And we can all hop on FIFA to simulate the football they played.

the germans won, then they lost

What message is there to mark? Christmas 1913 there was peace, Christmas 1914 there was a brief pause in the killing in a few places, Christmas 1915. 1916, 1917 they hated each others guts so much there wasn't even that.

Why should we mark a day when Muffinism won? germans and english came together and for a brief moment had peace... but in that peace muffins were eaten.

Pastries won. We eat sweet things on Christmas, not boring muffins.

but muffins still hold a place of power in America and the world that other pastries simply have to wait to achieve. it's like black history month, it doesn't make black people equal just because they have a month. Likewise a few holidays a year doesn't make non-muffin pastries (NMPs) equal. you are a muffin apologist.

To this day, Lady Gaga is still bluffin' with her muffin.

Octavious is right. I don't see what profound message we can learn from a brief pause in the most senseless war in history, especially since it was not repeated for later Christmases.

I'm surprised about you guys downplaying the signifance of the Christmas Truce. It's one of those rare historical things that can move me to tears when I really think about it. It speaks to the utter senselessness, the absurdity, even, of war. It speaks to our shared humanity. Whether it was repeated later or not, on Christmas, 1914, a few isolated groups who had been trying to kill each other for months decided and agreed between themselves that not only should the violence stop for Christmas, but that they should spend Christmas together. That is beautiful, and that is worth remembering.

"it's like black history month, it doesn't make black people equal just because they have a month."

+1 to you, CommanderByron. I haven't laughed like that for a while.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRrr-CDXijs

<sniff>

Invictus, you insensitive dolt, here is the message: we're all just friends waiting to be made.

Friends who think nothing of shooting each other the next day because a chap in a big hat tells them to?

Thucy, my friend! Happy Christmas!

You're such a fucking asshole, dude

The merry Christmas was genuine. As was the willingness of the soldiers to go back to fighting each other after the truce. The Christmas truce wasn't a story of friendship. It is a story about everyone enjoying a day off at Christmas even though it means putting up with a bunch of people you don't really get on with

Two kinds of people...

If it was genuine, I can't tell. I hope your heart softens a bit this Christmas.

Thucydides reverts to form. Whoever doesn't agree with him must be an dolt, an asshole, etc.

After a few days pause in 1914 the soldiers went right back to killing each other in this war for nothing, continuing right through to the Armistice. Sorry if I don't find the truce as compelling as you.

Well I'm sorry you're such a miserable cynic, dude. If you think the Christmas Truce isn't something truly remarkable in history, even from a dispassionate perspective, then I don't know what to say.

You asked what can be learned from such a pause in the most senseless war in history. I'll give you a hint: that it was senseless.

Also, pardon me for forgetting that most of my destructors around here appear incapable of sentimentality. Y'all are like fucking robots sometimes. It ain't about winning all the time, bro

Detractors not destructors lmao but close enough

Death or glory becomes just another story!

i have to say i'm team octavious and invictus. also christmas is shit, it's just a holiday based on an imperialist religion/consumeristic society, i would rather the soldiers just kept on shooting that day.

"I would rather the soldiers just kept on shooting that day." What the actual fuck. So death is a preferable alternative to participation in a holiday which might be rooted in consumerism?

Given the choice, you'd rather die or kill another human being than celebrate Christmas? Or would you only impose that on other people?

So is every other major holiday in the US. Get your head out of consumerism and celebrate holidays for what they are, not what Macy's and Target make them.

I agree it was quite a remarkable event. Certainly my impression is that it was experienced that way by those who were there. Thanks for the reminder, Thucy.

i would rather they stopped shooting altogether, even if it was for christmas, but to stop shooting for one day didn't change anything, it didn't stop these soldiers just dying later. so yes, i would rather they kept shooting than glorifying something disgusting. as i said, it's not just the consumerism i have a problem with (although that's disgusting), but the fundamental religious part of the holiday is something i despise too. not much to like for an anti-consumerist anti-christian.

That's fair. Though I still disagree, I'm sorry for interpreting your point in a way you didn't mean it, and then overreacting based on the assumption that my interpretation was accurate. Why do you despise Christmas so much, though? Who's getting hurt (not a rhetorical question, genuinely curious as to your reasoning)?

I think it's worth noting that there were other similar instances of ad hoc truces during WWI, many of them in no way affiliated with religion. This suggests to be that the desire and motivation for the Christmas truce had more to do with human nature and prevailing attitudes of the men in the trenches than it had to do with Christianity and Christmas in particular.

Sounds to me like somebody needs visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past.

I typically dislike when people dislike religion for the people that follow it. Most of them say "is this what your religion teaches?" Just like any idea, if people follow it, others will manipulate it. People arent perfect and sometime too gullible. Also i find that if they had a one day truce, it was because people were tired of fighting. No one can actually want to fight constantly for four years with thousands of people dying. Maybe for a month or two, but not for years. The truce was out of selfish reasons of not wanting brothers to die. If they didnt want it that bad, why wouldnt they have kept shooting?

It's okay yhn. Christmas propagates a pervasive and insidious religion which I dwapise.

As to fuzzy: Christianity as a religion is disgusting and homophobic, irrespective of how people follow it. Additionally in how it is implemented, it survives through forced indoctrination and the promotion of ignorance

My sobriquet is Scrooge...

I fail to see anything of what you said. It's not homophobic, it's the people and media that perpetuates. It doesnt say to shun, nor harm people who are gay, it also helps people be kind to others, and it makes people seek further education and understanding. All of such are if people actually follow what the Bible said. Almost all of the media overlooks 1 John 4. If you go to second party sources and not the Bible for what Christians believe, i will say it's a lie in some shape or form. I will go as far as to say you have had a bad experience with someone, or group of Christians and hold an emotional grudge.

I dislike ignorance and propaganda. It spreads lies. I also dislike people asking questions they dont actually care for, nor want, an answer too.

also excuse my grammar/spelling errors. I am very tired.

Mate, have you ever read Leviticus? Or are you like most modern Christians and you ignore gods word when it suits you so you can pretend your religion isn't a sack of shit?

Not mentioning the condoning of genocide in the Old Testament either

Have you ever read Hebrews? It talks about how Christians dont follow the OT.

And not to mention how Jesus said it was finished as his last words.

So the omniscient God, the father, it's cool that he said to stone gays? At any point? Gotcha. Even the New Testament has homophobia in it anyways. And Jesus said he didn't come to bring peace on earth but, well you've read your Matthew. And Corinthians and sexism damn.

A lot of the NT is letters to the churches. There is cultural influences in the letters. In the OT, the people were barbaric. Gods people wouldnt listen to entirely new way of life. Also i dont remember saying it was okay to stone gays.... there is a reason im not a Jew

But you know what, you have an opinion. I give you advice as a brother. Dont practice the same things you criticize Christians for. Im not saying you do, just for the future for anyone that reads this. I love everyone, and I respect you Socrates for looking into things as far as you have.

Thank you fuzzy, and there are worse things than Christianity, but as Scrooge I hate everything.

"What message is there to mark? Christmas 1913 there was peace, Christmas 1914 there was a brief pause in the killing in a few places, Christmas 1915. 1916, 1917 they hated each others guts so much there wasn't even that. "

Not necessarily true, the high commands hated it, and they purposefully scheduled barrages for Christmas in the future to make sure it didn't happen again

"A lot of the NT is letters to the churches. There is cultural influences in the letters. In the OT, the people were barbaric. Gods people wouldnt listen to entirely new way of life. Also i dont remember saying it was okay to stone gays.... there is a reason im not a Jew "

Because you are an idiot and don't realize that Jews haven't practiced stoning for 2000 years? Not to mention even before that a court that sentenced 1 person to death in a generation was known as "a blood-thirsty court"

This was truly a momentous occasion in world history. Not only did it mark an historic moment in warfare, but it also marks the last time the English won a meaningful international soccer match.