Practicing Christians should not be invited to participate in our traditional seasonal festivities

And the Pope. In response to my opponent's rebuttals, I should like to respond as follows: The fact that are so many different Christian practices and beliefs and its many variances in religious holiday dates demonstrates what an unprincipled and duplicitous religion Christianity really is, and why it has so many factions: Roman Catholics; Baptists; Methodists; Lutherans; Quakers; Pentecostals; Presbyterians; Latter-day Saints; Seventh-day Adventists, Restorationists; followers of Eastern Orthodoxy; Jehovah's Witnesses and Anglicans and members of countless other denominations all call themselves Christians yet they all have wildly different rituals and customs. That's because Christianity is a religion that gets blown about by the wind: rather than stand firmly by its doctrines and scriptures, it amends and adopts its teachings to accommodate the popular wants and beliefs of the general public at any given time and place. And that's why the Catholic Church no longer persecutes people that have been educated and know that the Sun does not revolve around the Earth - even though that concept was once considered heretical; that's also why the Church of England permits divorce; contraception; abortion and women priests while other churches don't, and it's also why Easter Day falls on different dates every year but Christmas Day always falls on the same date every year, although that date varies from denomination to denomination as we already know. Throughout its history, the Christian churches have always done whatever they had to in order to appease the masses: whether that be signing a pact with Hitler and abandoning the Jews to their fate in Nazi Germany; or whether that be the devout Roman Catholic prince Vlad the Impaler (the son of Vlad Dracul who was the inspiration for Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula) skewering 60,000 Ottomans on sharpened stakes in the name of Christianity in 15th Century Wallachia; or whether it be hijacking a pre-Christian mid-winter festival and passing its traditions and customs off as Christian. In short, the Christian churches have always done what ever it took to fill their collection boxes. Moving on, my opponent talks about "Christmas" (Christ's mass) being celebrated as a secular holiday by some while being observed as a religious festival by others, but the reality is that the true meaning of Yuletide has largely been forgotten and everybody thinks of Christmas as a Christian holiday (holy day). Few people now realise that iconic "Christmas" symbols such as holly, ivy, mistletoe, Yule logs, "Christmas" trees and "Christmas" lights all pre-date Christianity (and reindeers are not a native species of the Holy Land) and they have all just been appropriated by Christianity. Even Christmas carols were originally folk songs sung during Harvest-tide. Of course, there is no reason why people of other faiths or Christian denominations should not join in the mid-winter celebrations but they tend not to: December 25th is just another working day in China, India, Japan and Russia as well as in most African, Middle-Eastern and South-East Asian countries, although December 25th is a national holiday in Pakistan, but that's to celebrate the birthday of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, not Jesus Christ. However, it is not right that Christians in the West should muddy the waters by sending Christmas cards with nativity scenes and other religious images printed on them and by attending "Christmas" carol services at church while also decorating their homes with "Christmas" trees, "Christmas" lights, holly and ivy and thus spreading the myth that the mid-winter festivities have something to do with Christianity - they have their Christmas Day in January and they should stick to it. I deliberately have not mentioned Santa Claus, by the way, not because he has anything to do with the birth of Christ, he doesn't, but because the character is based on Saint Nicholas who was, at least, a Christian - although he actually lived in Asia Minor, not the North Pole and Saint Nicholas Day is actually the 6th December, not the 25th December. My opponent also claims there is nothing wrong with Christianity adopting other culture's traditions. Firstly, I would remark that it is odd that it has done so, as the other Abrahamic religions, Judaism and Islam have not and, secondly, I suspect that many Christians would complain if Islam or Judaism did adopt Christian practices and pass them off as their own in countries outside the Abrahamic religions' homelands in the Middle East. To illustrate this point, let's consider the spread of Islam in the West. In most of Europe Christianity is in decline and Islam is on the rise. For example, here in Britain, the 2011 Census showed that 59.3% of the population adhered to Christianity, down from 71.6% in 2001, while 4.8% of the population adhered to Islam, up from 2.7% in 2001. Additionally, a report entitled "The Future of the Church" found that more people regularly attended a mosque in 2004 than regularly attended church, while a study issued by Christian Research found that the number of Muslims attending services at British mosques will double the number of Christians attending church services by 2040. So, if Islam is becoming the dominant religion is what we think of as "Christian" countries then it will be completely appropriate, following my opponent's logic, for Islam to adopt Christmas, just as Christianity adopted Yuletide. Would my opponent and his fellow Christians approve, I wonder, if, in the not-too-distant future, the 25th December was to be officially renamed "Milad un Nabi Day" - the celebration of birth of the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon Him)? The Prophet (peace be upon Him) wasn't born on 25th December, by the way, but then again neither was Jesus Christ, so who cares? Of course, not much would change at first as there would be too much public resistance, and the differences in the celebrations would be subtle and introduced gradually - just as Christianity overcame Yuletide in small increments. But after a while Father Christmas would become known as Father Milad un Nabi and it would be the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon Him) depicted in the manger, not Jesus Christ, and, of course, drinking alcohol and playing music would be frowned upon while praying to Mecca would be encouraged. Finally, if my opponent thinks traditional Christian dishes are unappetising he may still prefer them to the traditional Islamic dishes that would be served on Milad un Nabi Day, delicacies such as tabbouleh (bulgur wheat salad); kale pasche (boiled sheep brains, eyes, tongue and hooves) and ful madammas (dried beans). I suspect that my opponent, like most people in Europe and America, would resent the Islamification of Christmas, even though they might not be Christians, and they might complain about it in similar terms that I have about the Christianisation of Yule, even though I am not a Pagan. That's why I reassert that practicing Christians should not be invited to participate in our traditional seasonal festivities. Thank you for reading and Yuletide Greetings to you all! Catholics in Nazi Germany: . http://jesuswouldbefurious.org... Vlad the Impaler: . http://www.oldcuriosityshop.net... Strictly Religious Christmas: . http://www.wikihow.com... Religious adherence in the UK: . http://www.vexen.co.uk... Decline in Christianity, Rise of Islam in the UK: . http://www.christiantoday.co.uk....