Throughout the two millennia that
the Christian church has existed, it has formed a pattern of helping new
converts feel comfortable by absorbing and attempting to sanctify some of their
customs. The result of this has given us
Christmas Trees, Easter Eggs and a whole plethora of symbolism that has little
to do with the church and yet is fiercely defended by her.
To a point, the worst of these ties
has been the celebration of fertility married to the resurrection of Jesus
Christ. Confusion abounds as the most holy day in Christendom is painted pastel
and accompanied by a bunny bearing colored eggs. Even the name is pagan in
origin.
Christmas
when viewed objectively is extremely confusing. Placed by the church in the
wrong season, Christmas celebrates the birth of Christ in Israel using Nordic symbolism.
Laying sacrifices before tree gods became gifts under trees. Conservative
American evangelicals have picked up the call of “keep Christ in Christmas”
generating the idea of a culture war concerning Christmas. A war that continues
to be won by Christians every time someone writes the year with the letters
A.D. The same group seems less inclined to keep the “mass” in Christmas.
With the Christian
Church’s history of absorption and adoption of other cultural holidays, it
seems that Halloween or All Hallows’ Eve, would be a natural fit into the calendar.
Regardless, a large group of modern evangelicals eschew the practice of
Halloween because of its pagan roots. Some groups even go so far as to remove
the name given the day by the church and call their celebration a “Harvest Party”
which is exactly what the pagans of old would have been celebrating at this
time of year.
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