I’d like to start out by saying that I am a Christian. I believe that Christ walked this earth and that he died for my sins. I believe that all the miracles that the Bible chronicles did in fact happen. I believe that Jesus lived a perfect life. I do not believe that he is behind Christmas.

Every year I am asked multiple times by various people as to why I don’t celebrate Christmas. Here’s the short answer: Christmas is, in my humble opinion, a witch’s brew of Christian and pagan practices thrown together into one candy-cane striped cauldron of eggnog and hypocrisy. I know that the majority of people who celebrate it are not, in fact, pagan, but many of its traditions are taken directly from pagan religions. It leaves too many questions unanswered: What does Santa Claus have to do with Jesus’ birth? Why didn’t Jesus’ first disciples celebrate it? Where did the reindeer come from?

I know that my opinion seems harsh and Grinch-like (I promise I’m not green), and I suppose it is. But that’s only half the story. I do see good things in the holiday. I love how Christmas is a time when people put aside their differences and come together for the common good. I’ve never celebrated Christmas, but being happily wished a “merry Christmas” by a complete stranger does at times make me feel warm and cuddly inside. I love to see all of the toy and food drives that are run during the Christmas season to help needy families. I love the feelings of warmth and content that accompany the holiday. I am not trying to go to war with the genuine spirit of goodwill that Christmas possesses. It is the Christmas holiday itself, the trees, mistletoe, and various inhabitants of the North Pole that it comes with, that I believe are fundamentally not right.

As “The Christmas Connection” points out in its newsletter ‘The History and Traditions Of Christmas’, the practices that we associate with Christmas today were taken directly from pagan religions. The Bible speaks out against Canaanite idol worship involving trees, specifically green trees, numerous times. Verses 2-4 of chapter 10 in the Book of Jeremiah read:

“Thus says the Lord: Learn not the way of the [heathen] nations and be not dismayed at the signs of the heavens, though they are dismayed at them, for the customs and ordinances of the peoples are false, empty, and futile; it is but a tree which one cuts out of the forest [to make for himself a god], the work of the hands of the craftsman with the ax or other tool. They deck [the idol] with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers so it will not fall apart or move around.”

If Christmas is truly a Christian holiday, its traditions should correspond with the Bible. The problem with Christmas today is that people either aren’t aware or simply do not care that many of the holiday’s traditions fly in the face of Christianity. It’s easy to see that many Christmas traditions have nothing to do with Christ, yet they are still kept and honored as vital aspects of the holiday.

Also, Christmas does not celebrate what it says it celebrates. The word itself is a contraction of two words, “Christ” and “Mass”. But, as Last Trumpet Ministries points out in its tract titled “The True Meaning of Christmas”, the word “Mass” in religious usage means a “death-sacrifice”. If this holiday really celebrates the birth of Christ, why does its name celebrate His death?

All this may seem to be nit-pickery and religious snobbery, the rantings of a self-righteous schmuck who wants to destroy all that is beautiful. As before, this is only partly true. I am not condemning those who celebrate Christmas, simply explaining why my family does not follow suit and in what ways the holiday goes against what we believe in. I believe that it is better to uncover an ugly truth than to continue in a beautiful lie, and Christmas, of all things, has some ugly truths. Have a happy Kwanza everyone.