"For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled and overcome, the last state is become worse with them than the first" 2 Peter 2:20-21

I have wrestled with the issue mightily; my wife and I still discuss it. There were a few years (recently) when I did opt myself and my family out of participating in these 3 holidays (thanks for remembering Easter - ugh!).

First, your instinct is exactly correct -- what does God's Word require of the Christian? That he worships as God himself desires and requires.

The short answer is, just don't observe them as religious (Christian) holidays, and that will be a step toward some liberty on this.

In all, do it for the glory of God. Sin excepted, of course.

I'd like to give you a fuller and more reflective answer as well, but think in that direction, and give me your response.

If you celebrate one, feel free to celebrate the other. If you condemn one, be sure to condemn the other. If you sanctify one, by all means sanctify the other.

What you find is that, for the Christian, they are both tainted.

Baptizing the December 25th holiday by calling it the "feast of Christ" does not obliterate the millennia of pagan (Satanic?) tradition that underlies that date and many of its symbols.

Similarly, transforming the October celebration of Samhain into "All Hallows"--i.e. all saints--Eve scarcely hides its Satanic roots.

The point is neither of these "holidays" are religious observances ... unless you choose to make them such.

The Psalmist wrote:
But our God [is] in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. (Psalms 115:3)

The Psalmist wrote:
Whatsoever the LORD pleased, [that] did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places. (Psalms 135:6)

Just Wondering 1000 wrote:
Why is it that some(like Lurker) cannot give a straight answer for once?

Just wondering.

He who asks a crooked question is certainly not looking for a straight answer. Many questions which are asked on these threads are very plainly insincere and intended only as launching pads for ridicule and scorn, whether the answer given is true or not. How often do we see someone ask another person a loaded question and then they jump all over them for the answer they give. The person doing the asking knows exactly what the answer will be even before they ask it, but in pretense they ask in order that they might have a platform for contention and also to be able to display their supposed brilliance, or rather their ignorance and intolerance.

Besides:

"Wherefore [is there] a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing [he hath] no heart [to it]?" Pr 17:16

"A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself." Pr 18:2