I had a good Christmas myself, and while writing that last little obligatory “how was yours” post, I was reminded of a little flak I tend to get annually around this time of year. Near without fail, someone ends up asking me how in the world I can celebrate Christmas. I don’t believe in the religious end of it, so how can I feel fine about celebrating the day of the savior’s birth?

Such things usually come in two forms. The first is the angry Christian who thinks I have no right or I’m hypocritical by observing the holiday when I don’t worship the guy it was named after. The other is the bullheaded nonbeliever who refuses on principle to do anything with a religious theme to it and thinks I’m betraying myself.

I’ll start with the first. Anyone making the “you don’t worship Christ so you can’t celebrate Christmas” is making two assumptions: that Christmas is inherently Christian and that its celebration today is the same. Both are completely wrong.

A history lesson is in order.

Very little that we think of as “Christmas” really has any Biblical roots. I’m sure people are saying “how can that be? It’s CHRISTmas! We’re celebrating Jesus’ birth!” Well yes, that’s the ostensible reason for the holiday, but even accepting the event in question there’s a whole lot more to it.

Consider the date, December 25th. When I was younger and in school I thought it was so strange that Christmas just happened to be within a few days of the winter solstice. Well wouldn’t you know, it turns out that’s not a coincidence at all. Even religious experts agree that Jesus wasn’t really born on the 25th, and posit that the date was chosen also because of a Roman holiday called “Saturnalia”.

The church probably began to celebrate the birth of Christ when they did in order to replace pagan holidays with Christian ones. Beginning with the emperor Constantine, who converted to Christianity, there was a decided movement in this direction.

So right off the bat, the date has more to do with assimilating the pagans than commemorating the date of Christ’s birth. The same happened with Easter, which just happens to be right around the vernal equinox. Now the writer on Beliefnet states that the solstice is on the 21st, but the date can be anywhere between the 20th and the 23rd, and it’s unlikely ancient pagans could have been that accurate.

Anyway, let’s keep going. You know what that winter solstice celebration was called? That’s right, Yule. You can read up on Yule either here or on the Wikipedia article. A few of those traditions should sound familiar, such as the tree, log, and the mistletoe.

Hey, that tree. You know the Christmas tree pre-dates Christmas because it was referred to directly in the book of Jeremiah 10:2-4, when God condemned the idea as a pagan ritual.

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.

So far none of the traditions are, strictly speaking, Christian, and at least the tree business was almost directly condemned by Old Testament God.

By the way, celebrating the day at all isn’t described in the Bible. The Bible spends a lot of time talking about what to celebrate and how to celebrate it. Exodus in particular is fond of discussing tabernacles and candle formations. Even the Ten Commandments point out the Sabbath to be observed. Nowhere, however, is there any discussion about celebrating Christmas.

As a result, many early Christians were against celebrating it (aside from the fact that for a while they had no set date). You can understand why, of course. It goes against the idea of the humble origin idea when there’s a giant hullabaloo and everyone takes a day off of work. There’s also a strange irony in that Christians today celebrate a day that isn’t commanded and ignore observing the one that is.

So really, Christmas is just Yule with Jesus thrown on top of it. Bill O’Reilly’s statement some years back that without Christmas businesses would be sunk is then exposed as ignorant, since without it we’d still be all about the solstice.

What about the second? According to that logic, even accepting the above, it’s still seen as Christian today and thus I should steer clear. That argument’s easy enough to toss out considering how many Christmas decorations can be put up and carols sung without making a single reference to Jesus. Toss up a tree and some stockings and listen to Deck the Halls. No problem.

However, there is a nugget of truth to the idea that everyone sees Christmas as, at its core, all about Jesus. Bart Simpson famously said that Christmas is the day when people of all religions come together and worship Jesus Christ. That said, I’m a believer in the idea that whether you do something or avoid something based on others’ actions, you’re letting someone else live your life. Even if others believe it’s Christian period, I don’t.

Some have also suggested to me that they dislike the commercial aspect to it. Recently a friend sniffed at me that he loves his family every day, why buy into the Hallmark and Wal-Mart empire for no good reason? Simply put, the giving and getting is fantastic no matter who you are. I spent easily $500 on friends and family this year and the looks on their faces when opening a gift always puts me in a good mood. Plus, hey, everyone likes free stuff.

Not only that, but no matter how much one might protest, no one lives every day with “I love my family so much” in mind. We don’t have big family dinners every day and we certainly don’t spend that much quality time with them. This is especially true if your family is separated by a lot of geography. Christmas gives me a great opportunity to show everyone what they mean to me.

Forgive the sappiness on that last part, I’m an old softy at times, I know.

My point is that Christmas is my favorite time of the year, and not just because it means I get a free gift card to Best Buy or an Xbox 360 game I’ve had my eye on. It’s because of the general atmosphere of the season, and no matter what anyone claims, the vast bulk of what we call “Christmas” has nothing to do with the figure it’s supposed to be based on.

So no, I have no compunctions with both celebrating and wishing others a Merry Christmas, and neither should you.