Isn't that the guy who was married to Carla on "Cheers" ?
In Italy up until recently, there was a) no Christmas tree, b) no yule log, and c) no Santa, and d) not really much gift giving? Halloween wasn't even heard of there.
These things you are finding fault with actually came from mostly Protestant countries--but for many many hundreds of years before that and really most everywhere in the world, the essence of Christmas and Easter and All Hallows was *going to Church* and having a great big celebration afterwards.
You can't just cherry pick these tiny insignificant aspects of a modern holiday--which up until recently weren't even widespread--and claim that is evidence of pagan associations. That's just insane. Especially since we know for a fact that Christians were celebrating Christmas and Easter when they were still a persecuted minority.
Remember what Tertullian famously said as he scoffed paganism: "What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?" Who harshly denounced pagan celebrations? Even HE celebrated Easter.
Isn't that the guy who was married to Carla on "Cheers" ?
Actually they don’t come from protestant countries, they come from countries with a heavy concentration of Germans. All of the traditions I cited date to pre-reformation German. Austria and the German, Czech and Polish territories all have these traditions in one form or another. They became popular in England only during the Victorian era. Christmas wasn’t popular in the United States until immigration brought us millions of Catholics and didn’t really become popular until the Northeastern WASP’s followed the Victorians and began celebrating.
The fact is the Dutch Reformed, Geneva Calvinists, Puritans and Scottish Presbyterians eliminated Christmas and Easter as unbiblical Catholic holy days. The celebration of Christmas was outlawed in Massachusetts for around a century. It isn’t the protestants that are responsible for Christmas.