sent in by Sarah

Ironically, I feel like the fundamental Christians are trying to take away Christmas/Holiday/Hannaukah (whatever you prefer to celebrate during this time of year) for the rest of us.

Anyone who studies the history of "Christmas" for even five minutes will learn that there are so many roots of the December celebration which go way beyond the birth of Christ (by the way, the actual day of his birth is still an unknown).

For example, have you ever heard of "Saturnalia"? It was a Roman holiday in the middle of December during which the Romans would celebrate by exchanging presents...etc, and it's similar to how Christmas is celebrated today in many ways. This is just one of a number of holidays that contributed to today's version of Christmas, other than the birth of Jesus.

http://www.holidays.net/christmas/story.htm

Take from the above website:

"The Roman's celebrated their god Saturn. Their festival was called Saturnalia which began the middle of December and ended January 1st. With cries of "Jo Saturnalia!" the celebration would include masquerades in the streets, big festive meals, visiting friends, and the exchange of good-luck gifts called Strenae (lucky fruits). The Romans decked their halls with garlands of laurel and green trees lit with candles."

While I haven't extensively studied this topic, I have read similar descriptions of Saturnalia from other sources, for those of you concerned for the accuracy of information.

My purpose for Christmas is to be with family, eat good food, and to reflect on all the postives of life...but not to celebrate the Christian religion. If all the fundamentalists here in the US prefer society to not wish one another "Happy Holidays", then perhaps we should take Christianity out of it altogether and completely turn it into a non-religious holiday. I think that they're shooting themselves in the foot by arrogantly pushing their agendas on everyone else during the holidays. So in that case, Happy Saturnalia!