NOW that the Christmas season has gone, it is appropriate to enlighten Leon Jameson Suseran about the non-Christian elements in the Christmas celebrations which has values so much as mentioned in his letter “That Guyana Xmas” December 24, 2009

Suseran in his numerous letters he always takes up the position of “Defender and explainer of the Christian faith”.

Suseran, as if making an unconscious revision to his ancestral Hindu faith, writes:

“Ever since the first Christmas, love has been spread through every human being, especially during this time of the year. Perhaps, God created this time of the year so that we can relax with friends and family. Christmas is celebrated at the end of the year ideally when we can look back and take stock of ourselves.”

According to historical facts, Jesus was not born on December 25th of December. The 25th of December was a date chosen by those in authority 1,500 or 1,600 years ago (and not by God), to celebrate Jesus’s birth.

The reason for the choice of this date was that it coincided with several non-Christian pagan festivals which were celebrated to mark the Winter Solstice. The most well know of such festivals was the Saturnalia of the Roman Religion, and later Yule of the northern countries.

When Suseran says that God created Christmas and this time of the year, he is not talking of his specific Christian deity but of the non-Christian God and religions which created the date and ambiance of Christmas.

In all religions, there are holy or revered trees. The evergreen Christmas tree, the fir, was regarded by northern Europeans as a holy tree and they revered it. At the Winter Solstice (Christmas), they placed gifts and food below the three which they had in their houses.

Suseran thinks that the use of this eminently non-Christian pagan holy symbol was for a good reason. The song Tannenbaum (fir tree) is now a song of worship (carol) just as the non-Christian Germanic peoples did.

Next time Suseran writes about churches, he may soon be adding his ancestral Hindu church to the list.
V. REDMAN.