you don’t have to be a christian to enjoy christmas. regardless of your religious belief or not, christmas is a beautiful holiday with its rituals and decorations, and is celebrated by billions of people every year, including christians, buddhists, damned atheists, and others.
historically, the romans, before christ (pbuh), celebrated the coming of the sun by placing green branches in their homes. northern european priests also used to decorate their temples with green branches of trees as a symbol of eternal life.
it is said that the credit for placing christmas trees in homes goes mainly to germany, which began the current christmas tree tradition with the advent of the sixteenth century, that is, 1,500 years after the birth of christ, when religious christians would bring decorated trees to their homes.
it is also widely believed that the rev. martin luther, the founder of protestantism, was the first to add lit candles to the tree, as he tied them to the tree’s branches.
until 200 years ago, americans were opposed to placing a christmas tree in the home, as it was a pagan symbol, and there was a law in massachusetts that considered celebrating christmas a criminal offense, but the situation in the west completely changed in 1846, when queen victoria was photographed standing with her family around the christmas tree, and americans became more accepting of its idea in the early twentieth century, and over time it became part of a global ritual, especially after the arrival of electricity.
from all of this, we discover that the christmas tree has no religious connotations, or relationship to christianity, and christ (pbuh) was not born under a tree like what is portrayed by some these days.
the whole topic symbolizes joy and a happy event, while not forgetting the commercial aspect. therefore, we find that dozens of countries, such as china, korea, and japan, celebrate christmas and place christmas trees in their homes, shops, hotels, and public squares, as a symbol of joy, not as a religious symbol.
it is sad and disgusting that municipal inspectors, year after year, raided -- and the description is quite accurate -- many stores, confiscating their plastic christmas trees, issuing tickets to their owners, and threatening them with fines and closure if they sold any of them.
these and other actions are immoral and illogical and are often intended to anger people of other religions, prevent them from joy, make their lives devoid of all beauty, and increase the monotony of life and make it boring, beyond the misery it already is.
how can a sane person imagine that a plastic tree no more than two meters in length could affect a religion that has not stopped expanding for a year since it came to light more than 1,400 years ago?
in 1988, scorsese directed the last temptation of christ, based on the 1955 novel by the controversial greek writer nikos kazantzakis of the same name, and starring unknown actors.
the film depicted the life of christ and his struggle with various forms of temptation, including fear, doubt, depression, hesitation, lust, and his exposure to temptation. this at the time aroused the anger of some christians, and ramsay, the archbishop of england at the time, stated that he was not opposed to showing the film. if a film is that weak, it poses a threat to christianity, and this is not a defect in the film!
let the people rejoice and celebrate, for it has been proven that the majority of those who called for extremism and fighting people of other sects were those with foreign agendas, and those who sought to conspire against their homelands, in cooperation with other countries, and among them were those involved in various suspicious relationships and dealings!
these are the source of danger, not a plastic christmas tree!
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note: we extend our sincere congratulations to the followers of the eastern churches on the occasion of the glorious christmas of christ, wishing them continued health and happiness.