CHRISTMAS – is a Christian Holiday

Christmas is about one thing and one thing only – the birth of Christ.

Prince Charles – It is not about Islam or Muhammed or minority religions, or minority people, or Allah. It is not about Satanic rituals, or screaming and shouting in stores and malls, it is not about hate filled rhetoric, hypocrisy or blame…

It is about the birth of Jesus Christ.

Santa Claus was derived from Saint Nicholas, a fourth century Christian who was revered for his charity and gift giving.   He was a real person, did not fly around in a sleigh, and did not have elves as his helpers.   Nonetheless, even the fantasy Santa of today was rooted in Christian history.

St Nick was Greek, and in 325 was asked by Constantine to appear at the First Council of Nicaea where as a Bishop he signed the Nicene Creed.

The first decorated Christmas tree can be traced to Germany and Livonia where the Brotherhood of Blackheads were said to decorate a tree with fruits and candies for the children. The Brotherhood was a military group of people who rose up to defend Christians that were being persecuted and exterminated by indigenous Estonians during the St. George’s Night Uprising.

The tree was said to be symbolic of the Trinity pointing toward the Heavens.

While there are pagan rituals with respect to evergreen branches being the sustenance of life because they remain green all year round, the evergreen tree was specifically erected as a Christian symbol holding gifts for the children.

These origins have mutated over the centuries to represent different ideas and customs, but that does not change their beginning,, their root or their Christian core.

The Jewish celebration of Hanukkah also has its roots in ancient history coming from the Alexandrian canon which was a part of the Old Testatment Bible of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.  It symbolically represents the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

Kwanzaa is a week long celebration represented only in the US and created in 1967 by Maulana Karenga. Karenga, whose real name was Ronald McKinley Everett, was an American black man born in Pennsylvania who became involved in the Black Power movement and black nationalism. His organization fought against the Black Panthers, which resulted in numerous deaths and assassinations. In 1971 he was sentenced to prison for torturing two women which included; putting a smoldering iron in their mouth, being beaten with electrical cords, forcing detergent into their mouths through running hoses, squeezing one woman’s foot in a vise, and being beaten with a baton.

While Christians do not attempt to recreate Muslim holidays or Jewish holidays, or Karenga holidays, it is equally as important to not diminish our own.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!