The difficulty I see if that the solstice is a naturally occurring event that peoples in "ancient" times decided to celebrate and believe certain things about because of different knowledge and needs. So you get an ancient "time" and over the many many years, 1000s, things get added and taken away and religions come and go until you have a holiday today that various people celebrate various ways, some in a religious fashion and some in a secular and some not at all because they have difficulty with or don't like either. We have a "winter break" in work, before the arbitrary same-day a week later break for the "new year." The calendars have changed and other parts of the world and other religions use different dates for the new year and that's all fine.

But what I don't get is why the people who don't observe/want to observe Christmas, object to those who do and want those who do observe Christmas to observe "solstice" instead? Why does someone care what I call it and what I feel/believe when I celebrate it and that we all take off December 25 but don't care that we take off July 4 or the 2nd Monday in February? So it's called "Christmas" and represents the birth of Jesus Christ to some, so what? It's around the solstice, around Hannukah, around etc. and people have Santa come or have Santa run over Grandma with his reindeer; the Government and most businesses close that day and some benighted states or localities might have additional "religous" laws because they're in the Bible belt, the people vote, it's still a democracy, sorry you're the "wrong" party! My state is all Democratic and my husband's a Republican; and some places are Christian and close their government a certain day and not others. Some vote to be "dry" counties and not others too, how dare they when I want a drink? It's all a cultural phenomenon, not a religious plot! Nobody gets everything exactly like they want it!

It reminds me of when a department store I worked for had scissors on sale but only "right handed" ones, not left-handed ones, the left-handed ones were regular/double the sale price and I thought it was discrimination because I'm left handed. My husband patiently explained to me that I could buy all the right-handed scissors I wanted, no one was stopping me from buying what was on sale. It's no different from when they have women's underwear on sale but not men's that week :-) Discrimination is when you're not allowed to choose whatever is being offered, not that it differs from what you [/i]want[/i]. If the house is for sale to anyone but you, that's discrimination. If all the businesses close, it's a day off, not discrimination because you don't believe they "should" be closed and you want to work. Elect a different congressman and get him to vote it that way; it's called society and "majority rules." You want to call the 25th of December "Solstice" -- great! I'm calling it "Christmas." You want Congress to pass a law calling it "Solstice" -- Great! I'm calling it "Christmas."