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Anonymous
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The following was in a weekly Sabbath Day Devotion e-mail I get....It brings up one of my pet peeves- the over commercialization of Christmas--- and brings up some interesting questions...
The following article was printed in the West Valley View newspaper which is printed in Avondale, Arizona. For some reason, they did not provide the author’s name.
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Would Jesus Celebrate Christmas?
Halloween, Thanksgiving and Black Friday are behind us, which means we have entered the traditional Season of Lament.
The main lament during the season leading up to Christmas is that Corporate America has taken Christ out of Christmas. Retail stores put up banners proclaiming "Season's Greetings" or "Happy Holidays" rather than "Merry Christmas" and, by golly, we should all boycott them for their sacrilegious failure to acknowledge Christianity's sacred holiday!
Actually, those who complain about the "anti-Christian" holiday greetings should consider a few facts before blaming retailers for being "anti-Christian."
First, they should be grateful when stores remove Christ from their annual orgies of crass commercialism. Even a casual scan of the Gospels reveals that one of Jesus' main messages was one of anti-materialism. The way Christmas is celebrated in modern times is more a glorification of greed, gluttony and consumerism than the spiritualism Jesus advocated.
Second, the holiday season includes multiple holidays, not just Christmas. Depending on how you define the "holiday season," it can also include Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chanukah and New Year's.
Third, Christmas was hijacked by non-Christians from the very beginning. Consider the most popular symbols of the season other than the nativity story itself and wonder if Jesus would approve. The Christmas tree, mistletoe, holly, wreaths, gift exchanges and Yule logs to name just a few all had their origins in the ancient pagan rituals of pre-Christian Europe. Even Santa Claus, that beloved mythical character who rides through the sky on a magical sled pulled by flying reindeer, can be traced to ancient Germanic pagan mythology.
And what about the date of Christmas itself? No one knows the exact day or year Jesus was born. The only written accounts of his birth are found in just two books of the New Testament – the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke – and neither indicates the time of year, let alone the exact date or year of his birth. So, why do we celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25? Once again, we can thank the pagans for another of their many contributions to modern Christmas. The date corresponds to the ancient Roman winter solstice festival called Saturnalia, which featured wreaths, feasts, the lighting of candles and the exchanging of gifts. Early church leaders decided to celebrate Christ's birth at this time of year in an effort to discourage pagan converts from celebrating Saturnalia.
Has Corporate America taken Christ out of Christmas? The real question should be: Would Christ himself have ever condoned the primarily pagan observance we named after him?
The popular greetings of the season should be the least of the worries of Christians who worry about keeping the focus on Christ this time of year.