"Stan Gula" wrote in message
news:_%%pf.4368$u36.627@trndny01...
Jonathan Cook wrote:
Well I guess it's now old-fashioned to say that

Nonsense. It has always been acceptable for anybody to wish people a
happy
holidy of their choice. The pundits saying otherwise are rabble rousing
(and pretty successfully, too).


Karl S wrote:
And a Merry Christmas to you as well!

Some would say "Season's Greetings" or "Happy Holidays", but if there
was no Christmas I really don't think there would be any widely
popular holidays in December at all. So much for a season of them.

I call bull****.
Here's some details:
http://www.simpletoremember.com/vita...eRealStory.htm

The Roman Saturnalia celebration predates Christianity, and the Romans
actually stole (errr, adopted) the idea from the Greeks who called it
Sacaea. And the Greeks stole it from Babylon where it was called Zagmuk.
The solstice was celebrated in Babylon 4,000 years before Christ and a lot
of the 'Christmas traditions' have been handed down from the ancient past.

And then there's the Chinese and the Meso-Americans.....and many
others.....all of whom were well aware of and celebrated the solstice for
thousands of years before some quasimythical upstart megalomaniacal
messianic carpenter of unknown parentage and birth date (not to mention
basic reality) got mistaken for something else.

Note that Zagmuk is very similar to Zagnut, a wicked fine candy bar, which
has been made for over 75 years which predates most of us. Not that that
relates to Christmas at all, except that if somebody wanted to buy me a
reasonable priced candy bar for a present, well, hint, hint, wink, wink.

I'd send you one but......well, you know how it goes.

Gonna open a nice bottle of port tomorrow to toast "Longer Days!".

Ah! A splendid idea!

Uh oh......just checked.....no port in the house. Oh well, sherry will have
to do. I raise my glass to you and yours, and to all our fellow travelers
on the road to peace, good health........and sanity.

Wolfgang