25: Judeo-Christian Values In Today's Society
By Robert C. Moore

Christmas: Pagan Holiday?
December 22, 1991

I guess you could say that everybody is in a good jolly mood this time of year, but are they really? Most people will spend more money than necessary on Christmas gifts, and live to regret at the end of January-the time when their credit card payment arrives in the mail.

You always say that you WILL NOT go over budget this year, but there is always some fancy gadgets which pleases the eye of some kid on your shopping list. Most parents will do anything to please him or her.

Yet, I wonder if parents have really taught their children the REAL meaning of Christmas. Christmas is more than gifts and toys, it is the birth of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Many times it is simply forgotten about. The Christmas Specials like Rudolph and Frosty can explain the feelings of Christmas, but often have no spiritual guidance. There is no association with Jesus. Rather it is seen as a time to feast like kings, give presents, and be happy. There seems to be no guidance as to what is true or untrue. If all the kids are seeing is that Christmas is only a once-a-year tradition, then how are we supposed to teach our children to honor God?

As I have stated in my 2 earlier installments, God is slowly being driven out of society. The association of a tree, St. Nick and Jesus don't quite add up to three, it equals zero. You can't go around and put things together which seem to have no correlation with each other, and say that there is a connection.

Most of my school years I could remember giving cards to my fellow students and having Christmas plays. Yet when I watched TV, all I saw was specials that had almost nothing really to do with Christmas. They were secular answers to a religious occasion. Most people, I believe, are good natured and honest, but lack understanding of what Christmas is really all about. Christmas is about Jesus, but not Dec.25. It is believed that Jesus was actually born in late Sept or early Oct. The changing to Dec.25 was due to the changing of calendars, from the Roman to Christian. Actually there are no records to the day of actual birth. The change was probably to do with the astrologists who predicted when the star of David may have appeared.

Most people also believe that we should bring Christ back into Christmas. Bad idea. The problem is that Christmas has nothing whatsoever to do with Jesus. It is bad spiritual idea to combine religious and secular ideas into one lump.

When my father was a kid, in the 1940's, Christmas was not as commercialized. They only had radio back then. Christmas was more of a family occasion. Toys were cheap and gifts were inexpensive. Over the years, toys have gotten more expensive and Christmas has become another excuse to spend money.

I also remember a time when my local priest said that [society] has taken Christ out of Christmas. Instead of calling it Christmas it is shortened to Xmas. He felt it was such a shame that society has not accepted Jesus to this very day. I wonder if we will ever learn?