Quote:
Originally Posted by Red-Mile-DJ
The religious aspect is WHY we have CHRISTmas. Without Christmas there wouldn't be any "cultural" holiday. The main theme around this year is celebrating the birth of Christ. Everyone knows this. But we have to careful to not shove it down everyone's throats, and celebrate everyone's beliefs, even though it all started with Christians and CHRISTmas.
...I see the thread title has been changed. Nice one.
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You are misinformed and wrong.
Most of the themes commonly associated with the Christmas tradition (burning yule logs, singing carols, exchanging gifts, decorating evergeeen trees, putting up wreaths/holly/mistletoe, etc.) come from non-Christian holidays. These traditions were later incorporated by Christians into their Christmas celebration.
Moreover, the birth of Jesus is believed by Biblical scholars to
not have occurred on December 25. The reason that date was chosen for Christmas is so that it could replace the popular Saturnalia festival when the Roman Empire converted to Christianity under Emperor Constantine. Later, other new converts to Christianity from elsewhere in Europe replaced their pagan Winter Solstice festivals with Christmas celebrations.