When Christmas was Banned

Today's podcast explains why and when Christmas was banned. One of the reasons will surprise you.

Transcript

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Welcome to Kitts Myths and Mysteries, listened to in all 50 states and 39 countries. Stories from a world you thought you knew. I'm not sure if today's podcast could be considered a hidden history or a forgotten history. Was there a time in American history when Christmas was banned? The answer is a resounding yes. That begs the question, who banned it and why? The final weeks of every year see the war on Christmas return to television, panel debates and newspaper columns in the United States bringing claims that modern American societies progressively marginalized and monetized and turned against public expression of Christianity. At one time in both American and English history, Christmas was regarded as a pagan holiday. It is true that the celebration of Christmas was banned in colonial Massachusetts in 1659. That ban was motivated largely by the austerpuritan religious beliefs of authorities in the colony, who objected to the december twenty fifth celebration for two main reasons, because it was originally a pagan winter festival co-opted by Christians and lacking in any biblical basis, and because it was typically accompanied by merriment and indulgence and therefore was opposite to the Puritan principles of sobriety and hard work. Christmas was only ever illegal from sixteen fifty nine until sixteen eighty one and not thereafter, and that ban was limited to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Still, why ban Christmas? In sixteen forty four lawmakers passed an ordinance which called for december twenty fifth to be a day of solemn humiliation, rather than the carnal and sensual delights which had characterized the celebration of Christmas, not to mention the pagan rituals of lighting candles and decorating doors. Okay, so who were these lawmakers? They were Christian Puritans who motivated by beliefs of authorities in the colony who objected to the december twenty fifth celebration. Even after public commemoration of Christmas was once again legal elsewhere, it remained firmly on the books, as forbidden in Massachusetts for an entire generation. It was in 1620 that pilgrims landed at Plymouth, and nine years later that the Puritans arrived in Salem. The two groups merged as one, but the difference about how to worship split the two groups. New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Maine drew lines separating themselves from Massachusetts, lines that later became state borders. But it was Rhode Island where true religious freedom was born in the United States, where an individual could worship as they please without fear of fine or persecution. Well, that's your story from a world you thought you knew. This is Kit Crumb. Thanks for listening.