Christmas Forgotten
The Mirror, Vol. 14, No. 696
“Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! Hi friends, it’s Christmas! Treat yourself this Christmas with a new audiobook reader! Happy Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays and Happy Xmas. Tonight is the big annual Christmas Fashion Show and Party…” – and many more I got.
How did all this happen? – Also in regions of the world with a Christian history, or among communities of Christians where this is not the case, Christmas is not so much a day of religious performance, but a day of historical remembrance. For them, Christmas is about remembering the birth of Jesus. And the story that began with it.
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Traditional Commercialization and Christmas
The Mirror, Vol. 14, No. 696
Christmas is a big deal in the West, especially in the United States which consumes and imports many Christmas products from China and other countries. It has been repeated time and again that Christmas has been increasingly commercialized over the past decades. And, if that is true, it has certainly become a traditionally commercial festival in the West. Having stayed in the US since early December 2010, or for four weeks, I come to the conclusion that Christmas is all about buying this year’s gifts with next year’s savings. I was told by a Cambodian friend who has lived here for over six years that after Christmas, most Americans go broke. People I met began to decorate their home with splendid expensive things and purchase gifts for family and friends. That is apparently true for they, according to my observation, had generously bought magnificent gifts for their beloved ones without much thought over money for tomorrow. My Cambodian host I am staying with ran from one store to another to buy his neighbours chocolates and postcards before Christmas day when I noticed many stores such as Walmart offered a great deal of Christmas products and clearance sales.
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Visak Bochea Day, a National Holiday
The Mirror, Vol. 14, No. 662
Deum Ampil had reported that “Cambodia will celebrate on Visak Bochea Day the birth, enlightenment and death to Nirvana of Lord Buddha on one day, the first full moon day on 28 April this year.
“’The ceremony this year will be presided over by Samdech Heng Samrin, President of the National Assembly, and it is conducted at Phnom Udong,’ quoting a statement from the National Assembly. Buddhists around the world will mark the same day.
Khmers from Kampuchea Krom in Vietnam and Uighurs from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 644
The following information is not saying that the situation of the Khmer people in Kampuchea Krom – now a part of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – and the situation of the Uighur people in the People’s Republic of China is the same. There are a lot of reasons to point to the differences – but still, there are similarities in spite of the many differences in history, culture, and politics.
A brief survey of both situations is presented her, because people from both regions have been in the press during the last week. But while people in Cambodia have general information about the history why Kampuchea Krom is not part of the Kingdom of Cambodia, which leads to an understandable immediate emotional relation – from Khmers to Khmers – there were hardly any reports in the Khmer press about the asylum seekers’ background. In one report they were even called “Chinese ethnic Uighurs” – on the other hand, it is not usual in the Khmer press to speak about “Vietnamese ethnic Khmers” when referring to Khmer people from Kampuchea Krom.
Fathers and Sons: A Remarkable Relationship
Fathers and sons can play a critical role in helping each other become the best that they can be.
By:
Elder M. Russell Ballard
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Quitting The Mormon Church
In a local newspaper there had been an ongoing series of articles written by individuals who wanted to persuade LDS Church Members to leave the church. In response to the highly critical and spirited remark a member wrote this rebuttal:
Dear Editor:
I have been thinking about quitting the Mormon Church.