In attending the Mainx24 Christmas parade this year, it appears someone approved pagan rituals with the parade. I was astonished to see a float with the Krampus being shown to attendees.
If you don’t know what Krampus is, it’s a pagan demon that is half goat and half devil that supposedly eats misbehaved children at Christmas.
Why have this in a parade? What do you do to explain this image to young children?
Not appropriate.
Tim BIttenbender
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Mr. Bittenbender,
It appears this might be an error on your part. In reviewing the Mainx24 website and schedule, I do not see where the parade is labeled a Christmas parade, nor do I see where the festival itself is a Christmas festival.
Mainx24 is a celebration of the city - a city full of diverse points of view that may not reconcile with yours, but those views are no less valid.
Perhaps that's how you could explain it to a child. It could be a great teachable moment on diversity of thought.
Or, if that's not the way to approach it, you could explain the Christian co-opting of pagan rituals for Christmas, which would be historically accurate, too.
Robbie Nicholson
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Mr. Bittenbender,
Are you upset at just the Krampus part, or the fact they included pagan symbols? Krampus has been a part of celebrations all over the U.S. and Europe for quite some time. It's nothing new, and Krampus predates many Christmas traditions. Krampus has been a part of movies and books much longer than you and I have been alive.
If it's the pagan issue at Christmas time, well I have some bad news for you. Dec. 25, Christmas trees, mistletoe, decorating with holly, and many other things are far more pagan than Christian, but were adopted as time went on. How does one explain that to a child?
Greg Petty