During these short, dark days let’s remember this ancient Christmas knowledge that illumination always follows darkness & that with love and compassion we will re-light our nations & lives...
Same to you and yours, Thom. And absolutely everyone and everything on our shared planet.
We are but one entity, individual parts of a grater whole. Perceived divisions are of our own making. May we all, without exception, find our way home to the light from which we originated. Across this beautiful improbability called life, let us not be ambivalent to the extraordinary which is consciousness - for I am not me without you, as you are not you without me. From the center of my heart, to everyone the world over, I am grateful to share our time here together. The light will return.
I'm taking an OLLI course based on this: Cosmic Roots -- traces the five-thousand-year conflict between science and religion -- and how it shaped our modern secular worldview. Told with rare clarity and striking insight, this fascinating and thought-provoking book focuses on the history of cosmology and its sister science astronomy.
One year at the Jewish High Holidays, I was a guest at a congregation comprised mostly of the physics departments at local colleges and all the sermons were about reconciling the uniform field theory with quantum mechanics, "Let there be...:
That knowledge will certainly keep us warmer in the coming weeks. I have a long list of ones who will appreciate your storied histories and forward this widely.
Have a very Merry solstice celebration and a very illuminated New Year!
Great stories! Happy Holidays to you!! I recall the German shamans tied a sacrificial human to that tree before they lit it. One less mouth to feed, I suppose, on those long winter nights.
Thanx Thom ,you have something good going on with this site and it’s great following,I feel quite welcome and among like minded good people,sorry I’m so new to the game ,grand kids got me to step into the21st century and have been teaching this old dog some new tricks. A very merry Christmas to you and your family.
Thank you for the uplifting tale today. With all the terrible news (TFG and Israel and …) I get down. This helps and reminds me of our living in Vienna through two winter seasons. Beautiful and peaceful - even took sleigh ride (ok snowcat) up Eisenbach
I don't entertain that thought. I just asked the question if the Republicans have a trifecta,ore even if Trump wins, what will America look like on Christmas 2025, Christmas 2029 and Christmas 2034.
If Trump wins the Presidency, and he could with the help of voter nullfication laws and Republican control of state legislatures. What will happen.
1. He will fire all cabinet heads, and issue an Executive order like the one he issued to create Schedule F employees.
2. appoint Acting cabinet heads, appoint acting heads of the Armed Forces that are cronies.
3. Destroy the civil service and the administrative state, with Bannon's help.
4. Exact retribution on all those who opposed, ridiculed and demeaned him.
5. Let loose his armed cult on the citizens. He already has the ultra conservative Sheriffs and Peace officers on his side.
6. Round up and put in concentration camps all he considers vermin and tainting the blood of America.
7. His cult in congress will rewrite laws that essentially make him dictator for life, his role model is the Kim's of North Korea, where the successors of the Dear Leader are his own sons.
He has already told us what he is going to do, has nobody been listening, is there anyone but a few who take him seriously.
Many were the Jews that didn't think that Hitler would or could do what he said he would do in Mein Kampf and his rallies.
Maybe it is time to pull our heads out of the sand, wake up and pay attention, we only have 11 months to save ourselves.
I agree! I think too many are complacent. I am terrified. I try to convince my own family members and they don’t want to discuss it. But I keep sneaking Substack newsletters from Thom, Robert & Heather. Maybe they will turn around.
We have to keep emailing the news stations and the editors of the papers. We can’t give up!
“ What can the rest of us do between now and the election to help save American democracy?
Ten suggestions:
1. Become even more politically active. For some of us, this will mean taking more time out of our normal lives — up to and including getting out the vote in critical swing states. For others, it will mean phone banking, making political contributions, writing letters to editors, and calling friends and relations in key states.
2. Do not succumb to the tempting anesthesias of complacency or cynicism. The stakes are too high. Even if you cannot take much time out of your normal life for direct politics, you will need to organize, mobilize, and energize your friends, colleagues, and neighbors.
3. Counter lies with truth. When you hear someone repeating a Trump Republican lie, correct it. This will require that you prepare yourself with facts, logic, analysis, and sources.
4. Do not tolerate bigotry and hate.Call it out. Stand up to it. Denounce it. Demand that others denounce it, too.
5. Do not resort to name-calling, bullying, intimidation, violence, or any of the other tactics that Trump followers may be using. We cannot save democracy through anti-democratic means.
6. Be compassionate toward hardcore followers of Trump, but be firm in your opposition. Understand why someone might decide to support Trump, but don’t waste your time and energy trying to convert them. Use your time and energy on those who still have open minds.
7. Don’t waste your time commiserating with people who already agree with you. Don’t gripe, whine, wring your hands, and kvetch with other anti-Trumpers about how awful Trump and his Republican enablers are. Don’t snivel over or criticize Biden and the Democrats for failing to communicate more effectively how bad Trump and his Republican enablers are. None of this will get you anything except an upset stomach or worse.
8. Don’t decide to sit this election out or vote for a third-party candidate because you don’t especially like Biden and you’re tired of voting for the “lesser of two evils.” Biden may not be perfect, but he’s not the lesser of two evils. Trump is truly evil.
9. Demonstrate, but don’t confuse demonstrating for political action. You may find it gratifying to stand on a corner in Berkeley or Cambridge or any other liberal precinct with a sign asking drivers to “honk if you hate fascism” and elicit lots of honks. But this is as politically effectual as taking a warm shower. Organize people who don’t normally vote to vote for Biden. Mobilize get-out-the-vote efforts in your community. Get young people involved.
10. Don’t get distracted by the latest sensationalist post or story by or about Trump. Don’t let the media’s short-term attention span divert your eyes from the prize — the survival of American democracy during one of the greatest stress tests it has had to endure, organized by one of the worst demagogues in American history.
I cannot overstate how critical the outcome of the next 10 months will be to everything we believe in. And the importance of your participation. We must win this. And then continue to do the work of making our democracy and economy work for the many, rather than the few at the top.” ~ Robert Reich
“Democracy is on the line folks! Please do everything in your power to get out the vote and to encourage 18 to 29s to register and vote. We are depending on you as www.TurnUp.US, Zev Shapiro and I will be working very hard every single day to accomplish that result as well.”
For instance the Democratic Party and the Biden Campaign, are taking a benign approach.
With the exception of some speeches and comments by Biden, they are accentuating the positive (economic) aspects, and the people aren't listening. The voter doesn't understand, nor care about the GDP, the money powers, the donor class does, but not the voter.
And outside of Democrat politicians, DNC , DSCC, DCCC campaigns, American voters don't care and aren't paying attention.
at least 40% of the population is lost, there issue is not the economy, but the culture war.
More important to them is the culture war, namely, religion, race and the patriarchy, these right wing culture warriors are doing well. Well enough to send Trump money, well enough to fly or bus to his rallies, well enough to travel to DC and storm the capital on Jan 6.
There is absolutely nothing that can be done to change their minds, anymore than you can convince Catholics and Evangelicals to become Muslim.there are some who have, but few, mostly to marry a woman, but you will be hard pressed to find a Muslim man convert to Christianity.
When you find yourself on a ship heading into a hurricane, do you stand idly by or praise the captain and join in a support chorus. Or do you militate with passengers and crew to turn the to change course or turn the ship around.
That is where we are at. You seem to be saying, support the captain, regardless, and I say light a fire under him, that he pays attention and alters the course.
There are portions of the population, that are angry and upset, because they haven't got everything that they want, and want to stick it to the "man", by voting for a third party, not voting or voting for Trump,and they said so in public. They have their agenda, and their agenda in their minds is paramount to all others. They seem to be inured to the evidence that they are actually voting for Trump, and will be infinitely worse off under a racist, fascist, religious regime.
Be compassionate towards hard core followers of Trump. Like being compassionate towards Brown Shirts, Black Shirts, Silver shirts.
Why not just lay down in the streets and let them roll over us. You can't reach them,no matter what you do, they are "religiously" motivated and you are their deadly enemy, they want you extinguished, subjugated, submissive, compliant, quiet with no voice.
We are at war, opening shots have been fired. We see them in mass shootings, in hate crimes.
Any idea of what is to follow after Nov 9, 2024 or even during the start of the general election campaign.?
If Trump loses, is cult, 40% of America, will take to the streets seeking retribution. If he wins, Trump has promised to use the government (and even state and local law enforcement) to exact vengeance on the America that rejected him.
What then are our options. Turn the other cheek? Meekly submit, like Biden has done to Putin, because Putin waved his nuclear phallus? If Biden had given Ukraine the F-16's and long range artillery he needed at the beginning, Putin would not be on the verge of rebuilding the Empire of the USSR. Biden dithered and now a Putinist/Trumpian Congress is doing Putin's work for him.
And we are to sit down, play nicey nice, twiddle our thumbs and try to reason with a cult.
Ain't happening look no further than Heaven's Gate, Jonestown, Branch Dravidians.,, Aryan Nations, Michigan Militia, KKK, and every fascist cult that you can think of, heck look no further than any religion.
"And then continue to do the work of making our democracy and economy work for the many, rather than the few at the top.” ~ Robert Reich"
I get RR's substack Newsletter, however I demur because we can only do the work of turning around our democracy and economy, if we pound the anti democratic, racist, religious cult into oblivion, that is impossible to physically do that, and you can't kill an ideology, you can only make it irrelevant,and you can only make it irrelevant if you have the power to affect changes that will win the hearts and minds of all of the populace.
Promises, like Party Platforms, don't work anymore, the population has become inured and cynical of platforms and promises, They want to see action.
And action is not what they see or will get, so long as their is megadonors, and parties and politicians can be bought. We don't have Russian style oligarchs yet, but we are on the way.
Oligarchs don't just own companies, the own large swaths of the economy, basically along the lines of production and resources, we are headed that way, with monopolies/duopolies, but our oligarchs are safely hidden behind corporations as shareholders.
In conclusion if you step into a cage match with an MMA fighter, wearing boxing gloves and expecting to play by the Marquis of Queensbury rules. You are going to get your butt whooped, and as far as I can see, that is the situation with the Democratic Party and Biden.
So don't critique the party, play nicey nice, focus on the positives, the accomplishments and Trump will be the next president. Guaranteed.
Wonderful summary Thom. Your research and several others (Heather Cox Richardson, Robert Reich, Joyce Vance) is a wonderful review of the history of these ancient traditions. Thank you for this gift. Will print and save... Wishing the "light" to illuminate 2024!
I immediately chuckled when I saw the picture of Saint Coca Cola (aka Santa Claus) rather than Sankt Nikolaus (attired as a bishop), Weihnachtsmann (Father Christmas), or a nativity scene. Indeed, there is little doubt that the Church of Rome aligned most of its Holy Days with dominant pagan feasts and rituals to promote religious conversions, and probably, to avoid confrontations with local pagan authorities. The religious-neutral term "holiday" itself likely has its etymological roots in "Holy Day."
But leave it to the USA to exploit celebrating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth to promote the capitalist spending-spree we experience today. Evangelicals eager to promote Christo-nationalism encouraged Congress to make December 25th a national holiday. Soon cities began to amplify Christmas gift-giving by adorning downtown shopping-area streetlights with elves, candy-canes, and snowmen. Today, the Christmas decoration fad has spread to people's front yards - now festooned with inflated snowmen, Santa's, and reindeer, replete with colored lights and Nativity Scenes.
Coke is still America's #1 soft drink, but most Americans today are likely unaware that the red-suited, chubby North Pole resident, with the long white beard was created as an advertising icon to promote Coca Cola sales. Christmas marketing, along with the holiday, seems to have so overshadowed its Christian roots to become a nationally-dominant secular secular celebration in which even people of non-Christian faiths exchange gifts on Christmas so their children do not feel left out on December 25.
So, Ho ho ho - let us not lose sight of what Christmas is really about - peace on earth and good will towards men.
Absolutely wonderful review and enhancement of what you have written earlier!
I would still love to have your research skills applied to Saturnalia and learning how that also influences Christmas traditions. It certainly influences Northern European cultures today in that December is realistically a half month of working and a half month of parties.
Same to you and yours, Thom. And absolutely everyone and everything on our shared planet.
We are but one entity, individual parts of a grater whole. Perceived divisions are of our own making. May we all, without exception, find our way home to the light from which we originated. Across this beautiful improbability called life, let us not be ambivalent to the extraordinary which is consciousness - for I am not me without you, as you are not you without me. From the center of my heart, to everyone the world over, I am grateful to share our time here together. The light will return.
I'm taking an OLLI course based on this: Cosmic Roots -- traces the five-thousand-year conflict between science and religion -- and how it shaped our modern secular worldview. Told with rare clarity and striking insight, this fascinating and thought-provoking book focuses on the history of cosmology and its sister science astronomy.
https://www.amazon.com/Cosmic-Roots-Conflict-Between-Religion/dp/9811252475#:~:text=Cosmic%20Roots%20traces%20the%20five,and%20its%20sister%20science%20astronomy.
One year at the Jewish High Holidays, I was a guest at a congregation comprised mostly of the physics departments at local colleges and all the sermons were about reconciling the uniform field theory with quantum mechanics, "Let there be...:
Beautiful! 💫✨
Beautiful!
What a gift you present to us today, Thom! Thank you for this piece, and have a wonderful Christmas!
Thanks, Thom. This is lovely, and I’ve shared it widely.
That knowledge will certainly keep us warmer in the coming weeks. I have a long list of ones who will appreciate your storied histories and forward this widely.
Have a very Merry solstice celebration and a very illuminated New Year!
Like solstice celebration ,been looking for a non religious greeting,thanx
At this time next year I sincerely intend to celebrate crushing the life out of the Tя☭mp era. But for now 🎄
Yes. The hearts of the people are cold. What relights the heart? We best find the flame and share it.
Great stories! Happy Holidays to you!! I recall the German shamans tied a sacrificial human to that tree before they lit it. One less mouth to feed, I suppose, on those long winter nights.
Knowledge and truth are the essential gifts needed in 2024. I know Thom will prepare and deliver them. That's my kinda of Santa!
Thanx Thom ,you have something good going on with this site and it’s great following,I feel quite welcome and among like minded good people,sorry I’m so new to the game ,grand kids got me to step into the21st century and have been teaching this old dog some new tricks. A very merry Christmas to you and your family.
Woooff, in unison Robert!
Thank you for the uplifting tale today. With all the terrible news (TFG and Israel and …) I get down. This helps and reminds me of our living in Vienna through two winter seasons. Beautiful and peaceful - even took sleigh ride (ok snowcat) up Eisenbach
Seasoned Green Beans to all!
If Republicans take Congress and Trump the presidency in 2024
What will America look like
1. Dec 25, 2025?
2, Dec 25, 2029?
3. Dec 25, 2034?. Who will be President Sr, Jr, Eric, or Bannon,or Steven Miller?
Happy holidays and I hope it is not our last such.
William, don’t even entertain that thought.
I don't entertain that thought. I just asked the question if the Republicans have a trifecta,ore even if Trump wins, what will America look like on Christmas 2025, Christmas 2029 and Christmas 2034.
If Trump wins the Presidency, and he could with the help of voter nullfication laws and Republican control of state legislatures. What will happen.
1. He will fire all cabinet heads, and issue an Executive order like the one he issued to create Schedule F employees.
2. appoint Acting cabinet heads, appoint acting heads of the Armed Forces that are cronies.
3. Destroy the civil service and the administrative state, with Bannon's help.
4. Exact retribution on all those who opposed, ridiculed and demeaned him.
5. Let loose his armed cult on the citizens. He already has the ultra conservative Sheriffs and Peace officers on his side.
6. Round up and put in concentration camps all he considers vermin and tainting the blood of America.
7. His cult in congress will rewrite laws that essentially make him dictator for life, his role model is the Kim's of North Korea, where the successors of the Dear Leader are his own sons.
He has already told us what he is going to do, has nobody been listening, is there anyone but a few who take him seriously.
Many were the Jews that didn't think that Hitler would or could do what he said he would do in Mein Kampf and his rallies.
Maybe it is time to pull our heads out of the sand, wake up and pay attention, we only have 11 months to save ourselves.
I agree! I think too many are complacent. I am terrified. I try to convince my own family members and they don’t want to discuss it. But I keep sneaking Substack newsletters from Thom, Robert & Heather. Maybe they will turn around.
We have to keep emailing the news stations and the editors of the papers. We can’t give up!
Yep. We have 11 months to save our selves and our soul.
“ What can the rest of us do between now and the election to help save American democracy?
Ten suggestions:
1. Become even more politically active. For some of us, this will mean taking more time out of our normal lives — up to and including getting out the vote in critical swing states. For others, it will mean phone banking, making political contributions, writing letters to editors, and calling friends and relations in key states.
2. Do not succumb to the tempting anesthesias of complacency or cynicism. The stakes are too high. Even if you cannot take much time out of your normal life for direct politics, you will need to organize, mobilize, and energize your friends, colleagues, and neighbors.
3. Counter lies with truth. When you hear someone repeating a Trump Republican lie, correct it. This will require that you prepare yourself with facts, logic, analysis, and sources.
4. Do not tolerate bigotry and hate.Call it out. Stand up to it. Denounce it. Demand that others denounce it, too.
5. Do not resort to name-calling, bullying, intimidation, violence, or any of the other tactics that Trump followers may be using. We cannot save democracy through anti-democratic means.
6. Be compassionate toward hardcore followers of Trump, but be firm in your opposition. Understand why someone might decide to support Trump, but don’t waste your time and energy trying to convert them. Use your time and energy on those who still have open minds.
7. Don’t waste your time commiserating with people who already agree with you. Don’t gripe, whine, wring your hands, and kvetch with other anti-Trumpers about how awful Trump and his Republican enablers are. Don’t snivel over or criticize Biden and the Democrats for failing to communicate more effectively how bad Trump and his Republican enablers are. None of this will get you anything except an upset stomach or worse.
8. Don’t decide to sit this election out or vote for a third-party candidate because you don’t especially like Biden and you’re tired of voting for the “lesser of two evils.” Biden may not be perfect, but he’s not the lesser of two evils. Trump is truly evil.
9. Demonstrate, but don’t confuse demonstrating for political action. You may find it gratifying to stand on a corner in Berkeley or Cambridge or any other liberal precinct with a sign asking drivers to “honk if you hate fascism” and elicit lots of honks. But this is as politically effectual as taking a warm shower. Organize people who don’t normally vote to vote for Biden. Mobilize get-out-the-vote efforts in your community. Get young people involved.
10. Don’t get distracted by the latest sensationalist post or story by or about Trump. Don’t let the media’s short-term attention span divert your eyes from the prize — the survival of American democracy during one of the greatest stress tests it has had to endure, organized by one of the worst demagogues in American history.
I cannot overstate how critical the outcome of the next 10 months will be to everything we believe in. And the importance of your participation. We must win this. And then continue to do the work of making our democracy and economy work for the many, rather than the few at the top.” ~ Robert Reich
https://open.substack.com/pub/robertreich/p/the-new-year?r=24p296&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
“Democracy is on the line folks! Please do everything in your power to get out the vote and to encourage 18 to 29s to register and vote. We are depending on you as www.TurnUp.US, Zev Shapiro and I will be working very hard every single day to accomplish that result as well.”
~ Ira Lechner
Www.TurnUp.US. might be a good place to start.
I agree with much of your 10 points.
But not with all.
For instance the Democratic Party and the Biden Campaign, are taking a benign approach.
With the exception of some speeches and comments by Biden, they are accentuating the positive (economic) aspects, and the people aren't listening. The voter doesn't understand, nor care about the GDP, the money powers, the donor class does, but not the voter.
Here is the Biden Harris record https://www.whitehouse.gov/therecord/
And outside of Democrat politicians, DNC , DSCC, DCCC campaigns, American voters don't care and aren't paying attention.
at least 40% of the population is lost, there issue is not the economy, but the culture war.
More important to them is the culture war, namely, religion, race and the patriarchy, these right wing culture warriors are doing well. Well enough to send Trump money, well enough to fly or bus to his rallies, well enough to travel to DC and storm the capital on Jan 6.
There is absolutely nothing that can be done to change their minds, anymore than you can convince Catholics and Evangelicals to become Muslim.there are some who have, but few, mostly to marry a woman, but you will be hard pressed to find a Muslim man convert to Christianity.
When you find yourself on a ship heading into a hurricane, do you stand idly by or praise the captain and join in a support chorus. Or do you militate with passengers and crew to turn the to change course or turn the ship around.
That is where we are at. You seem to be saying, support the captain, regardless, and I say light a fire under him, that he pays attention and alters the course.
There are portions of the population, that are angry and upset, because they haven't got everything that they want, and want to stick it to the "man", by voting for a third party, not voting or voting for Trump,and they said so in public. They have their agenda, and their agenda in their minds is paramount to all others. They seem to be inured to the evidence that they are actually voting for Trump, and will be infinitely worse off under a racist, fascist, religious regime.
Be compassionate towards hard core followers of Trump. Like being compassionate towards Brown Shirts, Black Shirts, Silver shirts.
Why not just lay down in the streets and let them roll over us. You can't reach them,no matter what you do, they are "religiously" motivated and you are their deadly enemy, they want you extinguished, subjugated, submissive, compliant, quiet with no voice.
We are at war, opening shots have been fired. We see them in mass shootings, in hate crimes.
Any idea of what is to follow after Nov 9, 2024 or even during the start of the general election campaign.?
If Trump loses, is cult, 40% of America, will take to the streets seeking retribution. If he wins, Trump has promised to use the government (and even state and local law enforcement) to exact vengeance on the America that rejected him.
What then are our options. Turn the other cheek? Meekly submit, like Biden has done to Putin, because Putin waved his nuclear phallus? If Biden had given Ukraine the F-16's and long range artillery he needed at the beginning, Putin would not be on the verge of rebuilding the Empire of the USSR. Biden dithered and now a Putinist/Trumpian Congress is doing Putin's work for him.
And we are to sit down, play nicey nice, twiddle our thumbs and try to reason with a cult.
Ain't happening look no further than Heaven's Gate, Jonestown, Branch Dravidians.,, Aryan Nations, Michigan Militia, KKK, and every fascist cult that you can think of, heck look no further than any religion.
"And then continue to do the work of making our democracy and economy work for the many, rather than the few at the top.” ~ Robert Reich"
I get RR's substack Newsletter, however I demur because we can only do the work of turning around our democracy and economy, if we pound the anti democratic, racist, religious cult into oblivion, that is impossible to physically do that, and you can't kill an ideology, you can only make it irrelevant,and you can only make it irrelevant if you have the power to affect changes that will win the hearts and minds of all of the populace.
Promises, like Party Platforms, don't work anymore, the population has become inured and cynical of platforms and promises, They want to see action.
And action is not what they see or will get, so long as their is megadonors, and parties and politicians can be bought. We don't have Russian style oligarchs yet, but we are on the way.
Oligarchs don't just own companies, the own large swaths of the economy, basically along the lines of production and resources, we are headed that way, with monopolies/duopolies, but our oligarchs are safely hidden behind corporations as shareholders.
In conclusion if you step into a cage match with an MMA fighter, wearing boxing gloves and expecting to play by the Marquis of Queensbury rules. You are going to get your butt whooped, and as far as I can see, that is the situation with the Democratic Party and Biden.
So don't critique the party, play nicey nice, focus on the positives, the accomplishments and Trump will be the next president. Guaranteed.
Ivanka can sit on drooling daddy’s lap and run the show with Jared and his Saudi Friends.
Wonderful summary Thom. Your research and several others (Heather Cox Richardson, Robert Reich, Joyce Vance) is a wonderful review of the history of these ancient traditions. Thank you for this gift. Will print and save... Wishing the "light" to illuminate 2024!
I immediately chuckled when I saw the picture of Saint Coca Cola (aka Santa Claus) rather than Sankt Nikolaus (attired as a bishop), Weihnachtsmann (Father Christmas), or a nativity scene. Indeed, there is little doubt that the Church of Rome aligned most of its Holy Days with dominant pagan feasts and rituals to promote religious conversions, and probably, to avoid confrontations with local pagan authorities. The religious-neutral term "holiday" itself likely has its etymological roots in "Holy Day."
But leave it to the USA to exploit celebrating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth to promote the capitalist spending-spree we experience today. Evangelicals eager to promote Christo-nationalism encouraged Congress to make December 25th a national holiday. Soon cities began to amplify Christmas gift-giving by adorning downtown shopping-area streetlights with elves, candy-canes, and snowmen. Today, the Christmas decoration fad has spread to people's front yards - now festooned with inflated snowmen, Santa's, and reindeer, replete with colored lights and Nativity Scenes.
Coke is still America's #1 soft drink, but most Americans today are likely unaware that the red-suited, chubby North Pole resident, with the long white beard was created as an advertising icon to promote Coca Cola sales. Christmas marketing, along with the holiday, seems to have so overshadowed its Christian roots to become a nationally-dominant secular secular celebration in which even people of non-Christian faiths exchange gifts on Christmas so their children do not feel left out on December 25.
So, Ho ho ho - let us not lose sight of what Christmas is really about - peace on earth and good will towards men.
Absolutely wonderful review and enhancement of what you have written earlier!
I would still love to have your research skills applied to Saturnalia and learning how that also influences Christmas traditions. It certainly influences Northern European cultures today in that December is realistically a half month of working and a half month of parties.
A video is worth a thousand words: https://suespeaks.org/take-trip-santa-ride-youve-never.