Originally posted by: ariafrost
It is not like Christianity. Christianity is the only religion that I know of that is unique and doesn't copy from other religions.
I am going a little off topic here. I hope that was a joke though. If not and you are a Christian you should learn more about your religion.
Lets just start with the recent Christmas:
The Mistletoe is traced at least back to Norse myths. Frigga is the Norse Goddess of love, marriage, and fertility. Loki slayed her son, Balder, with an arrow made from the mistletoe. Balder was restored to life, and Frigga blessed the mistletoe and gave a kiss to anyone who passed under it.
The Christmas tree dates at least back to the Roman festival of Saturnalia along with gift giving. The Romans presented their emperor and each other with tokens of good luck, called strenae. The modern Christmas tree only dates back to nineteenth-century Germany. Gift giving was done around the Yule log in some Pagan religions.
The Roman festival of the winter solstice was celebrated on Dec 25 (dies natalis solis invictus). December 25th was the birthday of the son-god Mithra whose religious influence was widespread in the Roman Empire. In the year 274, Aurelian declared Deus Sol Invictus (Mithra) the official deity of the Roman Empire and built a huge temple in Rome and set the sun's birthday celebration as Dec 25 (the then accepted data for winter solstice). Prior to that Jesus's birth was celebrarted on 25 Pachon (May 20th). It was not until the fourth century that Pope Julius I declared that Dec 25th was the birth of Jesus and should be celebrated as Christmas.
Easter was originally based on the Vernal Equinox and was originally on a lunar calendar. The name Easter is derived from the Saxon Eostre, a Germanic goddess of spring and the deity who measured time. Eostre's themes were renewal and rebirth. The Easter egg was even part of the festival of Eostre, representing fertility and re-birth. Around 200 B.C.E the Cybele cult gained followers around the Vatican. They celebrated Attis, the god of ever-reviving vegetation. Born of a vergin, Attis died and was reborn annual. His festival began as a day of blood on Black Friday, and culminated after three days in a day of rejoicing over the resurrection.
It was common practice for the early Church to adopt practices of other religions and bring it into Christianity to convert the people, but have them celebrate them in a "Christian" manner. In fact, the Church often spread its own stories to spread Christianity and destroy the pagan religions. The most famous of these stories is the legends of King Arthur. The King Arthur stories published by the Church took symbols of the pagan religions and twisted them, and turned Christianity into the savior. As an example it took the dragon, a pagan symbol of wisdom, and created a story where the dragon was sacrificed virgin girls. If one finds earlier translations, it is not hard to see the Church propaganda. It has faded over the years.