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Christmas is what it is. It definitely has pagan origins and this info is not new - it's been out there for years. But I doubt Christmas will ever take on the negative connotations that Halloween has, simply because Halloween has some truly evil aspects involving pretty icky stuff, much of which has carried over into celebrations today. Think about it - I suppose it's fun to be scared sometimes, but witches and goblins and skeletons etc are not really pleasant little kid fare.

If Christians feel convicted to refrain from traditional Christmas celebration (and I know some that do, in fact I went through some very serious soul-searching myself), that's their prerogative. In our family, we have a tree and plenty of gifts (with the emphasis on the GIVING and those who have little, such as our Colombian child we sponsor), but our focus is to continually remind our daughter (5) and son (almost 2) that Jesus gave us the best gift of all. We have chosen to tell her that Santa is just a story that came out of a really nice man named St Nicholas who lived a long time ago, but Jesus' birth really happened. She's fine with that, gets to enjoy the magic of Christmas while celebrating Jesus' birth.

Anyway, celebrate however you see fit. I love the lights and the music and good will too. No one will ruin it for you, I promise. :)

Paul talked about the sabbath and other days(in the same passage he talks about foods ect) in relation to faith,"some esteem one day, others esteem another over all other days".."but let each be convinced in his own mind". You see he was getting at the notion that we are people of faith, and some have weaker faith and some have stronger faith, but we were to live not under law but of grace. If some Christians feel that they are tempted to worship pagan Gods or feel they are inadvertantly honoring some false deity by celebrating Christmas, then they must stop doing so, for Paul stated that they violate their own conscience when they do so, and this becomes sin to them, not being able to celebrate it by faith.(We are to be people of faith, and live by faith).

Others may be pursuaded that, by faith they are honoring God in remebering his gift to all mankind...hey if the angels can sing and celebrate in the heavens regarding his birth...why can't I? Would the angels have been unknowingly celibrating some pagan ritual by celebrating his birth(assuming it was DEC. 25)? The wisemen(I beleive there were more than three) brought him gifts. Perhaps if we got rid of some of the Santa clause commercial glitz and moved the date to a more plausibe time of the year, our more anal brothers would be more accepting of the holiday.

I propose that the holiday be moved to the 4th of July... this would serve a practical purpose since we could combine the celebration of the founding of our Country with the celebration of the founding of Christianity. I feel this would result in considerable tax savings as the Federal Government could then reduce one Federal holiday from the Register and add one day in which the post office and other federal offices would be operating. Additionally the Federal legislature would stay in session right up until Dec.31, to allow the taxpayer to get a little more performance from the high salaried political Jack-asses we continue to elect.(On second thought, I don't wish to insult the PETA people by impugning the dignity of real Jack-asses, especially if Mary had ridden one on the way to Bethlehem) This would be a boon to the economy as well as people could combine their Christmas vacations and their summer vacations and save businesses billions as people would have no practical reason to take a winter vacation.
July 4 also splits the difference between early spring and early autumn since shepherds watched their flocks by night between those two times of the year,...who knows July 4 1776(Novus ordo seclorum, new world order) and July 4, 6 BC(Novus ordo spiritus, new spiritual order), kinda profound and catchy, huh?

Then the only criticism our Christmas hating associates could offer of the new date is criticism of parents telling their kids that UNCLE SAM, in his red, white,and blue uniform is the one bringing them their new toys!