# Why is Xmas still a big deal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 23, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-xmas-still-a-big-deal/568684 "2011-01-23T19:40:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AshenLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/94ad74/32.png) [@AshenLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AshenLady)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-xmas-still-a-big-deal/568684/1 "2011-01-23T19:40:23Z")
Everyone knows that Xmas is a made up holiday with no basis in the bible, first of all. Second of all, it’s a pagan holiday that is meant to cover-up Roman and pagan feasts. Third, it’s not at the proper time of year and there is no way to know the real date of Jesus’s birth. People are more secular than regligous, now. How does Xmas last, in spite of it all. Is it just an excuse to spend money and get wasted? So how is it still so popular, given all the half-truths, non-truths, and so on and so forth. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-xmas-still-a-big-deal/568684/2 "2011-01-23T19:42:22Z")
It’s in the darkest, coldest part of the year (in the northern latitudes). What better time to be festive? ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-xmas-still-a-big-deal/568684/3 "2011-01-23T19:43:51Z")
I think some still celebrate it as the birth of Christ, even knowing it’s not the correct day. I do. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-xmas-still-a-big-deal/568684/4 "2011-01-23T19:48:44Z")
Because it’s too hot in July to have hot cocoa and roast chestnuts. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-xmas-still-a-big-deal/568684/5 "2011-01-23T19:49:49Z")
Tradition. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-xmas-still-a-big-deal/568684/6 "2011-01-23T19:55:12Z")
People naturally need holidays. At the root, institutional or doctrinaire religion isn’t part of that need. It’s not just Christianity, but all theistic traditions, as well as nationalism and commerce, which to some extent co-opt this primal need. Christmas in particular has good features for fulfilling a broad range of needs. I think its popularity has been largely non-religious for a while, much longer than Christianity itself has been a non-default position for Westerners. Besides its strong calendrical and seasonal position, it has attributes of familial love, community openness, a recognizable aesthetic, lots of food, and gift-giving. What else have we got with _all_ those working at once? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-xmas-still-a-big-deal/568684/7 "2011-01-23T19:59:03Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, **AshenLady**. I’m going to move your thread to Great Debates, which is where people discuss religion and suchlike. **twickster** , MPSIMS moderator ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-xmas-still-a-big-deal/568684/8 "2011-01-23T20:05:37Z")
Because it’s fun. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-xmas-still-a-big-deal/568684/9 "2011-01-23T20:12:42Z")
> [@Palo Verde](#): > > Because it’s fun. Amen. ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-xmas-still-a-big-deal/568684/10 "2011-01-23T20:13:35Z")
Because it’s a good excuse to have a party. It’s celebrating birth (jebus, the new year), which is a beginning, beginnings are probably the best reason of all to celebrate. In recent times I think Hallmark and Madison Avenue saw it as a good opportunity to make money. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-xmas-still-a-big-deal/568684/11 "2011-01-23T20:13:54Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Tradition. You forgot the exclamation points!! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-xmas-still-a-big-deal/568684/12 "2011-01-23T20:14:33Z")
> [@](#): > > Everyone knows that Xmas is a made up holiday with no basis in the bible, first of all. Does your copy of the Bible not include the gospels of Matthew or Luke? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-xmas-still-a-big-deal/568684/13 "2011-01-23T20:16:28Z")
Even in the past, when Christian belief was more or less universal in the west, I don’t think Christmas was ever particularly focused on religion. A few years ago, I was doing research into a history of science topic that involved reading a lot of journals and diaries of English scientists 1700-1850. The focus when Christmas roles around was usually on eating and drinking (or amongst the puritans, pointedly not eating or drinking to protest the paganess of the holiday). Compare to say, Easter, where the religious focus is a lot more pronounced. So even two hundred years ago, Jesus wasn’t really the reason for the season for most people. His association with the holiday was an after-the-fact justificiation for a party everyone was going to have anyways. It doesn’t really matter when he was born, its a veneer anyways. Its sort of like the reverse of “Evacuation Day” in Boston, where everyone knows its really St Pattys day, but we need to pretend that its a patriotic festival instead. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-xmas-still-a-big-deal/568684/14 "2011-01-23T20:21:18Z")
> [@AshenLady](#): > > Everyone knows that Xmas is a made up holiday with no basis in the bible, first of all. Second of all, it’s a pagan holiday that is meant to cover-up Roman and pagan feasts. Third, it’s not at the proper time of year and there is no way to know the real date of Jesus’s birth. People are more secular than regligous, now. How does Xmas last, in spite of it all. Is it just an excuse to spend money and get wasted? > > So how is it still so popular, given all the half-truths, non-truths, and so on and so forth. Because it’s fun, it’s traditional, because corporations makes big bucks off it, and because children absolutely adore it. Did you not realise this? Seems an odd question to me. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-xmas-still-a-big-deal/568684/15 "2011-01-23T20:24:06Z")
> [@AshenLady](#): > > Everyone knows that Xmas is a made up holiday with no basis in the bible, first of all. The Fourth of July has no basis in the Bible either. It isn’t the date that the Continental Congress approved independence (July 2). Most signers of the Declaration of Independence probably didn’t sign that day, either. Is Independence Day a “made up holiday”? Should we not celebrate it because it isn’t in the Bible? > [@](#): > > Second of all, it’s a pagan holiday that is meant to cover-up Roman and pagan feasts. So what? What do you have against pagan holidays? Why should they be covered up? > [@](#): > > Third, it’s not at the proper time of year and there is no way to know the real date of Jesus’s birth. So if you are going to celebrate Jesus’s birth, there’s no reason not to select an arbitrary date. > [@](#): > > People are more secular than regligous, now. How does Xmas last, in spite of it all. Is it just an excuse to spend money and get wasted? The winter solstice has been celebrated by many cultures. The celebration of the birth of Christ long ago got associated with the Roman Saturnalia; later, traditions of the Germanic Yule celebration got attached to Christmas. What we celebrate secularly is really just the ancient Yule festival, not the birth of Christ. And that’s been a good excuse to spend money and get wasted for thousands of years. 🙂 > [@](#): > > So how is it still so popular, given all the half-truths, non-truths, and so on and so forth. As people have said, because it’s fun. What does its truthfulness have to do with it? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-xmas-still-a-big-deal/568684/16 "2011-01-23T20:42:41Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > I think some still celebrate it as the birth of Christ, even knowing it’s not the correct day. I do. Yes, I rather assume(hope??) no one actually believes Xmas was the date of his birth. We just pick some day(pagan, I guess) and choose that to be the day we celebrate. Heck, we don’t even celebrate our President’s birthdays on the actual day, most of the time. They only died a few years ago, comparatively speaking! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-xmas-still-a-big-deal/568684/17 "2011-01-23T21:46:51Z")
Why do millions of non-Catholic and non-Irish Americans celebrate Saint Patrick’s day? Christmas is as good as any excuse for drinking, gorging on food, and party. Also, it falls on a time in the calendar when farmers would be tired from fall harvesting and be in a good position to slaughter a tasty animal or two. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-xmas-still-a-big-deal/568684/18 "2011-01-23T23:23:59Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Its sort of like the reverse of “Evacuation Day” in Boston, where everyone knows its really St Pattys day, but we need to pretend that its a patriotic festival instead. 😕 Why would Boston, of all places, “need” to pretend that St. Patrick’s is anything else? And when did that ever happen? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-xmas-still-a-big-deal/568684/19 "2011-01-23T23:35:24Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > 😕 Why would Boston, of all places, “need” to pretend that St. Patrick’s is anything else? And when did that ever happen? Its an official state holiday, which would be hard to ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-xmas-still-a-big-deal/568684/20 "2011-01-23T23:43:49Z")
(waiting with bated breath for the conclusion of this gripping sentence) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-xmas-still-a-big-deal/568684.md?page=2)