-(To the left) The Roman Sun God Mithras
I'm not here to spoil anyone's Christmas holiday by far. However, researching the history behind Christmas has some fascinating findings. For one, Jesus wasn't the first religious figure head to have His birthday celebrated on December 25th. Horus (Isis' son from Egyptian Mythology) and Mithras (A Roman Pagan Sun God) also had their birthdays celebrated on December 25th (to name a couple). Again, these religious figureheads came before Jesus.
So what gives? What makes this date so popular? Perhaps because the underlying theme of Christmas has always been the winter solstice. Ancient Northern Europeans (and some till this day) refers to this time as "Yule,"i.e., Yule Tide, etc. Yule means "wheel" and that same wheel is a direct reference to the sun, not the "Son."
The rabbit hole gets deeper. Your Christmas tree that you have was actually an altar for the Druids in ancient days (ornaments now could be perceived as "offerings" to the tree/altar). The trees also were symbolic, inherently speaking, since it gave the Druids the hope that their crops would eventually return after the winter passed.
Now, since many pagans already celebrated their gods on the same day, Pope Julian found it politically necessary and easier to make the Christians celebrate their god on the same day. This is why all historical research shows that Jesus, more than likely, was not born in the winter. In fact, the books in my library point to either the fall or spring.
What am I getting at? Is it okay for a European, or white man to celebrate Kwanza? I mean really ladies and gentleman? If you were to step up in George Bush's estate to find that they were in the middle of celebrating Kwanza (Picture George Bush in African attire)-would that be okay? Would it come across as normal or abnormal, logical or illogical?
If you side with the latter, then what makes you think it's okay for African-Americans to celebrate a holiday that is inherently European (to the core...do your own research)? I'm just saying!
Now, there is nothing wrong with the spirit of peace, love and good will to all men. It's nothing wrong with the spirit of giving. But again, unless you subscribe to it being okay for Bush and his family doing it big for Kwanza, why should African-Americans take on all the ancient traditions and customs of Europeans. To a degree, shouldn't we do something that aligns us with our own customs and traditions?
Maybe I'm biased. Maybe since I only remember a Christmas tree in my house once while I was growing up and the fact that we normally celebrated Kwanza;maybe, my attachment to Christmas isn't as strong as yours. However, atleast consider that you might be automatically embracing another culture's ancient belief system (praising there former gods) by being all in for Christmas. If nothing else, it's something to think about.
