The Effect Of Christmas On My American Culture

Christmas, the pinnacle of every holiday and the one day in the year where families gather around, exchange gifts, and honor the birth God's son. This would be the meaning of Christmas for most families but... my family's another story. You see, my cousins make a trip from Texas to North Dakota to visit us for Christmas every year. I know what you're

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.

To begin, the history of Christmas is peculiar and filled with factors that make it well-known all throughout the world. It’s history goes all the way back to 336, during the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine. Jesus was born in Bethlehem from a virgin whose name was Mary. In a stable, where shepherds visited, along with everyone who heard, a miracle happened and the holiday came to be. As time continued, Christians have been swept away from the celebration’s natural meaning, background, and origins.

Holidays are fundamental parts of diverse cultures and by observing them through the lens of an outsider; we are able to see how a culture can have different perceptions. Nonetheless, we can observe Christmas from the perspective of someone that isn’t part of the American culture. When I think about someone’s perspective on this holiday, I can imagine the following: For Christmas, families meticulously decorate their houses and bushes with wires. These wires are only turned on at nighttime. When they are turned on, the house becomes very illuminated, and every house on the block competes to see whose house looks the brightest. Americans become interested with the presence of their houses; they decorate their houses so others can admire them.

American holiday I really like is Christmas because I get a lot of gift and I get to drink eggnog. The history of Christmas is a honoring the birth of Jesus Christ; Christmas evolved over two millennia into a worldwide religion and secular celebration, incorporating many pre-Christian, pagan traditions into the festivities along the way (History). Today, Christmas celebrates with family and friend gets together and exchange gifts.

Everyone knows about Christmas because it is a holiday that has been celebrated for hundreds of years all around the world. Christmas is celebrated on the 25th of December and it is a tradition for many people that gifts are given on this day. This holiday is celebrated by different people, religions, and cultures. With the diversity in this world, Christmas has different meanings, but it is styled with the same traditional colors, delicious food, and common flowers and plants.

Economy is not doing so well. Its become cold and not many crops are growing. Its Christmas. Officially my third Christmas in America. But I don’t celabrate it. See I am not Catholic or Christian I am Polytheistic and the owners don’t like that. Still here I am on Christmas day working. Another reason our kind is hated so much. Europeans believe that only people of their religion were right. As of the today they re-assigned me back the the cotton fields for a short amount of time. Its been a regular day that is until I look down on my arm I see the long scar that the owner whipped me with a few days ago. I traced my fingers around it. And I decided I didn’t want to live like this anymore. Grabing a small bag I put in what ever I could find

Christianity celebrates Christmas on the 25th of December to commemorate the birth of Jesus who is believed to be the son of God. This is a day of holy

German Christmas is pretty similar, but have few things that are different. In the next few slides I'm going to show you what's different and similar. In Germany, they call Christmas “the first celebration” and Santa brings gifts on December 5th and 6th. In America, children usually open their gifts on Christmas day, but in Germany they open them on Christmas Eve. In Germany, they light up their trees with real candles not fake lights like Americans. The German Christmas lasts 2 days, the 25th and the 26th.

It is that time of year again -- Advent! Flocking to the stores to buy gifts; shopping with massive discounts; eagerly awaiting break from school; it is all part of the Christmas experience. Should it be, though? If you are of the Christian faith, the answer is absolutely not. Christmas is all about celebrating the coming of Christ, and the time leading up to it -- Advent-- should be dedicated to preparing our hearts for Him. If you really think about it, chalking Christmas up to gifts is one of the greatest tragedy of our era. From the time God made a covenant with Isaac and the Israelites to the time of Jesus’ birth, God spoke through prophets to foretell the coming of the Messiah who would save all of humanity from its sins. Through this

Christmas is held on January 7th. Everyone goes to church that morning and at church they have a big feast. The feast consists of basically the same food, dried fruits, nuts, breads, desserts, nut there is also ham and other meats. They do not do the gift giving tradition that Americans do on Christmas. This is a holiday that is based heavily on family and friends and about faith.

Rather than the spooky vibe given from the Hallloween traditions, Christmas tridions are give off more of a cheery, happy, uplifting vibe. Christmas is typically a Christian holiday that revolves around the birth of Jesus Christ. Today, however, we celebrate this event not only to honor his birth, but also to gather those close to one another and exchange gifts. In the States, there is a legend about a man, Santa Clause. Santa Clause was brought to the U.S. from a monk from modern day Turkey in 280 AD.

Whether you celebrate the story of St. Nicholas or the tradition of Santa Clause both can be tied in to Christianity in some way. God gave us the ultimate gift by giving us his son. Here is where the word Gratitude comes into effect once more. 2nd Corinthians 9:6-7 reads “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” Santa gives gifts cheerfully and Christians should too. When Jesus was first born the three wise men brought him gifts. I believe that this is where the tradition of presents first began. Although Christmas is not about

There is a lot of Christmas traditions in this world. Every American family celebrates Christmas in a different way! My family's celebration of christmas is an example of a typical American Christmas. My sisters go to a private school (Immanuel Lutheran School). Every year they put on this Christmas Program at our church, and like always it turns out adorable with the cute songs they sing to the intriguing way they act out their parts. Being an American means you get to celebrate different holidays in some places you’re not even allowed too,we have freedom in America.

One can almost cut through the irony of hearing Bing Crosby sing “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas” on the radio when the temperature is sixty and the first frost of winter is still weeks away. As citizens of the United States in this day and age, people are most likely all too accustomed with this typical rush promoted between important festivities. It’s exclusively about generating maximum revenue for the large corporations as frantic shoppers attempt to assuage their stress through hour upon hour of incessant shopping; arising in our society today, an important question of whether or not this avaricious behavior communicates total loss of understanding as to what the true meaning of the season represents. In my opinion, some