0_Wizard
Many people are religious, are you? 
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Religion
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Christmas traditions
Christmas traditions vary from country to country. Christmas celebrations for many nations include the installing and lighting of Christmas trees, the hanging of Advent wreaths, Christmas stockings, candy canes, and the creation of Nativity scenes depicting the birth of Jesus Christ. Christmas carols may be sung and stories told about such figures as the Baby Jesus, St Nicholas, Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Christkind or Grandfather Frost. The sending and exchange of Christmas card greetings, observance of fasting and special religious observances such as a midnight Mass or Vespers on Christmas Eve, the burning of a Yule log, and the giving and receiving of presents.
USSR anti-religious campaign (1970s–1987)
A new and more aggressive phase of anti-religious persecution in the Soviet Union began in the mid-1970s after a more tolerant period following Nikita Khrushchev's downfall in 1964. Yuri Andropov headed the campaign in the 1970s when it began to rise. This new persecution was following upon the 1975 amendments to the 1929 anti-religious legislation and the 25th party congress. The CC resolution in 1979 would play a key role in this period as well. The intensification of anti-religious activities had continued since the early 1970s; between 1971-1975 over 30 doctoral and 400 magisterial dissertations were defended on the subjects of atheism and criticism of religion.
New Year's Eve
In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve (also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries), the last day of the year, is on 31 December which is the seventh day of Christmastide. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated at evening social gatherings, where many people dance, eat, drink alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the new year. Some Christians attend a watchnight service. The celebrations generally go on past midnight into New Year's Day, 1 January. Samoa, Tonga and Kiritimati (Christmas Island), part of Kiribati, are the first places to welcome the New Year while American Samoa and Baker Island in the United States of America are among the last.
Protestantism
Protestantism is the second largest form of Christianity with collectively more than 900 million adherents worldwide or nearly 40% of all Christians. It originated with the Reformation, a movement against what its followers considered to be errors in the Roman Catholic Church. Ever since, Protestants reject the Roman Catholic doctrine of papal supremacy and sacraments, but disagree among themselves regarding the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. They emphasize the priesthood of all believers, justification by faith alone (') rather than by good works, and the highest authority of the Bible alone (rather than with sacred tradition) in faith and morals (').
Antoinism
Antoinism is a healing and Christian-oriented new religious movement founded in 1910 by the Walloon Louis-Joseph Antoine (1846–1912) in Jemeppe-sur-Meuse, Seraing. With a total of 64 temples, over forty reading rooms across the world and thousands of members, it remains the only religion established in Belgium whose notoriety and success has reached outside the country. Mainly active in France, the religious movement is characterized by a decentralized structure, simple rites, discretion and tolerance towards other faiths. Raised a Catholic, Antoine worked as a coal miner in his youth, then as a steelworker, before performing his military service in 1866.
Persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union
Throughout the history of the Soviet Union (1922–1991), there were periods where Soviet authorities suppressed and persecuted various forms of Christianity to different extents depending on State interests. Soviet Marxist-Leninism policy consistently advocated the control, suppression, and ultimately, the elimination of religious beliefs, and actively encouraged atheism in the Soviet Union. However, most religions were never officially outlawed. The state advocated the destruction of religion, and it officially pronounced religious beliefs to be superstitious and backward. The Communist Party destroyed churches, mosques and Buddhist temples, ridiculed, harassed, incarcerated and executed religious leaders, flooded the schools and media with anti-religious teachings, and it introduced a belief system called "scientific atheism," with its own rituals, promises and proselytizers.
Social history of England
The social history of England evidences many social changes over the centuries. These major social changes have  both internally and in its relationship with other nations. The themes of social history include demographic history, labour history and the working class, women's history, family history, the history of education in England, urban history and rural and agricultural history. The topic generally excludes politics, diplomacy and intellectual and constitutional studies. The distant past does not offer us much information on the structures of society, however, major changes in human behaviour make it likely that society must have changed dramatically.
1_Apprentice
Not really, no. I guess I have kind of a unique view on that kind of thing. Like, I can acknowledge that there are bigger things than us out there, but I don't subscribe to any specific idealogy.
0_Wizard
I enjoy celebrating new years and christmas. I love social gatherings and events. How about you?
In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated at evening social gatherings, where many people dance, eat, drink alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the new year.
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New Year's Eve
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Christmas traditions
Christmas traditions vary from country to country. Christmas celebrations for many nations include the installing and lighting of Christmas trees, the hanging of Advent wreaths, Christmas stockings, candy canes, and the creation of Nativity scenes depicting the birth of Jesus Christ. Christmas carols may be sung and stories told about such figures as the Baby Jesus, St Nicholas, Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Christkind or Grandfather Frost. The sending and exchange of Christmas card greetings, observance of fasting and special religious observances such as a midnight Mass or Vespers on Christmas Eve, the burning of a Yule log, and the giving and receiving of presents.
New Year's Eve
In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve (also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries), the last day of the year, is on 31 December which is the seventh day of Christmastide. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated at evening social gatherings, where many people dance, eat, drink alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the new year. Some Christians attend a watchnight service. The celebrations generally go on past midnight into New Year's Day, 1 January. Samoa, Tonga and Kiritimati (Christmas Island), part of Kiribati, are the first places to welcome the New Year while American Samoa and Baker Island in the United States of America are among the last.
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, it is preceded by the season of Advent or the Nativity Fast and initiates the season of Christmastide, which historically in the West lasts twelve days and culminates on Twelfth Night; in some traditions, Christmastide includes an octave. Christmas Day is a public holiday in many of the world's nations, is celebrated religiously by a majority of Christians, as well as culturally by many non-Christians, and forms an integral part of the holiday season centered around it.
Skagen Painters
The Skagen Painters () were a group of Scandinavian artists who gathered in the village of Skagen, the northernmost part of Denmark, from the late 1870s until the turn of the century. Skagen was a summer destination whose scenery and quality of light attracted northern artists to paint "en plein air", emulating the French Impressionists—though members of the Skagen colony were also influenced by Realist movements such as the Barbizon school. They broke away from the rather rigid traditions of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts, espousing the latest trends that they had learned in Paris.
Culture of West Bengal
The culture of West Bengal is an Indian Culture which has its roots in the Bengali literature, music, fine arts, drama and cinema. Different geographic regions of West Bengal have subtle as well as more pronounced variations between each other, with Darjeeling Himalayan hill region and Duars showing particularly different socio-cultural aspects. West Bengal's capital Kolkata—as the former capital of India—was the birthplace of modern Indian literary and artistic thought, and is referred to as the "cultural [or literary] capital of India". The presence of "paras", which are cluster of neighbourhoods that possess a strong sense of community, is characteristic of West Bengal.
Yemenite Jewish poetry
Yemenite Jewish poetry, often referred to as "paraliturgical poetry" because of its religious nature, has been an integral part of Yemenite Jewish culture since time immemorial. The Jews of Yemen have preserved a well-defined singing arrangement which not only includes the very poetic creation itself, but also involves a vocal and dance performance, accompanied in certain villages outside Sana'a by drumming on an empty tin-can ("tankah") or a copper plate. The Jews of Yemen, maintaining strict adherence to Talmudic and Maimonidean halakha, observed the gezeirah which prohibited playing musical instruments, and "instead of developing the playing of musical instruments, they perfected singing and rhythm."
Aspidochelone
According to the tradition of the "Physiologus" and medieval bestiaries, the aspidochelone is a fabled sea creature, variously described as a large whale or vast sea turtle, and a giant sea monster with huge spines on the ridge of its back. No matter what form it is, it is always described as being huge where it is often mistaken for an island and appears to be rocky with crevices and valleys with trees and greenery and having sand dunes all over it. The name "aspidochelone" appears to be a compound word combining Greek "aspis" (which means either "asp" or "shield"), and "chelone", the turtle. It rises to the surface from the depths of the sea, and entices unwitting sailors with its island appearance to make landfall on its huge shell and then the whale is able to pull them under the ocean, ship and all the people, drowning them.
1_Apprentice
Absolutely! Well, depending on who is attending. I'm not a big fan of crowds full of strangers, but I love hanging out with family and friends.
0_Wizard
Me too even though traditions vary throughout the world it really all boils down to almost the same thing.
Christmas traditions vary from country to country.
self_Christmas_traditions_0
Christmas traditions
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Christmas traditions
Christmas traditions vary from country to country. Christmas celebrations for many nations include the installing and lighting of Christmas trees, the hanging of Advent wreaths, Christmas stockings, candy canes, and the creation of Nativity scenes depicting the birth of Jesus Christ. Christmas carols may be sung and stories told about such figures as the Baby Jesus, St Nicholas, Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Christkind or Grandfather Frost. The sending and exchange of Christmas card greetings, observance of fasting and special religious observances such as a midnight Mass or Vespers on Christmas Eve, the burning of a Yule log, and the giving and receiving of presents.
Christian burial
A Christian burial is the burial of a deceased person with specifically Christian ecclesiastical rites; typically, in consecrated ground. Until recent times Christians generally objected to cremation because it interfered with the dogma of the resurrection of the body, and practiced inhumation almost exclusively. Today this opposition has all but vanished among Protestants. Catholics are now able to be cremated also, and this is rapidly becoming more common, but the Eastern Orthodox Churches still mostly forbid it. Among the Greeks and Romans, both cremation and burial were practiced. However, the Jews buried their dead.
Carnival
Carnival (see other spellings and names) is a Western Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, masks, and a public street party. People wear masks and costumes during many such celebrations, allowing them to lose their everyday individuality and experience a heightened sense of social unity. Excessive consumption of alcohol, meat, and other foods proscribed during Lent is extremely common.
Wedding customs by country
The Wedding procedure starts with the groom's side sending elders (Shimagle) who then request a union between the parties. The elders discuss a dowry (ጧሎሽ) and verify that the intended bride and groom are not relatives by checking their lineage a minimum of seven generations. After a dowry is agreed upon and it has been determined that there is no relationship between the intended bride and groom, the wedding is announced and the families begin preparations for a church/mosque ceremony and a mels/melsi ceremony. On the wedding day the groom and groomsmen (ሚዜ) get ready at the groom's house early in the morning and proceed to the bride's parents house to begin the wedding ceremonies.
List of Warriors characters
The "Warriors" novel series is written by Erin Hunter. Due to the large number of characters present in the novel series, this list is divided by Clan, e.g., all characters in ThunderClan are listed together. Each cat has a prefix. Eg: Dawn, Violet etc. As a young kit they will have -kit at the end of their name. Eg: Dawnkit Violetkit. When they are an apprentice -paw will be at the end of their name. Eg: Dawnpaw Violetpaw. When that cat is a warrior or medicine cat they will have a suffix. Eg: -fur -pelt -cloud -flame -wing -song etc. Eg: Dawnsong Violetflame. That is if they are in one of the clans like ThunderClan, RiverClan, WindClan, ShadowClan, Skyclan.
Albania
Albania ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Albania (, ), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It spans and had a total population of 3 million people . Albania is a unitary parliamentary constitutional republic with the capital in Tirana, the country's most populous city and main economic and commercial centre, followed by Durrës. The country's other major cities include Vlorë, Sarandë, Shkodër, Berat, Korçë, Gjirokastër and Fier. Albania is in the southwestern portion of the Balkan Peninsula, bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east, and Greece to the south and southeast.
Women in Islam
The experiences of Muslim women vary widely between and within different societies. At the same time, their adherence to Islam is a shared factor that affects their lives to a varying degree and gives them a common identity that may serve to bridge the wide cultural, social, and economic differences between them. Among the influences which have played an important role in defining the social, spiritual and cosmological status of women in the course of Islamic history are Islam's sacred text, the Qur'an; the Ḥadīths, which are traditions relating to the deeds and aphorisms of Islam's Prophet Muḥammad; ijmā', which is a consensus, expressed or tacit, on a question of law; qiyās, the principle by which the laws of the Qur'an and the Sunnah or Prophetic custom are applied to situations not explicitly covered by these two sources of legislation; and fatwas, non-binding published opinions or decisions regarding religious doctrine or points of law.
1_Apprentice
That's true. It's all about enjoying the people around you and being appreciative for what you have. 
0_Wizard
Absolutely I agree.
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Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous, also known as Ab Fab, is a BBC television sitcom created by, written by and starring Jennifer Saunders. It is based on a 1990 "French & Saunders" sketch created by Saunders and Dawn French. The series features Saunders as Edina Monsoon, a heavy-drinking, drug-abusing PR agent who spends her time chasing bizarre fads in a desperate attempt to stay young and "hip". Edina is joined in her quest by magazine fashion director Patsy Stone (played by Joanna Lumley), her best friend and enabler, whose drug abuse, alcohol consumption, and promiscuity far eclipse Edina's comparatively mild self-destructive behaviour.
The Declaration of 46
The Declaration of 46 was a secret letter sent by a group of 46 leading Soviet communists to the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party on 15 October 1923. The declaration followed Leon Trotsky's letter sent to the Politburo on 8 October and expressed similar concerns, thus laying the foundation for the Left Opposition within the Soviet Communist Party later that year. Starting in mid-summer 1923, the Soviet economy ran into significant difficulties arising from the scissor crisis. This led to numerous strikes countrywide. Two secret groups within the Communist Party, "Workers' Truth" and "Workers' Group", were uncovered and suppressed by the Soviet secret police.
Absolute convergence
In mathematics, an infinite series of numbers is said to converge absolutely (or to be absolutely convergent) if the sum of the absolute values of the summands is finite. More precisely, a real or complex series formula_1 is said to converge absolutely if formula_2 for some real number formula_3. Similarly, an improper integral of a function, formula_4, is said to converge absolutely if the integral of the absolute value of the integrand is finite—that is, if formula_5  Absolute convergence is important for the study of infinite series because its definition is strong enough to have properties of finite sums that not all convergent series possess, yet is broad enough to occur commonly.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian is a 2007 novel for young adults written by Sherman Alexie and illustrated by Ellen Forney. The book won several awards, and was the first young adult fiction work by Alexie, a stand-up comedian, screenwriter, film producer, and songwriter who has previously written adult novels, short stories, poems, and screenplays. Alexie stated, "I [wrote the book] because so many librarians, teachers, and teenagers kept asking me to write one." "The Absolutely True Diary" is a first-person narrative from the perspective of Native American teenager Arnold Spirit Jr., also known as "Junior", a 14-year-old budding cartoonist.
Absolute continuity
In calculus, absolute continuity is a smoothness property of functions that is stronger than continuity and uniform continuity. The notion of absolute continuity allows one to obtain generalizations of the relationship between the two central operations of calculus—differentiation and integration—expressed by the fundamental theorem of calculus in the framework of Riemann integration. Such generalizations are often formulated in terms of Lebesgue integration. For real-valued functions on the real line two interrelated notions appear: "absolute continuity of functions" and "absolute continuity of measures."
Political positions of Ron Paul
The political positions of Ron Paul (L-TX), United States presidential candidate in 1988, 2008, and 2012, are generally described as libertarian, but have also been labeled conservative and constitutionalist. and Paul's nickname "Dr. No" reflects both his medical degree and his assertion that he will "never vote for legislation unless the proposed measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution". This position has frequently resulted in Paul casting the sole "no" vote against proposed legislation. The central tenet of Paul's political philosophy is that "the proper role for government in America is to provide national defense, a court system for civil disputes, a criminal justice system for acts of force and fraud, and little else."
Sir Henry Wilson, 1st Baronet
Field Marshal Sir Henry Hughes Wilson, 1st Baronet, (5 May 1864 – 22 June 1922) was one of the most senior British Army staff officers of the First World War and was briefly an Irish unionist politician. Wilson served as Commandant of the Staff College, Camberley, and then as Director of Military Operations at the War Office, in which post he played a vital role in drawing up plans to deploy an Expeditionary Force to France in the event of war. During these years Wilson acquired a reputation as a political intriguer for his role in agitating for the introduction of conscription and in the Curragh incident of 1914, when he encouraged senior officers to resign rather than move against the Ulster Volunteers (UVF).
1_Apprentice
It's been nice talking to you!