Before The War On Christmas rhetoric starts again... can we keep some context? I dont remember growing up with Jesus birthday as the main reason for Christmas. I grew up with Santa Clause, Rudolph, Frosty, Yule Logs, Christmas trees, Dickens, etc. Many modern Christmas customs have been directly influenced by such festivals, including gift-giving and merrymaking from the Roman Saturnalia, greenery, lights, and charity from the Roman New Year, and Yule logs and various foods from Germanic feasts. Pagan Scandinavia celebrated a winter festival called Yule, held in the late December to early January period. As northern Europe was the last part to Christianize, its pagan traditions had a major influence on Christmas there, an example being the Koleda, which was incorporated into the Christmas carol. Scandinavians still call Christmas Jul. In English, the word Yule is synonymous with Christmas, a usage first recorded in 900. However, Yule was originally a nordic holiday. The modern months of December didnt even exist until the 17th century in the way we know it today. Martin Luther established much of the culture of Christmas in the 16th century. The 17th century Puritans actually condemned the celebration of Christmas as papist. In 1647, Christmas was legally abolished. The Anglicans rebelled against that idea and demanded more elaborate celebrations, restoring Christmas in 1660. The idea we have of Christmas today is mostly due to Charles Dickens. The books popularity incorporated many of King Georges german traditions and solidified the holiday as part of the culture in America as we as England. The universal idea of giving gifts comes from the 1822 poem Twas the Night Before Christmas (originally A Visit From St Nicholas by Clement Moore). After WWI and WWII the international concepts of celebrating Christmas took root. It is celebrated in most countries in their own way-- as a holiday of Peace on Earth and Good Will towards men (and gifts for children). SO before we start all the nonsense, let us remember that this was not a holiday started by Jesus. In fact, Christians for 1600 years didnt really celebrated it (it didnt exist at all the first 300 years for sure) as we understand it today. What people say when they say there is a war on Christmas is there is a change in culture that threatens my romantic view of my childhood and that must be a bad thing.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Nov 2014 03:43:08 +0000
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