A Merry Christmas to all the other atheists here.

[wnylib]

44. Of course Christmas traditions are older

than Christianity. Thst's what happens when different cultures meet and blend their beliefs and cultures into each other. Has happened many times in many places throughout human history. In anthropology it is called religious syncretism.

The Zoroastrian god, Mithra(s) is more closely associated with Christmas and Christianity. He became popular among Greeks and Romans after the Persian Empire spread westward, and after the Greek and then Roman conquests. His birthday was December 25.

Greeks were interested in Judaism, especially after some Jews became partially assimilated as Hellenized Jews who were educated in Greek but maintained many of their own customs and beliefs. They shared in common a love of learning, story telling, and philosophy. The abstract spirit god of monotheistic Judaism appealed to many Greeks as similar to their belief in an unknown spirit force beyond the Greek pantheon. Romans were influenced by Greek and Jewish religious concepts, as well as Persian Zoroastrianism. The concept of a Messiah to reign over a kingdom on earth came from Zoroastrianism when Persians ruled over Israel. It was tweaked to fit Jewish culture and religious beliefs.

As Christianity spread into northern Europe, it incorporated pre Christian customs and beliefs. Religious syncretism again. People don't give up their centuries old customs easily. They keep them and find ways to reinterpret them into new religions. Happened again in the Americas among indigenous people who became Christian.