Interesting historical perspective about other parts of the world.
In my country, a christmas tree has been accepted as a part of the
American celebration.
--- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, "dfsavgny" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> --- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, "justifiedright"
> <justifiedright@> wrote:
> >
> > Because they aren't holiday trees. They are Christmas trees.
> >
> > Truth in advertising.
> >
> >
>
> There has historically been opposition to the custom of the
Christmas
> tree because of its alleged pagan origins. Thus, Oliver Cromwell
> preached against "the heathen traditions" of Christmas carols and
> decorated trees. As pastor Henry Schwan of Cleveland OH in 1851
> decorating what was likely the first Christmas tree in an American
> church. His parishioners condemned the idea as a Pagan practice.
>
> There are various legends regarding the origin of the Christmas
tree,
> often relating to Saint Boniface. Thus, in one version, Boniface
> disrupted a pagan child sacrifice at an oak tree, flattening the
oak
> with a blow of his fist. A small fir sprang up in place of the oak,
> which Boniface told the pagans represented Christ.[1] In some
> accounts, Martin Luther is credited with adding lights and
decoration
> to fir branches traditionally hung from ceilings.[2]
>
> Condemnation of the Christmas tree as pagan has been based on a
> passage in Jeremiah,
>
> "Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be
not
> dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at
them.
> For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out
of
> the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
They
> deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and
with
> hammers, that it move not." (Jeremiah 10:2-4, KJV).
>
> Christmas traditions in general have often been associated with
> paganism in 19th century scholarship. Robert Chambers in his 1832
Book
> of Days notes that the festivities of Christmas originally derived
> from the Roman Saturnalia , had afterwards been intermingled with
the
> ceremonies observed by the British Druids at the period of
> winter-solstice, and at a subsequent period became incorporated
with
> the grim mythology of the ancient Saxons. Two popular observances
> belonging to Christmas are more especially derived from the
worship of
> our pagan ancestors—the hanging up of the mistletoe and the
burning of
> the Yule log. Regarding the Christmas tree itself, Chambers notes
that
> it seems to be a very ancient custom in Germany, and is probably a
> remnant of the splendid and fanciful pageants of the middle ages.
> Other traditions relating to Christmas that may derive from
Germanic
> pagan practices include the Christmas ham, Yule Goat, stuffing
> stockings, elements of Santa Claus and his nocturnal ride through
the
> sky, and elements of Alpine folklore.[3]
>
> There are also some accounts that place the earliest Christmas
trees
> in the Baltic (variously Estonia or Lativa), while in actuality the
> custom was introduced there in the 1920s.
>
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