Well just to throw a cat amongst the pigeons Christmas was a roman festival which the church took over several hundred years ago. The traditions of gift giving and the character of santa claus are of pagan decent. Father Christmas and Santa Claus were originally two completely different characters descended from different traditions and merged into one.
As a Christian i find christmas to be possibly the most depressing time of year, watching even the church itself buy into the commercialism that's become so intwined in the celebrations it's actually that that people celebrate more than the birth of Christ, which incedentally gives the festival it's name and is what the calendar we've been using for the last 2008 years (though in reality it's closer to 1500 years...) is based on. But being that i find it as such, it doesn't surprise me that non-christians can't stand it either.
As a Christian i find christmas to be possibly the most depressing time of year, watching even the church itself buy into the commercialism that's become so intwined in the celebrations it's actually that that people celebrate more than the birth of Christ, which incedentally gives the festival it's name and is what the calendar we've been using for the last 2008 years (though in reality it's closer to 1500 years...) is based on. But being that i find it as such, it doesn't surprise me that non-christians can't stand it either.
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