Christmas Is Cancelled This Year Quiz

Answer: Seventh Day Adventist

Many Seventh Day Adventists not only do not celebrate Christmas as a church holiday, but actually none of the traditional Christian holidays. Instead, they observe the Jewish Sabbath from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset and their main worship service is, accordingly, on Sabbath. Some Seventh Day Adventist families and communities do celebrate Christmas, but it is not part of core church doctrine.

Christian denominations rejecting Christmas include Jehovah's Witnesses and the Westboro Baptist Church, and they quote Jeremiah 10, 3-5 as a reason:

For the practices of the peoples are worthless;
they cut a tree out of the forest,
and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.
They adorn it with silver and gold;
they fasten it with hammer and nails
so it will not totter.
Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field,
their idols cannot speak;
they must be carried
because they cannot walk.

(Bible quote according to NIV)

Answer: Judaism

I am, of course, taking about Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights. Lighting the nine-armed menorah is a key part of the celebration which celebrates the rededication of the Temple as told in the Talmud and the Books of Maccabees. The eight days of Hanukkah reflect the eight days that the ancient temple's menhorah is believed to have been lit with a single flask of oil. One of the Hanukkah traditions is the giving of Gelt - usually small monetary presents - to children. Due to the difference between the Jewish and Gregorian calendar, Hanukkah is not always celebrated entirely in December; as an example, 2021's Hanukkah begins on November 28.

Answer: Your own

In spite of a common misconception, LaVeyan Satanism does not involve devil worship, but is rather atheist in nature. The derivation of "Satanist" is via the Hebrew word meaning "adversary" and signifies the opposition to monotheistic belief. Satanism is centered on the self as the most important entity and promotes indulgence and joy in the earthly life - as such, it shouldn't be surprising that each practitioner's own birthday is also the most holy day of the year in that religion.

Answer: Eid al-Fitr

Eid al-Fitr, considered the second holiest day in the Islamic calendar, marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan during which devout Muslims do not eat, drink, smoke or have sexual relations between sunrise and sunset. A special prayer is held on this day which - unlike most Islamic prayers - cannot be offered in private but requires attending a, usually large, congregation. Christmas lovers among you would certainly recognize the feast and gift-giving that are part of the tradition.

Answer: Diwali

Diwali, also called Deepavali, commemorates the victory of light over darkness and the return of Rama and his faithful from a years-long exile. It is celebrated in late October or early November and has found some popularity around the world as a joyful celebration even among non-Hindus. Jainists and Sikh also celebrate Diwali with a similar theme although the scripture is different in each case.

If, for some reason, other major Western holidays were cancelled as well, you might want to add Holi, the spring festival of colors, to your calendar instead of Easter and Onam, a harvest festival, as a substitute for Thanksgiving.

Answer: May

Vesak, although formally styled as Buddha's birthday, rather celebrates not only his birth but his entire life, in particular also his enlightenment and death. The formal assignment of the date as Buddha's birthday is quite recent, having been made only in 1950 of the Gregorian Calendar (2493 Buddhist Era).

While the specific dates vary from country to country, the most common observance day for Vesak is the full moon of May. The main exception is Japan, where Vesak was fixed to April 8 during the secularization of the calendar during the Meiji regime. In China, Vesak celebrations are not tied to the full moon and usually (but not always) occur a week earlier than in other countries.

Answer: Islamic calendar

Bahá'u'lláh was born on 2 Muharram, 1233 AH (Nov 12, 1817) and the Báb was born two years later on 1 Muharram, 1235 AH (Oct 20, 1819). However, since 2015, they are not actually observed on these dates, but the observance rather uses a formula similar to the Christian Easter date one: The Twin Birthdays are celebrated on the two days following the eighth new moon of the Bahá'i year. Prior to 2015, the date determination was dependent on where an adherent lived: A Bahá'i follower in the Middle East would celebrate according to the Islamic calendar, while one elsewhere would celebrate according to the Gregorian calendar, which moved the two days apart from each other.

The new formula is a compromise, keeping the two days together and related to a new moon as in the Islamic calendar, but also in the vicinity of the original Gregorian October / November dates.

Answer: Hinduism

While not one of the major Hindu festivals, Tulsi Pujan Diwas is one of the relatively few that is firmly tied to the solar year and thus occurs on the same Gregorian date every year. It celebrates the Tulsi plant which is one of the most important healing herbs in Ayurveda medicine. Both the Islamic and the Judaic calendar are fully lunar, so their dates drift across the years, and Buddhists, while using a calendar based on the Hindu one, do not have a feast day on December 25.

Answer: None, it is meant as an entirely secular holiday

Festivus began as a family holiday in the family of author Dan O'Keefe in the late 1960s, but became widely known only in 1997 when it was featured in an episode of the television show "Seinfeld". It is a parody on Christmas, but is gradually also becoming a serious alternative celebration by those who oppose the excessive commercial exploitation of the Christmas season.

Answer: Yule

The Pagan Yule celebration is timed to the winter solstice (December 21 or 22) and has greatly influenced the way Christmas is celebrated in Europe and North America. In fact, the word "yuletide" used in some Christmas carols still reflects these traditions, which predates Christianity by many centuries.

Many Christmas traditions, including the tree and lights, actually can be traced back to Yule origins, so as a modern Pagan or Wicca, you could celebrate Yule and your neighbors would absolutely believe you're fully into the Christmas spirit (except for the two day difference).