The real purpose of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of
Jesus, but that is not the only reason that this time of the year is special.
For one thing, the Christmas holiday is not the only religious
holiday that occurs this time of the year.
Chanukah is celebrated in December by Jewish people, but the
exact date varies every year.
Ashura is an Islamic holiday that occurs on the
tenth day of Muharram, the first month in the Islamic lunar
calendar. For Muslims, Ashura marks the day in which the Islamic prophet Musa was saved by Allah when He parted the Sea while leading
the children of Israel to the land of Israel. Furthermore, for Muslims, it
marks the day on which the Battle of
Karbala took place, resulting in the martyrdom of Husayn ibn
Ali, the grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a member of the Household of Muhammad. In
Christian religions, Musa is known as Moses.
Saint Nicholas Day, also called the Feast of Saint Nicholas, observed on 5 December or on 6 December in
Western Christian countries, and on 19 December in Eastern Christian countries
using the old church Calendar, is the feast day of Saint
Nicholas of Myra; it falls within the season of Advent. It is celebrated as a Christian festival with particular regard to Saint Nicholas'
reputation as a bringer of gifts, as well as through the attendance of church
services.
Bodhi Day is the Buddhist holiday that commemorates
the day that the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama (Shakyamuni), experienced enlightenment, also known as bodhi in Sanskrit and Pali. According to tradition, Siddhartha had recently
forsaken years of extreme ascetic practices and resolved to sit under a peepal tree, also known as a Bodhi tree (Ficus religiosa), and simply meditate until he found the root of
suffering, and how to liberate oneself from it. The holiday is
celebrated on December 8.
The winter
solstice occurs on December 21 or 22, and marks the official start of winter.
However, it is also a religious holiday for Hindus, Iranians, Chinese and
Japanese, Jews, and in Scandinavian countries.
https://whomadewhat.org/how-many-religious-holidays-take-place-in-december/
Gift giving at this time of the year has a very long history.
In fact, it precedes the birth of Christ.
Gift-giving started
long before Christmas was set as a day to remember Christ's birth. While
Christmas became a tradition in the fourth century, gift-giving during holidays
is of Roman origin. It was part of a celebration offered to the Roman god
Saturn who was viewed to be the god of agriculture who gave vegetation and
fruitfulness all year round.
The
celebration lasted for seven days through the 17th to the 23rd of December. The
gift giving ceremonies were seen as a way of gaining fortune for the next year.
People initially gave simple gifts like candles, cheap wines, fruits, nuts and
the like.
To a large degree, our
modern celebration of Christmas is patterned after Saturnalia, which is a pagan
holiday. You definitely should not share that information with any Christian
evangelicals, since it may prove hazardous to their health.
https://www.christiantoday.com/article/whats-the-history-behind-gift-giving-on-christmas/103233.htm
The modern version of Christianity actually started in England
in the 1840’s.
The Victorian era still epitomises the spirit of Christmas, and
Charles Dickens immortal story ‘A Christmas Carol’ has ensured its longevity
and image as the idyllic Christmas period. Indeed they were giving out
gifts in Victorian times, but more often than not a single simple gift was the
order of the day, rather than the current mass of extravagant gifts often given
out nowadays. This gift was often a very simple item, perhaps home-made items
such as a cake, clothes, or a doll. For those more affluent and with
children, the manufacture of toys (often wooden) was introduced. Pinning
down an exact date is difficult, but it is generally acknowledged that the
Victorian tradition of Christmas gift giving started around the 1840s. In
addition, the first known commercially produced Christmas Card was designed by
John Callcott Horsley of London in 1843. Together with cards and
decorations, the Victorian era saw the introduction of many of the Christmas
traditions currently enjoyed.
Santa Claus himself if based heavily on a character that
originated in Eastern Christian culture in the 4th century. The
character brought toys and candy on Christmas Eve to well-behaved children, and
coals to naughty children. He was helped by elves, who made toys at the North
Pole. He also had flying reindeer who helped him deliver his gifts.
In the
middle of the 19th century, caricaturist and editorial cartoonist
created the image of Santa Claus that we are familiar with today.
Sundblom drew inspiration from an 1822 poem by Clement Clark Moore called “A Visit from St. Nicholas” —commonly known as “Twas the Night Before Christmas.”
There has long been debate about whether Santa Claus is real.
In 1897, Dr. Philip O'Hanlon, a
coroner's assistant on Manhattan's Upper West Side, was asked by his then
eight-year-old daughter, Virginia O'Hanlon (1889–1971), whether Santa Claus, a legendary character, really existed. O'Hanlon suggested
she write to The Sun,
a then prominent New York City newspaper, assuring her that "If you see it
in The Sun, it's so. In so doing, Dr. O'Hanlon had unwittingly
given one of the paper's editors, Francis
Pharcellus Church, an opportunity to rise above the simple question
and address the philosophical issues behind it.
Church was a war correspondent during the American Civil War,
a time that saw great suffering and a corresponding lack of hope and faith in
much of society. Although the paper ran the editorial in the seventh place on
the page, below even one on the newly invented "chainless bicycle",
it was both noticed and well received by readers. According to an anecdote on
the radio program The Rest of the Story,
Church was a hardened cynic and an atheist who had little patience for
superstitious beliefs, did not want to write the editorial, and refused to
allow his name to be attached to the piece. More than a century later it
is the most reprinted editorial in any newspaper in the English language.
https://tohell-andback.blogspot.com/2020/12/yes-virginia-there-is-santa-claus.html
One of the most remarkable Christmas celebrations in history
occurred in 1917, when opposing forces in 1917 laid down their arms and sang
Christmas carols with each other.
Christmas has always been, and should always be, a religious
holiday. However, there are leaders in the Catholic church today who feel it should
ONLY be a religious holiday.
One of those individuals is Bishop Antonio Stagliano of Rome,
who recently told some young Italian kids that Santa was an imaginary
character. Naturally, he received a lot of criticism for his comments.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/14/world/europe/italy-bishop-santa-claus.html
For more than 100 years, parents have debated about telling
their children that Santa is real. A single mom named Vanessa McGrady wrote
into the Washington Post recently about how she handled the situation with her
daughter.
Here is her answer:
“Santa is real,” she said, reaching for some explanation of
why the whole Santa/Tooth Fairy/Easter Bunny charade isn’t actually a lie.
“He’s the spirit of generosity. When kids are little, they need a character
like him to understand the concept of giving. But now that you’re older, you
don’t need him. You even get to be a Santa yourself and give things to other
people,” I told her. “So, the Easter Bunny is the spirit of renewal and
springtime. And the Tooth Fairy is the spirit of your changing body. They may
not be actual creatures, but they’re real symbols about important things.
She seemed fine with this and agreed to not tell younger kids
who still believe.
The following Christmas came amid a crush of Lands’ End
catalogues. We threw our usual party. Santa knocked on the window. He came
through the door with a booming “ho, ho, ho!” and made his way to an armchair.
How you celebrate Christmas is entirely up to you, but the musical
group Pentatonix has some suggestions for you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFjdfjrtf1Q&list=RDpFjdfjrtf1Q&start_radio=1
