OK- so I just learned of the 5 minute rule to editing and I usually take at least 20 to formulate what I'm going to type so I'll just post the topic here because I'm in a rush and I don't want to leave the thread hanging.
But in a nutshell, my favorite Internet pastor made a trailer for a Christmas video he was going to post and the comment section was full of "haters." I would say 90% of the people responding were declaring Christmas to be a pagan holiday and nothing more.
Nearly everyone was saying it was wrong to celebrate at all, some going so far as to argue that God never wanted us to celebrate the birth of Jesus- only his death and resurrection.
One person I spoke with said that, "how can you celebrate in good conscious when thousands of [people] get sacrificed [every Christmas to Satan.]" I would note that while he did cite video evidence of people who survived sacrificial rites belonging to satanist cults, he could not provide evidence that it is a common occurrence that a large number of people are sacrificed in modern times during Christmas.
I know that the original festival that occurred was that of paganism, but I believe in a redeeming God and find no fault in celebrating God's gift to the world at that particular time of the year. I'm merely shocked at the sheer number of people who so fervently believed that all of Christmas was soiled and tainted by paganism.
Anyway- poll away, I'm curious about individual traditions and beliefs.
Personally, I do take part in secular and religious traditions. However I have decided that if I ever have children, I won't let them believe in Santa Claus but I'll tell them what we know about the real Saint Nick. Just from my own personal history. When I heard the, 'sad but true' story about Santa my heart was broken. I thought he was as much of an angel as Gabriel. Lol.
. Holidays are huge in our house. I love them as a time to remember the Lord's goodness and to spend time with family.
