you can't have it both ways! Options

[*kryogenix*]

is it fair that non-christians celebrate christmas with presents and christmas trees? i can't stand it when people openly say how they hate religion and christianity, then come christmas time, they brag about their christmas presents. that goes for easter too. people openly reject jesus christ's resurrection but they celebrate easter. and to add insult to injury, they completely change the meaning by having egghunts and bunnies.

-edit- uh yeah. you can't have it both ways! either become a christian and partake in our holidays, or stay an atheist/agnostic and don't celebrate our holidays, and don't change our holidays either!

[ComradeRed]

http://www.chestnutcafe.com/cafe/X-Mas.html

Merry Christmas, boys and girls!
THIS is the story of Christmas and how it all began!
A long, long time ago, Germanic, Roman, and Celtic people celebrated the Winter Solstice. Once a year, they dressed their homes up with Holly, mistletoe, yule logs, and wassail bowls and even decorated a tree! Today, we call these people Pagans. The word "Yule-tide", meaning "wheel time" (the cycles of time) is a term that refers to these old Pagan celebrations.

During the 3rd and 4th centuries B.C.E., the Persian Mithras would sacrifice a bull on December 25 to celebrate the Sol Invictus (the Invincible Sun). The ceremony signaled the birth of a young Sun God who sprang from a rock or a cave in the form of a newborn infant.

The ancient Romans celebrated the festival of the Saturnalia from December 17th to the 24th to honor Saturn, the god of grain and agriculture. The festival consisted of a period of goodwill, devoted to visiting friends and the giving of gifts. Then, on December 25th, the Romans would celebrate the Winter Solstice in a ceremony of the annual renewing of the Sun.

On December 25th 354 C.E., Pope Liberus introduced the Nativity - a celebration of the birth of the Christ Child. He chose December 25th in order to Christianize the Pagan rituals of the time. Thus, Pope Liberus began the custom of celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, and this celebration grew in popularity as the Pagan rituals of Mithra and Saturnalia that were formerly celebrated on the 25th of December slowly faded in popularity.

Today, we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ with ornaments on trees, with mistletoe, and with the giving of gifts. And THAT, boys and girls, is the story of how the Christians stole the perfectly good Pagan holiday of the Winter Solstice, stuck it up the *** of a 300 year old dead guy named Jesus who probably wasn't even born on the 25th, and called it Christmas. Merry Christmas! The End.

[Edited by me to get rid of some expletives]