Christmas And Religion Essay

Imagine if there were no Christmas trees on Christmas. How would it feel? Till this day in almost every American household there is at least one Christmas tree. The Christmas tree is one of the symbols and early traditions from the pagans that early Roman Catholics adopted. Although, the Roman Catholic Church perceived sinful and unacceptable some of the pagan traditions such as the value and behavior that the Anglo-Saxons had towards their cattle and how they sacrificed them to their idols. The church had to synchronize and blend some pagan traditions so they could influence their new strategy to evangelize and attract the heathens.

In this paper I will discuss Social Theories such as Structural Functionalism, Conflict theory; with emphasis on Karl Marx’s early work and how it relates to the conflict theory and Symbolic interaction. I intend to define and discuss relevant sociological terms of these theories and how these theories could apply to my favorite holiday which is Christmas.

These celebrations represented the resurrection of new life in spring after the cold, frozen winter. Celebrations like these were celebrated in many countries, especially ones of great Catholic populations. Soon when christianity appeared in Rome, religious leaders encouraged the rituals into the faith. Christians and others who encourage this holiday celebrate this time of feasting from January sixth to Shrove Tuesday, The Epiphany to the Day before Ash Wednesday (Thompson, 1998). This time period became known as Carnival; Carnival in Latin means farewell to meat. The motto farewell to meat relates to the fasting that is coming with the Lenten season celebrated by the Christian faith. “Carnival” was soon spread worldwide. In France, this celebration became known to may as Mardi Gras, or “Fat Tuesday,” says the authors of

Christians commonly celebrate the New Year January 1st, according to the Julian calendar; For orthodox Christians whom follow the Gregorian calendar New Year is marked on January 14th or sometime around that date. (Christian Observances and Rituals) Orthodox or not the New Year is a day celebrated most Christians, many attending mass. Another commonly celebrated day is, “Epiphany Sunday, commonly known as Three Kings’ Day in the United States, is on January 6. It celebrates the three wise men’s visit to baby Jesus and also remembers his baptism, according to the Christian Bible’s events. The United States (US) Virgin Islands observe the day as a public holiday.” (Epiphany in the United States) On this day children, bake cookies and cakes in honor of the Three Wise Men. This day is exactly twelve days after Christmas, another Christian

Specific Purpose: I want to educate my audience about the holidays history, so they may understand the true meaning of this ancient celebration and learn how it has evolved.

There are similarities and differences between Christmas in America and Christmas in Italy. The Christmas holiday originated with the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25, a day around the shortest day of the year. Therefore, the main reason we celebrate the holiday is to celebrate Christ's birthday. Another reason for celebrating Christmas includes the changing of the seasons and the days that will become short before becoming long again. The shortest day, not necessarily falling on Christmas, is Winter Solstice which happens also to be a Pagan, agricultural holiday to mark the changes is the seasons. Most simply, we celebrate Christmas across the world as inspiration to imitate ethical behaviors of Christ who unconditionally loved all men and women regardless of their beliefs or backgrounds.

In A Christmas Carol, an allegory of spiritual values versus material ones, Charles Dickens shows Scrooge having to learn the lesson of the spirit of Christmas, facing the reality of his own callous attitude to others, and reforming himself as a compassionate human being. The reader is shown his harshness in the office, where he will not allow Bob Cratchit enough coal to warm his work cubicle and begrudges his employee a day off for Christmas, even claiming that his clerk is exploiting him. In the scene from the past at Fezziwig’s warehouse, Scrooge becomes aware of the actions of a conscientious, caring employer and feels his first twinge of conscience. The author suggests an origin for Scrooge’s indifference to others as Scrooge is portrayed as a neglected child, the victim of a harsh father intent on denying him a trip home for the holidays and only reluctantly relenting.

Some of them don’t occur on Christmas day, but happens before or after the holiday. One of them is “The Day of the Candles,” or “Dia de las Velitas.” During this Columbian holiday, everyone lights up skinny candles and sets them outside buildings to light up cities. A tradition in Spain is to stay up to feast and party until morning. In an old Spanish verse, Christmas is called the “good night” or Noche Buena, so it says that the people cannot sleep. There are also religious traditions. In Mexico, children walk around the streets dressing up as Mary and Joseph, traveling by donkey to represent the time when the two had to find lodging. This is called Las Posadas. After the children do Las Posadas, they have a piñata party just for the fun of it. Spain honors the Mass of the Rooster, when it is said a rooster was one of the first to see the birth of baby Jesus. Spain celebrates it by lighting oil lamps and going to church to go to a mass at the midnight of Christmas

Christmas Carol How does Charles Dickens convey the character of scrooge in the early pages of a Christmas Carol? Charles Dickens, is best known for his host of distinctively cruel, repugnant characters. His father was sent to a Debtors prison taken his son Charles with him

There is no doubt that Christmas is a religious event but nowadays Christmas becomes more commercialized, as it has been defined as a high consumption season because the gifts giving culture becomes the most important part of Christmas and the consumers want to please their children

Holidays are an important part of every culture in the world. They are times of festivity where friends and family gather together to celebrate special events at different points of the year. Oftentimes these affairs aren’t limited to a single day and each country has their own set of specific rituals that they perform to commemorate the occasion. Many holidays also have religious origins that are a mix of Christian and pagan beliefs.

Such as, the Holiday of “Easter” the painting of the eggs and the finding of the eggs, relates to Jesus Christ’s resurrection from death. After reading Paganism, I learned that “Easter” is a holiday not only celebrates the resurrection of Jesus, but a holiday of the Spring Equinox. Easter is a goddess known for fertility. In German she is called Ostara and in Anglo-Saxons she is known as Eostre. It’s celebrated the balance of light and darkness and the arrival of spring a renewal of the life force. In which, would explain why the Holy Roman Church would choose that date for Christ’s resurrection, so the people could not practice their religion. However, it didn’t stop the people because it’s we still practice paganism tradition that’s taken place today.

Christmas is the annual festival celebrating the birth of Jesus on the 25th December, at least that is what it began as initially. Since it has expanded into an international phenomenon for consumption, taking priority over our everyday practices of life (Michel De Certeau, 1980). Our time we spend divided between work and leisure in accordance to the codes and conventions of society shifts, Christmas derails these expectations. Yet surprisingly Christmas gains little attention in terms of social research, despite the fact that it can be explored diversely. The inquiry ‘What is Christmas?’ links to multiple aspects of social research. The aspects of Christmas can be subdivided into the following; religion, commercialism, gift-giving, social relationships, sensualism and mythology. This essay will analyse these fundamentals of Christmas through both psychological and sociological perspectives, as the theories among these two social sciences are best suited to the elements which make up Christmas itself.

One of the legacies he left behind was to set the date in which Easter was celebrated to Sunday on the calendar to commemorate the resurrection of Christ, in order to unifield the Christians all over the World for one common purpose. In so doing, he made Christ the reason for the season as Christ resurrected on Sunday morning. Easter was previously observed on the fourteenth day of the moon, which was the celebration of the Jewish passover feast “Nisan or Quartodecimans” (Leviticus 23:5; Matthew 28:2; Mark 16:17; Luke 24:1-6; Acts

Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year. I love seeing the shinny Christmas lights that decorates my street and the sound of fresh fallen snow on the ground. Christmas reminds me of family, the laughter and loved we shared, and the gifts we gave to each other. My house on Christmas became the center of my joy.