Are you saying you're not aware of the Pagan winter holidays which predates the birth of Christ? Did you know Christ was probably born in September and not in December?
You wrote, "After, looking into it this year, I'm of the opinion that there is no pagan influence on Christmas." I would say it depends on what part of Christmas you are talking about. For example, did you know Santa is an anagram for Satan? That is only one example. I can talk all day about many different things.
According to The History Channel, Christmas trees goes back to ancient Egypt and other countries did it too. Some people would believe the sun was a god. They would keep the evergreen in their homes as a reminder that spring was coming after a long cold winter.
Christmas has many parts. And so to determine how pagan Christmas might be, you have to look at each separate part. For example, the candy cane is not pagan at all. The candy cane is a shepherd's cane, the red is the blood of Christ which died for the sins of mankind. White is salvation, being washed, becoming as white as snow.
Christians made Christmas. So, it can be argued that Christmas is not pagan because of that. So, it depends. For example, some people might say Halloween is Pagan. But Christians like to have harvest parties and things like that on that day. So, in a way, Christian made a new holiday on the last day of October. I have been to these parties and they are fun. Some people might say these parties are not Pagan. It is possible to take a Pagan holiday and to rebrand it. And then we could talk about whether or not Easter is Pagan or not.
So, like Halloween, Christmas was rebranded. So, you could say the rebranded version is not pagan and that might be true. But according to The History Channel, the winter solstice has been celebrated since 10,200 BC. Winter Solstice happens between December 20 and December 23 generally speaking, that ball park. So, is Winter Solstice pagan or what is it? Better yet, is Christmas connected to that might be the better question.
RE: Is Christmas a pagan celebration? (Part 2)