This is the time of year where the so called “Christmas
Christians” become outraged at the demeaning of “their” celebration of the
birth of their savior by those that would celebrate this time of year as a
joyous and happy “holiday” instead of “Christmas”.
This so called “War on Christmas” is based solely on
ignorance of basic history but in some cases (Fox News) on a fabricated attempt
to stir the great unwashed into believing they are under attack.
Those in the know, are aware that this time of year was
celebrated for thousands of years (way before Christianity came on the scene)
as the Winter Solstice or the day when the days started getting longer and the
nights shorter; a New Year.
It is worth noting that the Pilgrims (Puritans) that came to
the new land of America did not celebrate Christmas at all because number one,
the Bible did not mention it and two, because they considered it a “pagan”
holiday which some Christians (in England) adapted as their own and called it
Christmas.
The Puritans actually banned Christmas because it was based
on a pagan celebration but also because it caused too much merriment which they
considered a sin I guess.
Anyway, many of our Christmas traditions actually come from
pagan traditions like decorating the Christmas tree and exchanging gifts and
that includes Santa Claus also. Many very religious countries like Poland have
tried to adapt the pagan practices to Christian practices like making Santa
Claus into a Catholic bishop, etc.
Christmas did not become a federal holiday till 1870; before
people would treat Christmas Day as any normal working day.
We are a very diverse population but all of us, I believe,
look forward to celebrating this time of year for many different reasons but as
humans, we all celebrate the coming of
the New Year as evidenced by our celestial calendar which is quite evident in
our sky and not some religious belief.
History shows that early Christian leaders tried to
assimilate existing pagan beliefs and practices into the Christian faith as did
many other faiths but the original pagan element usually was based on some
aspects of nature or the natural world and that is why we have “seasonal
holidays”.
I don’t think any one wants to deny the Christians “their”
specific holiday they call Christmas but Christians must be made aware that
this time of year is not exclusively “their” holiday but they share it with
many others who may not be Christian but still celebrate the “holidays” in
their own way.
So whether you say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays you are
still wishing your fellow humans the best of everything in this time of rebirth
in the New Year.
