Reporters and columnists love nothing more (it seems) than pointing out an irony. Around Christmas, the latest fashion for the past few years is to point out how major Christian holidays (like, say, Christmas) have incorporated pagan themes. The attitudes behind this range from innocent curiosity to those wanting to play “gotcha” in order to make a point. In hopes I that I won’t have to blog about this too often from now until the end of the month, I bring you a collection of reporters opening their Sir James George Frazer action playsets!

“I wonder what Jesus would say. Probably, ‘Hey, I’m down with the whole peace thing, but why are folks using the pagan tradition of hanging wreaths on their door to celebrate my birth? Oh, and who’s that white guy in the church with my name under his picture?” – Chris Johnson, The Ledger-Enquirer

“In the early church, when Christians faced severe persecution, there is no record of any Christmas observance. Evidence exists, however, that about the year 336, Christians in Rome began celebrating the birth of Jesus on December 25. The date itself was chosen to Christianize what had been an ancient pagan holiday marking the birthday of the sun god…” – Frank Mazzaglia, MetroWest Daily News

“One of the prettiest Christmas carols, “The Holly and the Ivy,” was a pagan fertility carol about the sexual dynamic of Ivy, the female, and Holly, the male, which was the staff, and the encircling ivy was the nest.” – Pam Tempelmayr, The Powell River Peak

“The Christmas tree has pagan origins, NOT Christian ones. The Romans and druids would bring evergreen branches and trees into the home in celebration of the winter solstice, which falls on or around the December 21, depending on the position of the sun.” – Benjamin Shaw Heslington, The Press

“Some Christmas traditions can be traced back to Constantine’s conversion to Christianity in 325 A.D., said Johnston. That culture worshipped the sun, so Constantine conveniently changed the annual celebration of the rebirth of the sun god into the celebration of another son, the son of God, Johnston said. The pagans were happy. The Christians were happy. The celebrations at that time remained largely unchanged.” – Kathryn Cates Moore, Lincoln Journal Star

“Christmas has roots in pagan tradition, so it’s only natural that people of all faiths celebrate the Christian holiday as a season of peace and joy.” – Casey Culbreth, U of E Crescent

“An agnostic among us points out that many of the symbols of Christmas originated in pagan rituals, for example, the Christmas tree. He reminded us of this as he was preparing his Christmas shopping list.” – Editorial Board, Westport Minuteman

“Take away the carols, the gifts, the parties, the food and what’s left of Christmas that most people observe is perhaps attendance at a Christmas Eve service and maybe a manger under a tree – but, oops, that tree is another pagan symbol that must be ousted.” – Timothy R. Butler, Open for Business

“I guess I’ve always understood that the selection of Dec. 25, as the day to commemorate the birth of the Christ child was initially an attempt to wed a pagan celebration with a Christian celebration, thus, presumably, overcoming evil with good. Apparently it was doomed to failure…” – Dawn Cribbs, McCook Daily Gazette

“Never did a knotty pine wreak such unholy havoc. All of a sudden, Christians were oppressed and fighting against a handful of hypersensitive political animals who wanted to sanitize the moniker of a Christian symbol—the Christmas tree—so as not to offend anyone. Mind you, Christians long ago adopted this formerly pagan symbol as their own, and today, no other religious tradition calls for folks to erect dead trees in their homes and vacuum pine needles for a month.” – Liz Garrigan, Nashville Scene

Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. No doubt more is yet to come as December 25th draws near. But hopefully, you won’t be seeing too much of it here (unless someone says something truly outrageous).

Tags: Paganism