Christmas Influence On American Culture

Although, everyone knows on Christmas there are presents, that’s not what this holiday is all about. December 25 isn’t just Christmas, it is also the day believed to be the birth date of Jesus Christ. Christmas isn’t just about getting presents, Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, the reason for the season.

Ah Christmas, it is said to be the most wonderful time of the year. In the United States Christmas is a time of giving and receiving, spending time with your family, and in most Christian families, celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Christmas is hands-down the most highly commercialized holiday celebrated by Americans. In fact, according to CBS news, the average American will spend $700 on gifts this holiday season, totaling for a whopping $465 billion spent nation-wide. From mall Santas as far as the eye can see, to hearing Christmas music in every retail store you enter. Christmas is a time of high spirits and high spending in the U.S.

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

Christmas can have many meaning to different people depending on how they interpret it. However, if looking at the Christian aspect of it. The

It was in 601 that Pope Gregory I wrote to Melitus (his missionary in England) telling him “not to stop such ancient Pagan festivities” but to “adapt them to the rites of the Church, only changing the reason of them from a heathen to a Christian impulse”. So all those who have been claiming for years that Christmas was, in fact, actually a pagan holiday - you were right and Pope Gregory I handily put it in writing for you.

Christmas As times changed in the 1800s’ of England, Christmas provided as an anchor to bring familiarity and joy into the lives of people. Christmas had become a festival based off of family and friendship, with charity towards others. Though deceiving, religion was not actually the strongest element of the holiday. Christmas began to develope this way, because of the Victorians stage, and the Medieval periods.

The most popular rituals of Easter and Christmas are probably the most changed. Originally, Easter celebrated the resurrection of Christ, with Good Friday being a day of solemn reflection (Q1c). However, in today’s society, Easter has become more about the chocolate – Easter eggs and Easter bunnies have seemingly become common place in every household in contemporary Australia. Hot Cross Buns are big as well, with them being sold in every grocery store as soon as Christmas ends. In today’s society, Easter is celebrated by seemingly everyone, instead of just Christians, as it was in the past. Like Easter, Christmas has also become more secular, with the majority of Australians celebrating Christmas, even if they are from another faith group, or have no religion (Q1b). Social researcher Mark McCrindle writes that Christmas is unique in the Australian Calendar as it ‘simultaneouslygathers familiesandthebroadercommunityin celebration’ (Q1b). Often, religious citizens will celebrate Christmas by attending mass and praying, with 1 in 5 Australians ‘definitely’ attended a service (Q1b). Although, secular celebrations of Christmas have become more popular everywhere – these include Christmas trees and giving gifts. However, in more recent times, debate has occurred over whether Christmas should be celebrated in public places, for example,

According to Kevin Hendricks 91% of American’s celebrate Christmas but only 47% of American’s attend Christmas Eve mass. This statistic shows that even during special holidays people don’t choice to practice their religion. Some families’ most important tradition is religion but as years pass there is less and less people practicing their religion. Despite that the Morocho family from generation to generation has always kept their faith in religion especially on Christmas Eve. Every generation of the Morocho family grows up catholic and with that in mind they go to Christmas Eve mass to practice their religion. The most essential tradition in the Morocho family is celebrating Christmas Eve by gathering with the family to practice their

Despite being the product of separate, largely dissimilar religions, Christmas and Hanukkah fulfill a similar goal. Although the specific food traditions throughout Christianity and Judaism differ greatly, the role of food in these holidays is largely the same. Food is imbued with a sense of remembrance and reverence, creating a level of similarity between two very distinct traditions. Hanukkah, or the Festival of Lights, is a central holiday in modern Judaism. Although it is not a Biblical holiday, it marks a significant cultural event in Jewish history, commemorating the Maccabean revolt and subsequent rededication of the temple by Judah Maccabee.

The other camp is basically focused on the fact that the whole world isn’t Christian so why should Christmas be all about Christianity. It should be open for everyone

Christmas, the holiday commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, is celebrated by a majority of Christians on December 25 in the Gregorian calendar. But early Christians did not celebrate his birth, and no one knows on which date Jesus was actually born (some scholars believe that the actual date was in the early spring, placing it closer to Easter, the holiday commemorating his

Did you know that 99/100 Americans celebrate Christmas but only 3/5 actually celebrate it culturally not with any thought of religion

To take Christ out of Christmas is to take the holiday itself away. I myself have actually spent more money at the store's that are unafraid to put up a sign with the word Christ in them, as I'm sure other Christians have. This holiday is about more than getting gifts and giving to others. Although I do believe in giving

Christmas is an occasion to celebrate the birth of Jesus on 25 December in many parts of the world. There are Christmas Day services that are held on 25 December in Protestant and Roman Catholic churches. Christmas marks the celebration of the birth of baby Jesus Christ. Jesus is believed to be the ‘the son of God’, the Messiah who was sent from Heaven to save the world. The ‘Christmas story’ narrates the birth of Jesus. Jesus was born in a stable in Bethlehem. The angels announced the birth to the shepherds sitting in the fields. The Magi who were the wise men from the East visited the stable and they offered gifts to the newborn child. Not just Christians, other people as well give each other gifts. Special meals

It is important to teach the person of God, the self-existent (Exod. 3:13-14) One; the first cause who cares about his creation. Christianity has been watered down to be more acceptable by the masses. Doctrine and dogma are no longer of primary importance. Without the teaching of the fundamental tenets, Christ is a caricature of a sympathetic big brother figure, “holding to the form of godliness but denying its power” (2 Tim. 3:5, HCSB). Much of what the unsaved American society knows of Christ is what is presented at Christmas. Therefore, the birth of the Savior, and the gifts given at the holiday are what is remembered. The Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation, from alpha to omega, in every jot and tittle, testify of Christ Jesus. The miracle of the God who became flesh, and lived among men. He was from God, He was God; eternal and divine. He became the servant to be obedient to God, and thereby loved both God and mankind (Phil. 2:6-8). This is not the Jesus on Christmas cards. Neither is it the Jesus who is only historical (Elwell 241), or only a spirit (Elwell 242) it is the God-Man fully able to be the “author and finisher of [the] faith” (Heb. 12:4, KJV). The Gospel is offensive. It begs the hearer to decide who Christ was, and is, and either reject Him or worship