Thanksgiving Vs Christmas Essay

Holidays are always celebrated no matter religion, beliefs, or culture. Some are recognized more than others but none two are as highly recognized like the cherished Christmas and Thanksgiving holidays. The pair may seem vastly different, as they are two completely separate occasions, but in actuality they do share very similar attributes. Many of the similarities and differences are about to be explained, so here goes.

The truth behind the tradition is surprising. Thanksgiving and the Pilgrims seem to go together, but the truth is, the Pilgrims never held an autumnal Thanksgiving feast. However the Pilgrims did have a feast in 1621, after their first harvest, and it is this feast, which people often refer to as "The First Thanksgiving". This feast was never repeated, though, so it can't be called the beginning of a tradition, nor was it termed by the colonists or "Pilgrims" a Thanksgiving Feast. In fact, a day of thanksgiving was a day of prayer and fasting, and would have been held any time that they felt an extra day of thanks was called for. Nevertheless, the 1621 feast has become a model that we think of for our own

Thanksgiving Holiday means so much to me. I love to celebrate that extended weekend with my family. On the eve of the big day, my cousins and I meet at an elder’s house and then the festivities began. This shared feast started in 1621 with the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians sharing a harvest feast ("Thanksgiving," 2016). A portion of the food can be prepared the day before. We decide who would handle what task and when it time clean up the second generation, always try to make the third generation do it. We then continue to cook and clean and reminisce of our past year. Sometimes we would bring up our childhood pranks and stories of family members that passed and present. On the day of Thanksgiving we finish cooking,

A Review of Penne Restad’s Christmas in America: A History Penne Restad’s Christmas in America is a demonstration of the change in American acceptance of Christmas and the understanding of what the holiday is. The book shows that the evolution from the humble European origins coming together in the United States through the 18th and 19th centuries cumulating in an amalgamation of different traditions to create a more unified American holiday. Events that propelled the solidification of the holiday are specific to the geographic separation creating pockets of cultural tradition to emerge without relative interference. The bedrock of Christmas history in America paved the way to ritualistic materialism in the 1800s that continues today, accessible

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

No fruitful information On the edge of winter comes November, re-introducing early evenings, brisk air and leafless trees but, before the dormancy of winter settles in, the annual compensation of Thanksgiving brings families and friends together to celebrate life with food. Common on most tables, turkey, stuffing, green

The commercialization of the holiday, however, came to be with the arrival of German immigrants. They brought with them the idea of Santa Claus, the Christmas Trees, and the Easter Bunny(Chicchi par.6). Think of how different Americans would be if only Christians celebrated Christmas, and Santa Claus was not a part of the holiday. All of the ads and commercials around this time of year would be drastically different, as well as our literature. All of the books that spur children’s imagination about elves and the North Pole would be lost.

Thanksgiving is a time for many things: food, family, and, with Black Friday sales starting earlier each year, shopping. It’s also a time for giving thanks, something most people forget about despite the presence of the word “thanks” in the name of the holiday. People have a tendency to forget about this part, though, because it’s easy to take the people and animals we love for granted. Sometimes, it’s hard to appreciate them at all, especially when you have a cat whose been labeled the “bad cat” like my family’s cat, Shadow.

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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,

We celebrate Christmas holidays and Easter holidays. However, there is a third holiday, a third observance, a third sacred event that is just as central to our understanding of what it means to be a Christian and what it means to belong to the church.

I think the reason we focus on Plymoth is because we can romanticize the story of the Pilgrams. Freedom is very important to our citizens, and nothing shows freedom better than people abandoning a controlling government to follow their own beliefs. The story of the first Thanksgiving is the icing on the cake, settlers and Native Americans working together, friendships being built and alliances being made. I understand it wasn’t the picturesque story we were taught, but it is a much better story than what happed in Jamestown.

Another hot topic that is brought up in the Christian vs. Non-Christian debate is “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Holidays”. People are claiming that it is

Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks to your life and everyone and everything in it. Thanksgiving is thought of in different ways and is celebrated in unlike ways. Families have divergent meals, places that they visit on Thanksgiving, and activities that they enjoy taking part in on Thanksgiving. Overall, no matter what traditions there are, what meals you have, or the activities enjoyed on Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving is truly a wonderful holiday.

As aforementioned, the initial true meaning of Christmas is religion - one that has now been muchly downplayed. Of course at first glance religion is only an important element of Christmas for those who are actually religious, for which then religion plays the dominant role of what Christmas is to them. However, religion means to show obligation to something through faith, it could be argued that the majority of society is actually religious. We follow a society which has