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December 20, 2007
What's in a Name?
The whole debate circling around the "Christ" in "Christmas" grates on my nerves. I don't have a problem with people who wish to celebrate religious tradition on December 25th, or any other day of the year. But, the reason Christ is in Christmas at all, is because Christians put him there when they hijacked the seasonal celebration from the pagans in order to convert them to Christianity. Perhaps those who wish to return to a more "traditional" Christmas should send Saturnalia, Natalis Sol Invicti, or Yule cards.
I think the origin of winter celebrations was probably some prehistoric mother suffering from "cave fever" (the precursor to "cabin fever"), who decided to entertain her offspring with an invisible visitor who would leave them gifts, but only if they were very well behaved. Once the neighbors got wind of the effectiveness of her bribery, they tried it on their own offspring, and then gathered around a dinner of roast mastadon to talk about it. As years went by, the celebration escalated with each family trying to out-do the others in the extravagance of their celebration until we arrive at 2007.
Celebrate whatever you wish, the season is the reason.
Posted by Anna at December 20, 2007 2:06 PM