Santa single handedly defeated the Martian invasion of Earth.

If that ain't a hero what is?

Hence Christianity is Evil - this thread proves it ^_^

In reply to Azraile (msg # 34):

You are correct and win a cookie! LOL

Both the rabbit and the egg are symbols of fertility, dating back to Babylon, and were associated with the Spring Equinox.

In reply to OceanLake (msg # 28):

 Santa baby, slip a Rolex under the tree, for me.
 I've been an awful good guy,
 Santa buddy, and hurry down the chimney tonight.

 Santa buddy, a 65 convertible too, steel blue.
 I'll wait up for you dude,
 Santa buddy, and hurry down the chimney tonight.

 Think of all the fun I've missed,
 I think of all the hotties that I never kissed,
 Next year I could be just as good,
 If you'd check off my Christmas list,

 Santa pally, I wanna yacht and really that's not a lot,
 I've been a sweetie all year,
 Santa buddy, so hurry down the chimney tonight.

 Santa buddy, one thing that I really do need, the deed,
 To a platinum mine,
 Santa pally, so hurry down the chimney tonight.

 Santa buddy, fill my stocking with Canucks tix, for kicks.
 Throw me on the first line,
 Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight.

 Come and trim my Christmas tree,
 With some decorations bought at Mercedes,
 I really do believe in you,
 Now let's see if you believe in me

 Santa poppy, forgot to mention one little thing, cha-ching,
 No, I don't mean as a loan.
 Santa buddy, so hurry down the chimney tonight,
 Hurry down the chimney tonight,
 Oh, hurry down the chimney tonight.

Personally enjoy this one by Michael Buble.

Michael Buble?  I thought that the song was originally sung and recorded in 1953 by Eartha Kitt.

In reply to Mystic-Scholar (msg # 37):

Halloween has NO Christian roots at all.

Not Christian roots perhaps; but Halloween was stolen for All Souls Night; which is a Christian festival.

Was originally Samhain, All Hallows Eve, a Celtic festival. Many religions/cultures have something similar.

In reply to Azraile (msg # 40):

Roots? The "beginnings" of Christmas have no Christian roots either.

I think you meant to say "ties." All Hallows Eve has no Christian ties.

No, it doesn't.

That's what I mean all Christian holidays were created to help convert people, mostly the celts.

Yes. Mainly from around the time Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire.

In reply to Azraile (msg # 43):

Not necessarily.

Christmas is an exact duplication of the Roman Saturnalia. The same customs and the same date. The Saturnalia ran from December 17th until December 23rd, after wihich was celebrated Sol Invictus - the "Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun," on December 25.

The early "church" started calling the Saturnalia "Christmas" in order to convert the pagan Romans, not the Celts. "They" went from the Invincible Sun to . . . the Invincible Son.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnalia

You can start there and Google the rest of the info.

This will get you started with Easter "traditions."

http://www.factmonster.com/spot/easterintro1.html

The imagery of the jolly fat man for chistmas is all thanks to coca cola.

the fat man in the red suit was part of a christmas advertising campaign.  If you look at some of the more traditional european folk santa's i think many of them are quite skinny.

When Satan was cast out of Heaven he was chained in Hell.  At first.  But God allows everyone a chance at redemption including the Dark Prince himself.

Clearly Santa Claus is Satan, in disguise, trying to re-earn a spot in Heaven by fostering Peace on Earth and good will toward men!

So technically he is Evil, but redemption is a long road and a harsh mistress so every year he must dress up, do his Ho-ho-hoing and bring cheer to generations of squalling brats one night a year for centuries on end.

Perhaps it would have been better to rule in Hell after all?

In reply to Mystic-Scholar (msg # 31):

That's fascinating.  I like reading about those historical developments and attributions.

In reply to Heath (msg # 48):

Start Googling your holidays . . . every one of them has their begins in Pagan holidays.

Except what is erroneously referred to as "Good Friday."

Christ died on Nisan 14th. And -- just like your birthday -- Nisan 14th is not always on a Friday. ;)

Yes, I am aware of the holidays.  I've studied their history a lot -- Easter is particularly interesting.  I just wasn't aware of this Santa Claus origin, which surprised me because I thought I knew most of the origin stories.

If you go back far enough, every holiday is made up. ;)

In reply to Heath (msg # 50):

Ah! Yes, "Saint Nicholas" merely built upon what was already there, including use of the "Christmas Tree."

You might find it interesting that the round cake and candles of your birthday also have their origins in the pagan customs of the ancient Greeks, among others. The round cake was an offering to the moon goddess - Artemis.

You can start here:

http://www.tokenz.com/history-of-birthday-cake.html

I'm ok with Christian holidays having pagan origins.  The Romans stole heavily from the Greeks.  Many religious groups stole things from groups that came before them. :)

Some of it was a natural process of Hellenization and the Greek sphere of influence.

Halloween is NOT a religious holiday. It is like Thanks giving or Independence day,  and is more of a local holiday/custom. We stole it from Mexico and their day of the dead holiday.

LOL It's been around way longer than the day of the dead.

It is a Christian holiday based of the Celtic harvest festivals

The bigger of the celtic festivals take place during the solstice's and equinoxes of the seasons and most had there Sabbat traditions absorbed and made into christian holidays.

The eight Sabbats:

Imbolc, the midpoint between Yule and Ēostre - This evolved into groundhog day.

Ēostre, The Spring Equinox - This even sounds like Easter x.x  lol

Beltaine, the midpoint between Ēostre and Litha - this became may-pole dancing and crowning of the May Queen, until puritan colonialist outlawed the may-pole and much associated with it from shock and horror of the sexual freedom of another group of colonist that built a settlement near by

Litha - Midsummer, The Summer Solstice ... this is the only one that was not assimilated.

Lughnasadh, midpoint between Litha and mabon and the first of the three harvest festivals - was adopted some what, but all it really involved was fixing and eating bread, candles, and prayer. It didn't last into modern times.

Mabon - Harvest Festival, Fall Equinox - celebrated by farmers still.

Samhain, The midpoint between Mabon and Yule - this is where we get halloween.

Yule, The Winter Solstice - Christmas of crose... still is called Yule time

In reply to Azraile (msg # 56):

Yes, it is very much a "religious" holiday and is very much associated with the Celts, who occupied Europe long before they occupied England, or Ireland.

In reply to iwriter81 (msg # 35):

He just did it to later conquer earth himself.

Or for his own aggrandizement. ;)

LOL