It looked like a pagan banner planted on a Christian rampart.

Thou hast conquered, O pale Galilean; the world has grown grey from thy breath;/ We have drunken of things Lethean, and fed on the fullness of death

Scratch the Christian and you find the pagan - spoiled

I'll try a pagan friend, thought I, since Christian kindness has proved but hollow courtesy.

The good part of Christmas is not always Christian -- it is generally Pagan; that is to say, human, natural.

It's a theme born out of the Christian faith rather than a pagan understanding of the universe. Both views agree that we human beings are small, frail, and limited in our ability to battle the forces of the world that seek to destroy us.
In response, the pagan worldview says, "We cannot win this on our strength. Therefore, let us go down fighting nobly and die well."
The Christian worldview, on the other hand, says, "We cannot win this on our own strength. Therefore, we must rely on a Power outside of ourselves to win this for us.