Ray Stevens’ Politically Incorrect Celebration of Christmas

“Un-American”? Why? Firstly, there is not a shred of evidence
that Christ, if he really existed, was born on Dec. 25, or even in December.
The gospels of Matthew and Luke describe his birth (even if they contradict each other about the facts), but don’t say when. Nobody has any idea even which season he was born in. If the
shepherds were tending their flocks that night, you can bet it wasn’t in
December. Even in Palestine, winters are cold, and by then the flocks would
have been taken down to the village for protection against predators and
exposure, as would the shepherds. Early Christians asserted May 20 as his birth
date, and every month in the year has been advanced since. So how did Dec. 25
become the “official” day?

As the Church began its campaign to “convert” the pagans in Europe,
they found that life was generally
nasty, brutish and short, and “eat, drink and be merry” was being
celebrated at certain times of the year, as it had been for thousands of years.
One of the biggest was the ancient pagan festival of Saturnalia, celebrating
the passing of the Shortest Day – from this time the sun would rise higher and
the days become longer. It was celebrated by lighting candles, decking the
halls with boughs of holly and mistletoe to defy winter’s attempts to prevent
the renewal of life, and burning of yule logs (beginning to sound familiar?)
Many of the new generation were conceived, the prospective parents knowing that
they would be born Autumn, the season of plenty.

The Christian church was appalled at this exhibition of indulgence in the
pleasures of the flesh of all varieties, so they simply stole the festival and
told their reluctant flocks “No, no! This was the day when the Redeemer
was born,” and the whole Bethlehem, Three Wise Men [note, the Bible makes
no mention of the number, it just says "wise men" - it could have
been two, or 37], manger, Star in the East, shepherds, etc. etc. myth began
here. Eat, drink and be merry, the Church said, (so as not to lose their entire
new congregation) but lay off the screwing a bit, OK, and remember this is the
date of Christ’s birth, and it’s now not called Saturnalia, but Christes Messe.
You got a problem with that? (We have ways of changing your mind.)

Oliver Cromwell’s spoilsport Puritans tried to stamp Christmas
out, complaining of “giving liberty to carnall and sensual delights.”
December 25 was mandated as a normal business day, with sheriffs going forth to
compel merchants to open their shops. Parliament met as usual. The festival’s
resurrection began in the 1840s, with Charles Dickens reminding people of the
of its original, non-religious, meaning of just, well, party time!

Puritans brought their aversion of Christmas to the New World, making its
celebration a crime. In Boston in 1706, a mob attacked a church holding a
Christmas service. By state law, in Massachusetts children were required to
attend school on Dec. 25, and many ministers condemned the whole idea of Christmas,
some calling it a “foreign day.” It was not until 1885, when Congress
declared Dec. 25 a federal holiday, that it began a renaissance in the US. So,
far from the annual lament about “taking Christ out of Christmas”
from religious people ignorant of its historical origins, many are simply
returning it to its original, pre-Christian, purpose. Eat, drink and be merry,
and to hell with the priests and prelates!