Quote Originally Posted by revelarts View Post
the history and origin of traditions, and traditions of faith are very important.
And we celebrate origins all the time. the 4th of July is an origins celebration.

to me if Christmas is about Jesus Christ then what does the tree have to do with it?
I can make up story to "today" to mask over the history and keep the fun of the tradition if i want too. but if my goal is to mainly celebrate Jesus's birth then why should i tack on this questionable tree bit? why not take into account the WHOLE of history rather than limit my thinking recent history, to what i want and my feelings.

point is on some issues people can make the decisions on issues of faith based on whatever they want.
The full history or recent history or just personal feelings. In most areas of faith the history and reality of a thing is VERY important. But the tree and eggs are at best sideshow issues. They are NOT vital parts of the faith. They can be dropped WITHOUT harm to Jesus Christ.... and it may help to have less distractions. But people can use what ever criteria they want to base their decision on here it seems to me.
Rev, if you want to reach back to some old custom that no one would ever remember if it wasn't brought up (usually) by non-Christians, to attack Christmas, feel free. I prefer to live in current times, and attribute the overwhelmingly positive customs to it. Further, I know that my faith is strong enough to withstand the presence of... wait for it... a tree! Surely yours is as well?

Look up the history of almost any natural object (rocks, wood, water), and you can surely find some ancient odd association with it. Shall we do away with them all, because our faith fears the past? What would be left?

(Btw, we have 1 tree, but about 8 Nativities around the house. So, if objects have the power you ascribe to them, I think Satan is being kept at bay quite well at 8-1 ).