Fox News talking head Bill O’Reilly, who is known for promoting conspiracy theories, is famous for igniting a recent controversy about a “war on Christmas” by atheists, liberals, Democrats, left-leaning media, and corporations who don’t kowtow to Bible Belt fundamentalists.
Supposedly, these spoilers are out to remove Christ from Christmas, by opting to use terms such as “Seasons Greetings” and “Happy Holidays” instead of the traditional “Merry Christmas”.
O’Reilly got his conservative audience worked up about this non-issue for several years, bitching about the Obama’s White House holiday card, railing about Starbuck’s generic coffee mug that had a wintertime theme, etc. This year, O’Reilly declared that the war has been won, because “Donald Trump is on the case”, and that President Trump is proudly using the proper “Merry Christmas” greeting, etc.
As with most of what O’Reilly says on Fox News, the “war” is rubbish, and the picture of Donald Trump, a non-practicing Christian if there ever was one, carrying the water for Jesus Christ is a pretty ridiculous thought. HoHoHo…don’t make me laugh!
More importantly, though, the idea that any Christian (or, in the case of Trump…a fake Christian) can talk about malevolent folk misappropriating the sacred Christmas holiday is a knee-slapper…it’s the pot calling the kettle black, because they don’t know what they’re talking about.
Fact-check:
No credible historical person (i.e. someone who actually lived) wrote one word about Jesus Christ during his alleged life. The myth about Jesus was developed by unknown, non-historical persons, many decades after his alleged life and death. Bible historians are in unanimous agreement on this aspect of the mythology.
Therefore, no one knows if, or when, Jesus was born. The virgin birth, the manger, the Star of Bethlehem, the Magi, ad nauseum, were part of one Gospel narrative that was written at least 50 years, and maybe 100 years, after the supposed blessed event, and that writer obviously wasn’t an eyewitness. And the other Gospel writers didn’t know anything about the birth details. Strange, huh?
So, where did “Christmas”/December 25th come from?
It was invented by the newly-developing Catholic Church.
The early Church leaders, in the Roman Empire, had no traditions and holidays of their own. As the religion developed, existing cultural festivities were adapted to fit the new religion. Romans had a lengthy (by Jesus’ time…about 500 years!) tradition of celebrating “Saturnalia” at about the time of the Winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. This festival, which lasted from five to seven days, involved feasting, gift giving, singing, drinking, and general merriment to celebrate the pagan god Saturn. The Winter solstice, according to the Roman calendar, fell on December 25th.
There was no recorded veneration of Jesus’ alleged birthday until 336 A.D., approximately 300 years after the alleged death of Jesus and about 800 years after the first Saturnalia celebration. At that time, Christianity had become legal, an orthodox faith had been crafted together, and the new leaders needed to develop a Christian culture. Church leaders had hypothesized about the birthdate of Jesus Christ for quite awhile. The earliest discussion came from Clement of Alexandria, in 200 A.D., when he noted that various bishops had suggested May 20, April 20 or 21, March 25, January 2, November 17, and November 20. Obviously, no one knew. It would be akin to identifying the birthdate of Paul Bunyan, the Tooth Fairy, or the Easter Bunny…one could use any date.
The date that was ultimately chosen was December 25th. This is because people within the Roman Empire were already used to celebrating on this date, it was the Winter solstice (a cosmically significant day), and it was approximately nine months after the Vernal equinox, a date that some Christian “experts” of the day linked to the conception of Jesus. Of course, no one knew that date for sure…because it was also part of the mythology. But, it sounded good.
(It was also at about this time that the new Church began to flesh out the Jesus myth by (miraculously) finding Jesus items in the Holy Lands, like His manger, His tomb, His cross, etc. The fact that these places and things had lied unknown and un-venerated for 300 years didn’t matter to the faithful; it was just accepted that Jesus was born there, died there, and was nailed to those 300 year-old pieces of wood…which were found buried under a city (twice demolished to rubble) by amateur archaeologist Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine. But, I digress…)
As the Christian religion began to sprout in the Roman Empire, and, then, become the official religion of the land, the Saturnalia celebration was phased out in favor of Christmas, as were all of the pagan festivities on the calendar. In fact, once Church leaders gained a strong foothold at the Roman court, it became required under law to be a Christian and to practice the faith publicly and privately. Hence, Christmas celebrations were common throughout Europe in the Middle Ages as Christianity spread to that region, and churches began to be stocked with phony artifacts from the Holy Lands.
The pre-Christian Germanic people of Northern Europe had previously celebrated a winter festival called “Yule” in late December to early January. In eastern Europe, there was an old tradition of celebrating through the use of “Koleda”, which is a form of caroling. As the Christmas culture developed, yule logs and Christmas carols were added to the mix, as were the gift-giving and merriment of Saturnalia, greenery, lights and charity from the Roman New Year, and, then, special characters like Kris Kringle and Santa Claus emerged. Church officials didn’t mind all of the window dressing at that time, because churches were packed and the collection plates were overflowing. And, not believing the Jesus story was punishable by being burnt at the stake. It was a different world then.
The season-ending holiday season that we currently enjoy is the result of a couple thousand years of evolution, some of which is pagan in nature, and some of which is derived from the Jesus Christ story. The fact that most Americans associate the “Christmas” season with family get-togethers, a spirit of charity, gift giving, and merriment, and not necessarily with the birth of Jesus, is not surprising. For one thing, church attendance in America is at a low ebb, as every deacon, rabbi, and priest knows full well. Hence, the plea (from guys like O’Reilly) to “put Christ back into Christmas”…it’s a Hail Mary effort, pardon the pun. But, nice try, Bill!
More importantly, while all Americans appreciate “Christmastime”, the special time of the year means different things to different people, particularly since our Nation is such a melting pot. Many different nationalities, religions, and cultures abound within our Country, and they each have the right to celebrate the end of the year in any way that they desire. Many people who are not Christians feel quite comfortable saying “Merry Christmas” to friends and strangers, because it is simply a euphemism for “Happy Holidays” or “Seasons Greetings”…a nice, polite, and cheerful way of expressing one’s humanity.
Christmas season seems to be doing really well in the United States. Business is booming, people are enjoying each other’s company, and there is a festive feel in the neighborhood. It doesn’t seem like we’re at war, at all.
I’m enjoying the holiday season…except for this sore throat.