More Christmas Myths: Why 12 Days?

One of the specific ways that Solstice celebrations from ancient times are still remembered is by the “Twelve Days of Christmas.”

The 12 Myths of Christmas- “Reason for the Season”

The 2011 Winter Solstice came today. So tis a perfect day to talk about the real “reason for the season.” And here’s the real first Christmas question: Why all the fuss over December 25? For starters, the Gospels never mention a precise date or even a season for the birth of Jesus. How then did [...]

The 12 Myths of Christmas (1)

Today, December 6, is the feast of Saint Nicholas. It makes a perfect day to consider one of the first of the “myths” of Christmas.

Dueling Christmas Billboards

There is a new skirmish in the so-called “Christmas Wars.”

If you are coming to see the Big Tree in Rockefeller Center by way of the Lincoln Tunnel, you’ll be greeted by two starkly opposing views of the Christmas Season. As the Daily News reported on December 2, an atheist group placed a billboard at the approach to the Lincoln Tunnel saying “You know it’s a myth.” A Catholic group responded with a billboard of its own saying “You know it’s real,” with a picture of Jesus and Mary.

12 Christmas Myths (12): Some Cold, Hard Facts

Okay. Here comes trouble. I have been writing about the traditions and legends that have grown around Christmas and many of their pagan roots. But here come some cold, hard facts about the Nativity story itself– It is a comfortable and familiar tale, retold each year in countless churches and reenacted in Charming Christmas pageant [...]

Twelve Christmas Myths (11): X Marks the Spot

Long before the current round of “War on Christmas” dust-ups began a few years ago, many well-meaning Christians bemoaned the fact that Christ was being “taken out of Christmas.” Often they pointed to the use of the shorthand, “Xmas” as a vivid example of the secularization of a very significant day on the Christian calendar. [...]

12 Myths of Christmas (7): How many “Kings?”

In churches around the world, there will surely be some Christmas pageants today, along with a reading of the Nativity story. When I was a kid, the Christmas pageant was probably my favorite day of the year. We put on the Christmas story and sang all the great carols. Afterward, there was a wonderful old-fashioned [...]

12 Myths of Christmas (6): Mistletoe and Kissing

So Mommy was kissing Santa underneath the mistletoe last night. Surely, you’ve wondered why. What does a parasitic plant have to do with the birth of the baby Jesus?

Twelve Myths of Christmas (4): You Light Up My Life

But few traditions are more important to western Christmas celebrations than the Norse solstice stories.

Myths of Christmas (3): Who started the “War on Christmas?”

During the past few years, the so-called “War on Christmas” has been a staple of conservative broadcasters and the religious right. Their basic idea: Christmas is under attack by Grinchy atheists and secular humanists who want to remove any vestige of Christianity from the public space. Any criticism of public space devoted to religious displays [...]