Christianity and Paganism

"We're so pagan and don't know it.

"I write this essay close to the December holidays, a time that most of us celebrate what we call Christmas, a holiday that to some is infused with meaning and symbolism, and for others it is nothing more than a nice secular holiday season. This time of the year, though, is one of the most venerated and cherished times ever. It is a time when the days grow shorter and when we become very nostalgic. It is also a time when we like to be at our most magnanimous; engaging in benevolence; shunning avarice, hypocrisy, and egotism-- at least for the time being. Never mind that's how we like to think of ourselves, even if we go back to our old selves come January.

"But there's more to this sense of altruism than meets the eye.What drives us all to this feeling of goodness is, perhaps, that this is one of the oldest and most ritualized times celebrated by many, many cultures as far back as civilization, much farthest back than our own Christian belief in the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. "

FOR FULL REPORT: http://the-reyes-report.blogspot.com/2007/12/how-christianity-saved-paganism.html