Okay I don't really have any opinion on the actual subject of this thread but there are two assertions in Snowguy's post, other than the one that ingemann covered, that I want to address.
1. While it's more or less indisputably true that the word 'Easter' derives from the name of a pagan Anglo-Saxon goddess (even Bede admits this), Sumerian isn't even an Indo-European language, so the 'Ishtar' connection is almost certainly a false cognate. It's also worth noting that this is only true of a few of the Germanic languages--other languages have words for Easter related to Pesach.
2. That is most certainly not true of 'all' or even most patron saints. It's notably truer in some places (e.g. Ireland, where that was done to a significant chunk of the Druidic pantheon) than in others (e.g. the Mediterranean basin, which has from a very early date had more than enough legit Christian historical or semi-historical figures to go around.)
And while ingemann is right that the fir tree was a replacement for the oak that was meant to represent the trinity, why have a tree at all?
The point is.... These were Christian replacements for pagan practices. Just like holiday trees and getting together and celebrating secularly is a modern replacement, using many of the same props in a very similar process, of Christianity.
This has been happening forever. If you want to be holier than me and spar over details in a big blow out of fecal pompousness, go right ahead. Just don't twist my words against me.
There is a speculative argument to be made that the Germanic languages (of which English is, of course, one) were influenced by Semitic traders. John McWhorter outlines this hypothesis, with some evidence to support it, in the final chapter of his book
Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue, though even he points out that the case is far from conclusive. It's a good read and a brief one too if anybody is interested in the history of the language.
