Hcheh

lool its a minor spelling mistake, we've all had one of those every now and then.

I questioned his credentials as well, he claimed that aside from Christians, there are no pieces of historical evidence pertaining to the existence of Jesus. And of course, he did not know that the bible was originally hebrew

"the real meaning" of Christmas was lost in translation

but in our modern society, who really thinks of Santa as a saint, and who perceives a Christmas tree symbolically? Who really thinks about the birth of Christ? Maybe the regular church goers, but even some of them think about family, giving gifts..etc. rather than what it actually means. You can talk about Christmas, the history of all these symbols, what people label it as, but in reality, through the actions of people, it is now more of a secular holiday.

Besides, back to the original argument, Christmas does not imply an official Christian religion. You are able to take leave whenever it is a religious holiday of your own kind (Jewish holidays, Eid, whatever)

Not really, not everybody who identifies himself/herself as a christian necessarily celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. Like I said, the holiday has been so commercialized that it could be considered a secular holiday. You can label it however you want, but through people's actions, it is a secular holiday. Anyhow, what is there about Christmas on public display that offends anybody? It's mostly Santa Claus and Christmas trees.

Many people say they are Catholic, Christian, Jewish but they do not practise it. For example, among many reasons, a lot of people say they are a religion because of family background.

The secular group is probably just as large, or even larger than the religious group. At any rate, Christmas time is not what a religion would like it to be, it is probably more commercial than anything else.

nah, hes just an annual tourist

That is what I said before, this only shows that celebration during "Christmas time" is not entirely Christian tradition. Therefore, leading back to the first claims of a secular Christmas time.

Coke made Santa - santa is the birth of commercialization of Christmas - gift giving isn't ONLY for chirstmas. That is another bad thing about christmas.. it makes people think like the only time to give a gift is for a wedding birth of a child, birthday, anniversary, or the gift giving holidays. No people can give gifts ANY DAY. It makes it utterly artificial and shallow. - Yep, just like Valentine's day There is no historical evidence jesus even lived, only a mention in a cult bible from a bunch of people that were edited heavily by the later churches. A lot didn't even make it in the bible. Don't patronize me by saying I don't know what I'm talking about. If you'd like to say that the three kings/wise men never existed that is your call for you. However I tell the "normative" version of this that is reinacted in children and not so young children plays around hte country annually. Why don't you give me some evidence jesus existed? - Actually, there are historical pieces of evidence, like the JEWISH historian Josephus. The real question asked by unbelievers is if Jesus was actually the man he claimed to be, and if he actually performed all those miracles.

First of all, how does a secular response mean that you hate the country?? Please don't shove words into people's mouths. Anyway, he has a point. Take a look at the general population and tell me that Christmas is still a specific Christian thing.. What does the Christmas tree, presents, Santa Claus, partying have to do with the birth of Jesus Christ? If it was a religious thing, everybody would go to church that day and not spend it partying. Of course there are the ones who still go to church, but I am quite sure that isn't the majority of the population. Furthermore, the celebration around Christmas time was not always Christian. It started with pagan tradition, at least it predates anything other contemporary beliefs. Our barbarian ancestors would celebrate the worship of the Sun-God during this time because of how the days would start to lengthen around Christmas time. The celebration of "Christmas time" has many traditional ties. Protestantism just happened to be the official religion back then, so it arose above everything else. Secondly, "And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted". (Matthew 23:12) There is no room for egoism in Christianity, if one is misunderstood, you must explain.

We obviously have a western bias, cultural values are all subjective. It is a different matter if we agree with other societies or not, that is why we live here, not there. How do you even measure the "validity" of a culture? I do believe that every culture is equally valid, however, that doesn't mean we should convert to their ways if we don't agree with them.. Again, that is why we live here and not there. At any rate, you are comparing a moderate society with an extremist one.

Except we actually have the power to enforce and assert our interests. The un-assimilated Canadian group still remains a minority, there are many immigrant to citizen inhabitants who cherish the "Canadian culture" and it's values as much as anybody else.

Also, the ethnic Chinese population remains a minority. The minority is just heavily saturated into specific areas. (GTA area in Toronto, Ontario)

Still, there are no politically tied bounds with the Mandarin language, it would never slide.. And despite the numbers of mandarin speakers, English is still largely dominant

like what

loool I can't tell if you are kidding now.. There is no way that Mandarin will topple English from the official language seat. Also, the Quebecers would get mighty angry

those holidays are secular

There is nothing wrong with Ni Hao and Kai-lan.. But I don't get the Merry Christmas thing... That was mainly secular anyway

I didn't take it seriously haha, I think it was just an exaggeration to bring a point across

Nooooo way I would never let that happen.. I would fight with you! haha We should never have a state religion by the way

Well I guess knowing french is required in a way.. But you don't need to know french to apply or be considered. If you don't know french, they will teach you if it need be. By the way, that is just for becoming an intelligence officer, my friend's aunt is in some bureaucratic part of the CSIS (human resources I think?) and she doesn't know french.. I don't think you have to be very good at french anyway

lol sorry to revive this thread but.. completely off topic it isn't a requirement to join the CSIS 17. Do I need to be bilingual? You are not required to be bilingual in order to be considered for employment as an Intelligence Officer. However, if you are not bilingual, an assessment of your capacity to learn the second official language will be required, and training will be provided to eligible candidates. http://www.csis-scrs.gc.ca/crrs/fq-eng.asp#q17

Hum. Haha sorry, I guess I got the wrong message from some of the posts. If you guys are talking about the failure to assimilate into "Canadian culture" and values, then yes, I do believe that is a pretty huge problem.. I am all for immigration with the condition that the immigrants would be able to successfully assimilate. I still don't think being born in the country is a big deal, look at Omar Khadr for example.