Since it IS Christmas time......

Hi Hooah. Though Constantine the Great reigned in the 4th century, he had a lot to do with the origin of Christmas.The nativity was not celebrated until the 4th century. The time of the birth of Jesus was/is not known.
As the Roman emperors did, Constantine worshipped the Roman gods. The sun god, Sol was one of the most notable pagan Gods.Before Constantine defeated the most powerful rival, an Italian, Maxentius, as he was worshipping the sun, he had a vision of a cross of Christ in the sun with the inscription in Latin, "in this sign you shall conquer." He won the battle and attributed his victory to Christianity due to the vision.About a year later he signed the Edict Of Milan which edicted rights be granted to all religions. He became a Christian and interspersed many of the pagan rituals into Christianity, essentially establishing this religious conglomerate of paganism and Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire. Constantine became head/pontifix maximus of both church and state. From this emerged the Roman Catholic Church.Two pagan winter festivals were celebrated, one honoring Mithras, Persian god of light which began on Dec 25th and ending Jan 1. He interspersed the nativity of Jesus into the festivals related to the pagan celebration. Thus the Christian holiday of Dec 25.As others have suggested, most Christians simply attribute the date to the recognition of the birth of Jesus. The communion remembrance of the death of Jesus for the sins of the world, however is the only celebration that the Bible officially sanctioned.Santa St Nicholas was also derived from the RCC, as I understand.ABE: I've said the above to agree that the Christ-mass celebration is indeed derived from paganism. As well, that explains some of the paganistic aspects of Roman Catholicism, some of which have interspersed into the protestant faiths to a greater or lesser extent. Edited by Buzsaw, : No reason given.

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BUZSAW B 4 U 2 C Y BUZ SAW.
The immeasurable present eternally extends the infinite past and infinitely consumes the eternal future.

1. As a matter of fact it has become pretty much all about Christianity since paganism and athiesm has played a minority role in Western cultures.2. In a republic, the majority of the people elect leaders who establish laws, etc. So long as the elected leadership follows the mandates of their constituency regarding Christmas symbols on public property, what dissenters need to do is muster up a majority so as to elect leadership who become mandated to rescind the status quo. Thus, in Jefferson's day, the Bible and Watts Hymnal were standard texts in all schools and church services were held in the halls of Congress, the music being accompanied by the US Marine Band. Now that the electorate does not have that mandate from the majority, it is no longer the practice.3. If Athiests (ABE: or pagans) wish to display some symbol, let them buzz off from harassment of Christianity and let them do their own thing in their own place until they have achieved the mandate at the polls for predominance in the public arena. Edited by Buzsaw, : As noted in context and update Message Title.

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BUZSAW B 4 U 2 C Y BUZ SAW.
The immeasurable present eternally extends the infinite past and infinitely consumes the eternal future.

Hi Peg. This is so true. At the Last Supper, Jesus broke the bread and shared the wine, symbolizing his body which was to be broken and his vicarious blood which was to be shed for the sins of the world.

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BUZSAW B 4 U 2 C Y BUZ SAW.
The immeasurable present eternally extends the infinite past and infinitely consumes the eternal future.

Good point, Iblis.
Jeremiah, the OT prophet condemned the Pagan practice of cutting trees and decorating them in the homes.Jeremiah 10:2-4: (KJV) All Pagans who want to be represented in the public arena need do is to leave off whining and proclaim the true origin of the decorated tree and the date, Dec 25, as theirs. Perhaps this would enlighten Christian sheeple that what they are practicing actually has pagan connotations.As for the athiests, well, they can simply leave off protesting in the cold, enjoy the vacation, profit from the sales, visit the folks, eat, drink and be merry. Edited by Buzsaw, : delete word

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BUZSAW B 4 U 2 C Y BUZ SAW.
The immeasurable present eternally extends the infinite past and infinitely consumes the eternal future.