I always think that the question of whether Christmas has become secularized is funny, in itself. Christmas is really only a commemoration of the birth of Jesus, truly an appropriation of the pagan midwinter holidays (the thought being, roughly, let's make the party about US, bring the pagans into the fold, and in a few years, they'll forget all about their old gods) of Jul, Midvinterblot, Modresnacht, and others. This is why we have the implausible wreaths and trees that never grew in the Holy Land. The newest religion to take on this ancient winter festival is, of course, Capitalism, which instills its own sense of pious guilt...
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I always think that the question of whether Christmas has become secularized is funny, in itself. Christmas is really only a commemoration of the birth of Jesus, truly an appropriation of the pagan midwinter holidays (the thought being, roughly, let's make the party about US, bring the pagans into the fold, and in a few years, they'll forget all about their old gods) of Jul, Midvinterblot, Modresnacht, and others. This is why we have the implausible wreaths and trees that never grew in the Holy Land. The newest religion to take on this ancient winter festival is, of course, Capitalism, which instills its own sense of pious guilt...
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