What the Bible Doesn’t Condone - I guess a basic question is, if the Bible doesn’t condone, or perhaps actively command to do something, is that a reason for it to be prohibited? Are the accounts of Herod’s and Pharoah’s birthdays enough to prohibit all birthdays? Isn’t there a possibility, at least, that righteous Job’s sons celebrated birthdays? If we are going to start prohibiting all things that are not explicitly commanded, then all religions will have to eliminate a lot, JWs included.
Were the Shepherds Outdoors with Their Flocks in Winter? - This might be true in a general way but when I hear it put as an “impossibility”, I question it. I’ve seen construction workers outdoors working in Winter, for example, when people would think that they would not be. For us, 2000 years later to say that we know for a certainty that the shepherds could not have been out there in the winter; I don’t think that’s airtight.
Pagan Trappings - Along the same lines as above; if we start to throw out everything that has a pagan connection in our lives, we’re going to be doing a lot of throwing out. Wedding rings, days of week, etc. Isn’t it true that, over time, the meaning of symbols do actually change? Words, as an example, are symbols, and their meanings certainly change over time. Before the 20th C, the swastika was a relatively benign symbol but during the course of the century it’s meaning changed dramatically. Isn’t it possible for a symbol to be “appropriated” (good or bad), and come to mean something else? When you ask an average Christmas celebrater - what does that symbol mean? What will be the answer they give you?