Hi - hope you don't mind me answering, it's just that your question captures something that I think has really been distorted or misunderstood in the discussions. As far as I know, no one - certainly not untrue_accounts or her commenters, including myself - objects to the fact that Yuletide is Christmas-themed. We're not Christian, but we understand that we live in a society where Christianity is the dominant religion, and Yuletide is a fun fannish activity, and that's fine. But Christmas isn't our tradition, and we are stepping outside of our own traditions when we participate in Christmas-themed activities.
The problem occurs when people start assuming and behaving as though it is a holiday that includes everyone, and argue that we are "wrong" for thinking it doesn't include us all. These arguments - and I've had them in real life, non fannish contexts - generally either say something like "Christmas has become so commercialized and about gifts and Santa that it's really not religious anymore" or "Yuletide is a term with Pagan origins so therefore it's not Christian." And from the perspective of someone who isn't Christian, these arguments can be offensive - they completely deny the existence of any experience other than default Christianity.
In this particular dispute, it looks as though some people took an objection to the timing of Yuletide signups as an objection to the use of Yuletide and Christmas as a theme for the challenge - which (I think??) was not what the poster intended. And that argument (why do you object to Christmas?) is a straw man that diverts attention from whatever other issues were raised.
no subject
The problem occurs when people start assuming and behaving as though it is a holiday that includes everyone, and argue that we are "wrong" for thinking it doesn't include us all. These arguments - and I've had them in real life, non fannish contexts - generally either say something like "Christmas has become so commercialized and about gifts and Santa that it's really not religious anymore" or "Yuletide is a term with Pagan origins so therefore it's not Christian." And from the perspective of someone who isn't Christian, these arguments can be offensive - they completely deny the existence of any experience other than default Christianity.
In this particular dispute, it looks as though some people took an objection to the timing of Yuletide signups as an objection to the use of Yuletide and Christmas as a theme for the challenge - which (I think??) was not what the poster intended. And that argument (why do you object to Christmas?) is a straw man that diverts attention from whatever other issues were raised.