What are the main differences between Christmas and Thanksgiving? Do Americans celebrate both Christmas and Thanksgiving?
by 
Luc Thiet Thuan
ANSWERS: 4
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Christmas is a Christian holiday, which is observed as a religious observance by Christians. Thanskgiving was certainly started by Christians, but it is not a religious holiday in Christianity -- it's a secular observance. I think most Christian Americans observe both holidays. But Thanksgiving is observed by Americans from all religious (or non-religious) backgrounds. (I'm sure there are people who don't observe Thanksgiving, but I think that's relatively rare.)
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Yes, we celebrate both. Thanksgiving is the 4th Thursday in November, and it started out when the Pilgrims had a feast and Native Americans also came (or so the story goes). Today it is just a day for friends and family and giving thanks and being grateful for what we have. And we eat a lot of turkey. Christmas is the day where we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. However, people who aren't Christians also celebrate it, and for them it is more of a time for family and presents and Santa Claus (though it is also that for Christians too, don't get me wrong). There are presents we put under the Christmas tree, and you usually have a big meal with family. Christians also go to Christmas Eve services, where you sing Christmas hymns and go over the Christmas story (of Jesus' birth).
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Christmas and Thanksgiving are holidays most Americans celebrate. Christmas, of course, celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. The holiday has now been highly commercialized. Thanksgiving originally celebrated the safe landing of Pilgrims in America soil. It's now celebrated as blessings of what we have.
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Christmas is the celebration of Jesus' birth. But it has become so commercialized, the meaning is lost. It's about buying presents for everybody whether you can afford it or not. Our economy really depends on christmas sales. Sad really. Thnxgiving is all about giving thanx for what we have and sharing w/ones who have little.
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