This week we were given an essay about the origins of Christmas. Bruce Forbes, a religion teacher here at Morningside, wrote the essay called Christmas Was Not Always Like This: A Brief History. He writes about how the traditions that we see these days during Christmas have not always been there. He tells about the old customs of Christmas and how the nativity scene cam about. He also tells about how the date of December 25 came to be Christmas Day and the correlation of the winter celebrations and the date December 25. His essay shows that many of the customs of Christmas that we thought had been carried out from the very beginnings were not always true.
After reading this essay I was very surprised. I am not a religious person and know Christmas as a time to give and get presents and be with family. I obviously know about the religious ties of Christmas but we never celebrate it as that. So reading about how all of the traditions came to be was very interesting. It almost in some ways makes me think that Christmas was made up. Not to offend anyone, but if the date of December 25 has nothing to do with the birth of Jesus, then why is it celebrated as the birth of Jesus? Is it because of the way the tradition was handed down and maybe it is just the way it is.
Do you think it’s right to celebrate Christmas when you don’t acknowledge the religious ties to it?