I do like our blend of ancient Christian and European traditions. I vote to keep Christmas. Santa Claus also seems to be a blend of the real-life 4th century Saint Nicholas, bishop of Myra in Anatolia, who according to legend secretly put dowries for poor young women in their shoes, and the King Wenceslas traditions you mention.
Thank you. For anyone whose ancestry traces back to what is now the British Isles, Europe, Scandinavia, and Russia: People lived in those regions long before Christianity came to them. They had a remarkably well-organized civilization (see Brehon Law in Ireland, for one) and were not ignorant savages living in degeneracy. They would not have survived those climates for long if they were. They had to work together, look out for their own, and understand the world around them (natural science) if they were going to make it through, and they did.
The beautiful objects they made survive today in museums. Their customs and traditions became a part of Western civilization, and one of those customs was taking care of everyone at the middle of winter - the Winter Solstice.
That is where our customs of gift-giving and going home at Christmas come from. Be proud of your brave and generous long-ago ancestors who created such ways of living.
This probably explains why, for the most part, Christianity did not have to be forced on these people. It made sense to them and it was easily combined with their other traditions, like the one about gift-giving on the Solstice. So that's what they did. As we still do today.
I do like our blend of ancient Christian and European traditions. I vote to keep Christmas. Santa Claus also seems to be a blend of the real-life 4th century Saint Nicholas, bishop of Myra in Anatolia, who according to legend secretly put dowries for poor young women in their shoes, and the King Wenceslas traditions you mention.
Thank you. For anyone whose ancestry traces back to what is now the British Isles, Europe, Scandinavia, and Russia: People lived in those regions long before Christianity came to them. They had a remarkably well-organized civilization (see Brehon Law in Ireland, for one) and were not ignorant savages living in degeneracy. They would not have survived those climates for long if they were. They had to work together, look out for their own, and understand the world around them (natural science) if they were going to make it through, and they did.
The beautiful objects they made survive today in museums. Their customs and traditions became a part of Western civilization, and one of those customs was taking care of everyone at the middle of winter - the Winter Solstice.
That is where our customs of gift-giving and going home at Christmas come from. Be proud of your brave and generous long-ago ancestors who created such ways of living.
This probably explains why, for the most part, Christianity did not have to be forced on these people. It made sense to them and it was easily combined with their other traditions, like the one about gift-giving on the Solstice. So that's what they did. As we still do today.