They were never forbidden by God. Other practices were. Some of those practices are common in Christmas celebrations.
REPEATING A DIRECT QUESTION: My question to you is this: Do you believe that it is permisssible to practice that which was banned due to idolotry?
Idolotry is wrong period. However, I'm not sure what you're getting at. Please explain.
Go read Jeramiah 10.
My understanding of this scripture has always been that it refers to Ashera poles named after the Goddess Ashera. In modern times, we refer to them as totempoles.
Old Testament scripture has numerous references to these Ashera poles. These are not Christmas trees.