The eerie part of it was how the belief in Moloch haunted the region. Phoenicians, Ammonites, Canaanites, and Hebrews. Despite the death penalty for those that worshiped Moloch, sacrificed their children, or even had their children ritually walk through or jump over fire to imitate the ritual.
No matter their “real” religion, when times were hard, they would itch to go back to their blood sacrifices to Moloch. Even today there are traces of it in our culture, descended from the Roman god Saturn, itself based on the Greek deity Cronus. Thus Saturday is the day of Saturn. Makes you wonder about the brass “golden bull” of Wall Street.
Cronus, or as the Carthaginians called it, Ba‘al Hammon, the chief god of Carthage, was their Phoenician gift given to Greece and Rome, before the destruction of Carthage in 146 B.C. The Romans rebuilt it, and thus it remained until destroyed again by the Muslims in 698 A.D.
Christmas too has many pagan roots. The day was not picked randomly, the day was originally celebrated as Tamuz's birthday, but was changed to be Christ's birthday to make things more "christian". This is what God has to say decorating trees in Jeremiah 10:
"Hear what the LORD says to you, people of Israel. 2 This
is what the LORD says:
“Do not learn the ways of the nations
or be terrified by signs in the heavens,
though the nations are terrified by them.
3 For the practices of the peoples are worthless;
they cut a tree out of the forest,
and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.
4 They adorn it with silver and gold;
they fasten it with hammer and nails
so it will not totter...