Not pagan

Some people are bothered by the claim that our Christmas celebration was just the co-opting of a pagan Roman Empire celebration, and therefore not valid. This article says that there's little or no evidence to renounce our holiday as a fake.

It doesn't seem to co-opt the "Saturnalia" or the "Sol Invictus" festivals. And it looks like early Christians made a good faith attempt to put a date on Christ's birth so that it could be observed.

Given how hard it would be to be certain of the date Mary had her baby in the stable, with no news coverage whatsoever, and two thousand years ago, I think a little uncertainty is not a problem. 

We have a date, and we celebrate the fact that Jesus Christ brought light to the world:

"In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it . ." (from John 1)

photo: wikipedia.com