Don't preach on festive mania

As annoying as the mass hysteria surrounding Christmas is, it's nowhere near as annoying as those who feel the need to keep reminding us of the "true" meaning of Christmas while bemoaning a lack of Christianity over the festive period.

I'm all for people having their own beliefs, but please don't try and preach to me that Christmas is a celebration of Jesus's birthday.

Despite the Church's best wishes, December 25 would not have been his birth date.

Indeed, let's take the Bible as our guide, which suggests it was probably July when, according to the Bible, the shepherds were in the fields with their flocks at night when Jesus was born.

This indicates that Jesus was born during the warmer months of the year - most likely, July.

Indeed, if we're going to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas, then we really need to return to pagan celebrations that pre-date Christianity with the celebration of Saturnalia.

This saw the exchange of gifts to celebrate the birth of Saturn on December 17 and the birth of Sol on December 25.

Furthermore, it wasn't until 336AD that there was the first Christian celebration of Christmas and as of 350AD it was added as a feast day to the Roman calendar, which brings us to the date we now celebrate.

So please, while mass consumerism is annoying, if we're going to preach the true meaning of Christmas, at least get some basic facts straight.

Maybe we should just take Christmas for what it really is - a chance to drink too much but more importantly to be with family and friends.

Ross MacDonald, Worcester Street, Stourbridge.