LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Christmas: Santa Claus
built 630 days ago
On December 6, 1999, the verdict for Ganulin v. United States (1999) declared that "the establishment of Christmas Day as a legal public holiday does not violate the Establishment Clause because it has a valid secular purpose." This decision was upheld by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals on December 19, 2000. [49] At the same time, many devout Christians objected to what they saw as the vulgarization and co-optation of one of their sacred observances by secular commercial society and calls to a return to "the true meaning of Christmas" are common.
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The most important single source for Santa was the Christmas poem of Moore from year 1823 which was transmuted to image by Thomas Nast. Actually the cult of Santa Claus incorporates many traditions Christian and pagan : Old Catholic, Scandinavian, Dutch, German, English. Sadly, its main feature nowadays is commercialism.
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Pekka Vuori is best known for his masterful illustrations about Finnish folk heritage and Christmas subjects. In 1999, Vuori received an award for his book about Santa Claus' realm in Lapland entitled Korvatunturi - Tales from the land of Santa Claus.
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Santa Claus