Tearing down Pagan Altars

There is biblical precedent for allowing some pagan influences continue in the Church if they have been redeemed and given new meaning. Consider for example in Judges 6:25 where God tells Gideon to tear down the altar of Baal that was built by his fathers. It was on the very same spot where people worshipped Baal and Asherah that Gideon was commanded by the Lord to build a new altar to Him. Imagine the significance of the supremacy of Yahweh, declared in such an act.
Today, some folks in our tradition are struggling with some of the "pagan elements" still lurking around in our worship. Questions like, isn't just Easter a pagan holiday? and "what about Christmas wreaths and advent candles?" Every year when the holiday season comes closer, we start to scuttle around these concerns. This is not a cut and dry issue, by any means. Israel plundered the gold of Egypt and we must recognize that all truth is God's truth. The ancient church evangelized pagan lands not by wiping out everything about the indigenous cultures, but by tearing down the pagan altars and reconstituting the claim of the supremacy and Lordship of Jesus Christ. Augustine in his On Christian Teaching said the same could be done regarding good pagan music. Why should the devil have all the good music, was the question Luther asked.Calvin himself was no one to give admittance to pagan ideas, but he saw the value of the church celebrating the "dominical holidays", like Christmas and Easter.
When we study history and see a memory of a pagan past, it is a reminder of the victory of Christ and His kingdom over all idolatry and false religion. It is not an accommodation to paganism, but a triumph and defeat over it. Yet, Calvin reminds us of our own predilection towards idolatry. We are idol makers. Just as Gideon later made a religious relic from the gold of his victorious spoils, which then became a snare to his family and all of Israel (Judges 8:27). We too should remember than any tradition we celebrate should not bind us or inhibit our true worship of our Triune God. Only then do our past victories turn into present defeats.