if not edited immediately ?"


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## Purple (19 Dec 2011)

oldnick said:


> No, comrade, this was pre-child -about 20 years ago. Once kid came along we put up Xmas decorations ,tree, and I went along with the whole thing -preparing snacks for the reindeers etc etc.
> Now child is 18 yr and Xmas means going out with friends to clubs and parties, so i'm sinking back into my pre-child Xmas depression.
> 
> On a side note she blames me for creating doubt re Santa Claus .
> ...



I presume you spilled the beans on the whole This post will be deleted if not edited immediately thing as well then.


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## truthseeker (19 Dec 2011)

Purple said:


> I presume you spilled the beans on the whole This post will be deleted if not edited immediately thing as well then.



Im totally shocked that you are comparing This post will be deleted if not edited immediately to the Tooth Fairy and Santa!!! 

Santa and the Tooth Fairy give you *REAL* presents.


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## oldnick (19 Dec 2011)

My reply was somewhat akin to that given by North Koreans ( And on the same basis -fear ). "Ask Mummy -The Dear Leader knows everything".


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## JP1234 (20 Dec 2011)

I wouldn't go as far as hating it but I do dislike the forced cheeriness, the expectation that everyone should be whooping with delight at the sight of a bit of tinsel. 

 I just wish people would consider that it can be a dreadful time of year for others. My father in law passed away 25 years ago the week before christmas and my mother in law was told on Friday she has liver cancer, she was called miserable by a relative on Sunday for not putting up a tree.( Granted the relative didn't know about the cancer but they knew it was the anniversary of her husband's passing)  I had 2 close relatives die on Christmas and St Stephens Day.

One thing that does really irritate me is being telling you how stressed out they are with finding presents/doing the shopping...It comes round EVERY year..plan ahead and stop making such a big deal of doing a bit of shopping!

I do enjoy Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, it's a good time to relax and enjoy people's company.


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## shammy feen (20 Dec 2011)

liamos said:


> bah humbug! What is wrong with you people? We live in bad enough times as it is without moaning about christmas. Some people have nothing better to do than moan, moan, moan. If you want to moan get onto joe duffy.
> 
> For me christmas is a wonderful time, watching the look on your kids faces when they open their presents from santa,catching up with family and friends as well as enjoying a few days off from work.
> 
> So to all the moanies, cheer up and happy christmas!


 
+1


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## roker (27 Dec 2011)

Your kids trust you and you tell them lies about Santa. 
If you look at Bible chronology you will find that This post will be deleted if not edited immediately was not born Christmas day.
I would rather have the 10 days holiday in the summer when the evenings are lighter and I can go somewhere nice, instead of trying to get to relatives in the bad weather


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## ninsaga (27 Dec 2011)

roker said:


> Your kids trust you and you tell them lies about Santa.
> If you look at Bible chronology you will find that This post will be deleted if not edited immediately was not born Christmas day.
> I would rather have the 10 days holiday in the summer when the evenings are lighter and I can go somewhere nice, instead of trying to get to relatives in the bad weather



...so you're getting 10 days holidays & still moaning about it..... do you work in the public service by any chance!


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## oldnick (27 Dec 2011)

_Roker says - This post will be deleted if not edited immediately was not born on Xmas Day._

However, detailed theological study reveal that Mary and Joseph deliberately chose to have This post will be deleted if not edited immediately on Xmas Day thus avoiding having to buy two sets of presents every year, a very wise decision for a poor Jewish couple.


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## liaconn (28 Dec 2011)

ninsaga said:


> ...so you're getting 10 days holidays & still moaning about it..... do you work in the public service by any chance!


 
And you're on a thread about Christmas and you still find an opportunity to moan about the Public Service! Are you a 'deluded about your wonderfulness' private sector worker by any chance? 
Lucky people who get ten days holidays. I'm back in work tomorrowl


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## Purple (28 Dec 2011)

liaconn said:


> And you're on a thread about Christmas and you still find an opportunity to moan about the Public Service! Are you a 'deluded about your wonderfulness' private sector worker by any chance?
> Lucky people who get ten days holidays. I'm back in work tomorrowl



Yea, leave the public sector alone.
I always thought Santa must be a public sector employee; he sleeps most of the year but when he does work he thinks he overshadows This post will be deleted if not edited immediately Christ.


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## S.L.F (28 Dec 2011)

oldnick said:


> No, comrade, this was pre-child -about 20 years ago. Once kid came along we put up Xmas decorations ,tree, and I went along with the whole thing -preparing snacks for the reindeers etc etc.
> Now child is 18 yr and Xmas means going out with friends to clubs and parties, so i'm sinking back into my pre-child Xmas depression.
> 
> On a side note she blames me for creating doubt re Santa Claus .
> ...



My mother has the best solution for the question is there a Santa Claus.

"Children who don't believe in Santa don't get any presents"

Amazing how long they can hold out for!

@oldnic.........you crack me up.

(EDIT...Regarding the reason for the thread I also hate Christmas and have done for years.)


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## liaconn (28 Dec 2011)

Purple said:


> Yea, leave the public sector alone.
> I always thought Santa must be a public sector employee; he sleeps most of the year but when he does work he thinks he overshadows This post will be deleted if not edited immediately Christ.


 
Funny, that's why I always thought he worked in the Private Sector.

Puffed up ego; lets the parents do the work while he struts around taking the credit; only shows up at the most inconvenient hour of the day. Definitely private sector.


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## oldnick (28 Dec 2011)

It must be psychological -maybe connected to this SAD darkness thing - but now that Xmas has passed and I've just come back from the weekend in Bombay (Well, Birmingham actually but where I was you couldn't tell the difference) I feel like a prisoner released from a month of Noelish torture.

I'm in a good mood and am wishing everyone peace and goodwill on earth (or as my religious Greek mum would embarrasingly pronounce it to her neighbours - _I wish you all p**s on earth_).

To celebrate my post Xmas glee my wife and I are going on a nice holiday. I'm going to Florida. I don't know where she's going.


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## PaddyW (28 Dec 2011)

liaconn said:


> Funny, that's why I always thought he worked in the Private Sector.
> 
> Puffed up ego; lets the parents do the work while he struts around taking the credit; only shows up at the most *inconvenient* hour of the day. Definitely private sector.


 
Surely he comes at a convenient time, when the kids are in bed? If he was meant to come during the day time, how would you get them to believe??


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## S.L.F (28 Dec 2011)

liaconn said:


> Funny, that's why I always thought he worked in the Private Sector.
> 
> Puffed up ego; lets the parents do the work while he struts around taking the credit; only shows up at the most inconvenient hour of the day. Definitely private sector.



Not to mention he produces the pressies claims he gave them to your kids but it is the parents who pay for it.

Not to mention I saw the Norad satilite view of what he was doing and he sure was zipping around.

Gets a years worth of work done in one night.

Deffo something wrong there if it only takes him one night to call to everybody.

Also he does not pay his staff.

Questions have been raised before about his methods and how he treats his staff.

He's deffo private sector.


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## gipimann (28 Dec 2011)

liaconn said:


> And you're on a thread about Christmas and you still find an opportunity to moan about the Public Service! Are you a 'deluded about your wonderfulness' private sector worker by any chance?
> Lucky people who get ten days holidays. I'm back in work tomorrowl



...and I'm back in work today, no 10 days of holidays for me either


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## becky (28 Dec 2011)

gipimann said:


> ...and I'm back in work today, no 10 days of holidays for me either



I'm back Friday, today and tomorrow are concession days.  Isn't this year the last of them?


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## liaconn (29 Dec 2011)

becky said:


> I'm back Friday, today and tomorrow are concession days. Isn't this year the last of them?


 
We didn't get concession days. If people wanted any time off apart from Monday in lieu of Christmas Day and Tuesday in lieu of the Stephens Day bank holiday they had to take them out of their annual leave allowance.


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## The_Banker (29 Dec 2011)

Peace and Goodwill at the time of "Our Lords" birth eh 


The annual cleaning of one of Christianity’s holiest churches deteriorated into a brawl between rival clergy today, as dozens of monks feuding over sacred space at the Church of the Nativity battled each other with brooms until police intervened.

The ancient church, built over the traditional site of This post will be deleted if not edited immediately’ birth in Bethlehem, is shared by three Christian denominations – Catholics, Armenians and Greek Orthodox. The fight erupted between Greek and Armenian clergy, with both sides accusing each other of encroaching on parts of the church to which they lay claim.

The monks were tidying up the church ahead of Orthodox Christmas celebrations in early January, following celebrations by Western Christians on December 25. The fight erupted between monks along the border of their respective areas. Some shouted and hurled brooms.

Palestinian security forces rushed in to break up the melee, and no serious injuries were reported.

A fragile status quo governs relations among the denominations at the ancient church, and to repair or clean a part of the structure is to own it, according to accepted practice. That means that letting other sects clean part of the church could allow one to gain ground at another’s expense. Similar fights have taken place during the same late-December cleaning effort in the past.

Tensions between rival clergy at the church have been a fact of life there for centuries and have often been caught up in international politics.

In the 1800s, friction between the denominations at the church – each backed by foreign powers – became so fraught that Russian tsar Nicholas I deployed troops along the Danube to threaten a Turkish sultan who had been favouring the Catholics over the Orthodox.

Those disagreements threaten the integrity of the church itself, which was originally built 1,500 years ago and parts of which have fallen into disrepair. Although the roof has needed urgent work for decades, and leaking rainwater has ruined much of the priceless artwork inside, a renovation has been delayed by disagreements among the denominations over who would pay.

Only recently, the Palestinian Authority brokered an agreement to move ahead with replacing the roof, and officials hope work will begin next year. 
Read more: http://www.breakingnews.ie/world/br...rch-of-the-nativity-533787.html#ixzz1hvC9nS6h


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## oldnick (30 Dec 2011)

Banker..

.. your last post reminds me of the time I climbed the Mount of Temptation just outside Jericho. The steep hill path is  (or was in 1966) blocked by a small greek orthodox monastry. When I and my travelling companion got to the gate it was closed. I knocked on the door and a monk shouted in broken English -we're closed till tomorrow.
I replied in Greek which surprised him and his fellow monks. They opened the door and were friendly to someone they considered a true fellow Christian Greek Orthodox (which my mother was). I didnt tell them that i was a Proddy of the atheistic branch.

They were extremely friendly (so much so that i wondered whether they were going to extend the type of friendship that catholic clergy can show young men). But they were quite hostile to my Christian, but non-Orthodox, friend. It seemed that a Moslem or Jew would have been treated better than a non-Orthodox Christian "who aren't true Christains" I was assured).

My father had a similar experience with his parents when he returned from the War saying he was marrying a Greek. "Oh no a Catholic!" my Orange grandparents  wailed. "No, she's Greek Orthodox".  "Thank God" they replied.

If religion doesn't turn one's stomach it can at least sometimes make you laugh.


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## The_Banker (30 Dec 2011)

oldnick said:


> Banker..
> 
> .. your last post reminds me of the time I climbed the Mount of Temptation just outside Jericho. The steep hill path is (or was in 1966) blocked by a small greek orthodox monastry. When I and my travelling companion got to the gate it was closed. I knocked on the door and a monk shouted in broken English -we're closed till tomorrow.
> I replied in Greek which surprised him and his fellow monks. They opened the door and were friendly to someone they considered a true fellow Christian Greek Orthodox (which my mother was). I didnt tell them that i was a Proddy of the atheistic branch.
> ...


 

Good post Oldnick, it made me laugh!!


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## micmclo (30 Dec 2011)

The_Banker said:


> The ancient church, built over the traditional site of This post will be deleted if not edited immediately’ birth in Bethlehem, is shared by three Christian denominations – Catholics, Armenians and Greek Orthodox.



And for that church the keyholder is a Muslim as the Christians don't trust any of the others Christian groups to do it

So the Muslim is neutral, well sort of.
The arrangement works anyway


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## Ancutza (31 Dec 2011)

> ....he sleeps most  of the year but when he does work he thinks he overshadows This post will be deleted if not edited immediately Christ.



At least Santa exists. This post will be deleted if not edited immediately Christ is a figment of his own imagination, out there ripping it up with some other imaginary deliquent called Allah causing mayhem wherever they set up shop....off to Newgrange for the solstice with the lot of you.


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