Merry Christmas!

Lights, please-
And there were in the same country shepherds, abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the lord came upon them, and the glory of the lord shone round about them! And they were so afraid. And the angel said unto them, "Fear not! For behold I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, "Glory to God in the Highest, and on Earth peace, good will toward men."
That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

Linus delivers a beautiful monologue doesn't he? But hold on, Linus. The holiday we celebrate today, goes back far earlier than Christmas or Christianity, and most of what we know as "Christian" are really adapted from other traditions. This time of the winter solstice has been celebrated by many cultures throughout history

Many traditions place the birth of their gods at this time. The birth of Mithras was celebrated on December 25 with celebrations lasting through January 1. The date of the solstice was December 25 on the Julian calendar of ancient Rome. The "Saturnalia" (for the Roman God Saturn), a festival that included feasts, the giving of gifts, and decorating of houses, was observed in pre-Christian Rome and lasted from December 17 to December 24. The "Dies Natalis Solis Invicti", (the birthday of the unconquered sun) was also celebrated in Rome on December 25th.

Later, some "Christian Gospels" tell an ancient nativity tale that borrows from Mythraism, Judaism, and others. As part of the nativity story, the "killing of the innocents" where King Herod kills all the children in or around Bethlehem is clearly a retelling of the story of the Nativity of Moses where the pharaoh kills all the male Hebrew children. And the census appears to have been written to create a reason for Joseph and Mary to be in Bethlehem without a place to stay. Again though, no records of such a census exist, and scholars agree that a requirement to travel to one's birthplace to take a census is ludicrous.

In both of nativity stories, the hero of the story escapes the killing to become a leader of their people. These stories, being fictional, have no corroboration in secular historical documents. In spite of popular beliefs, there are many documents from the time that either don't mention big events from the bible, or directly contradict them. For example, Herod did exist, and Flavius Josephus was very critical of him, but Josephus makes no mention of the "killing of all the children", which would have been quite a big event, but it is only written about in the Jesus story, more than half a century later.

The blending of Christian and "pagan" (which became the derogatory term for non-Christian) traditions began with Emperor Constantine I (306-312), and this began the conversion of the Roman Empire from polytheism to monotheism. In C.E.354, Pope Liberius, declared that the celebration of Christmas should be on December 25th, the same time as celebrations to other gods, in spite of the fact that if shepherds were "abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night" that would imply summer grasses. In winter, the flock would be safely in a corral at night. Thirty seven years later in C.E.391, Roman Emporer Theodosius declared Christianity as the only legitimate religion, making other traditional Roman (pagan) religions illegal.

So, Charlie Brown, while the true meaning of Christmas changes over time, the love of family and friends, and the desire to make the world a better place is eternal. The last part of Linus's speech is really the important part.
"May there be peace on earth, and good will toward all people."
Now that's what Christmas is really all about Charlie Brown.