Well just weighting in on the Christmas debate. Another post prompted me to write this thread. They had mentioned about being in England one Christmas and not getting the Charles Dickens Christmas experience.

Just so happens that I have a copy of A Christmas Carol with me, along with a few other choice Dickens novels. The version of A Christmas Carol that I have is a copy well Illustrated by Robert Ingpen. It's got all the original text plus extra notes and stories. At the beginning there is a short story called The Victoria Christmas, which I will share a few excerpts from.

"Christmas has always been celebrated with a particular combination of Christian, Pagan and folk traditions. The medieval traditions had combined the celebration of the birth of Christ with the ancient Pagan festival of Saturnalia, brought to Britain by the invading Roman soldiers, which include the traditions such as covering houses in greenery and bawdy partying. But by the beginning of the nineteenth century, the celebration of Christmas in England was largely non-existent. This was due partly to the influence of the Puritans, who were opposed to the celebration's Pagan links, and during Oliver Cromwell's brief rule had actually outlawed Christmas. The other influence on the decline of Christmas was the Industrial Revolution, during which large numbers of people left their home villages to move to the big cities, leaving behind their cultural and family traditions. Poverty was widespread: wages were low, working conditions in the factories were poor, and workers were allowed little time off to celebrate."

"This all changed during the reign of Queen Victoria however, and the celebration of Christmas was dramatically revived. The Victorians gave us the kind of Christmas we know today, reviving the traditions of carol singing, introducing the practice of card giving, which was borrowed from St Valentine's Day. Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, was very enthusiastic about the festival, and brought with him the German custom of decorating an evergreen tree. The Christmas tree ('that pretty German toy' as Dickens calls it in A Christmas Tree) at Windsor Castle was featured in The Illustrated London News in 1848, and soon everyone wanted to decorate a tree in their own homes. But perhaps the biggest influence on the way Christmas was celebrated was Charles Dickens."

I hope no one now has an illusions about where Christmas really comes from. To those who say that they can't celebrate Christmas because it is a Christian holiday I say "rubbish". The Christians stole it. In fact nowhere in the Bible does it say that Jesus was born on December 25. All the traditions and festivities were are stolen as well.

Christmas is a time to get together with family and friends, no matter what their religious views are, if any.