Christmas has become too commercialized in America. The true purpose of the holiday has been lost; people no longer care Christmas has also been changed to fit secular viewpoints. Enormous amounts of money are spent on gifts and decorations. People have lost sight of the reason we celebrate this winter holiday. Christmas originally was a time to observe the birth of Christ. People from all over would attend Christmas services, certain aspects of the holiday, such as the tree or Christmas colors, would be symbols, and people actually dared to say "Merry Christmas" to their neighbors. The word "holiday" actually came from "holy day," which declared certain days like saints' feasts and Christmas to be dedicated to God. Now, Christmas …show more content…
Letters are sent off to the North Pole, lists are made, and money flies everywhere to find the best presents. The gift from God has been replaced by gifts from the big man in the red suit. Americans spend more money during the winter holiday than any other time of the year. With every passing year, that amount increases. In fact, statistics show that Black Friday retail sales totaled to $52 billion in 2011 and $60 billion in 2012; the average parent will spend up to $500 per child, if not more; decoration and lights sales have totaled to $6 billion. ABC Family has recently started airing a reality series titled The Great Christmas Light Fight; families all over the country compete to see who can set up the biggest display. In a survey, children were asked what Christ as meant to them; in reference to how Christmas is viewed today, one child said, "It's all about how many hours you can spend in a store and how much money you can spend."(Heather)The true reason for Christmas, Jesus, is lost amid the bright lights, bustling feet, and presents. Christmas, a time for remembering what God has given us, is now a time to receive things other people bought for us. It is sadly a time when secularism and political correctness overthrows Christianity. This leads to that little baby being forgotten in the manger instead of praised and loved. Emphasis is instead put on things like
There are several Symbols associated with Christmas, Santa Claus, Snow or cold weather, Wreaths, garland , wrapping paper and a Christmas tree. Society does not look at Halloween costumes or a hot sunny day and think of Christmas, although when I noticed that some retailers have Halloween, thanksgiving and Christmas décor out, it does not seem to mesh well. But retailers are showing society these symbols getting them thinking about what’s coming soon.
Christmas is a Christian occasion that is commended on December 25 to pay tribute to the introduction of Jesus Christ or the timeframe that precedes and after this occasion. Christmas developed more than two centuries into an overall religious and mainstream festivity, fusing numerous pre-Christian, agnostic conventions into the celebrations along the way. Today, Christmas is a period for family and companions to get together and trade presents. Christmas is celebrated within the church of the Lord.
As most children grow up they believe everything their parents tell them. Even when the parents tell them something completely outlandish. For example, a man dressed in a red coat lives at the top of the world, travels all the way around the world in one night, gets everyone the toys they asked for, and eats cookies at every house he stops at. They accept this without question, because why would their parents lie to them. I mean why would parents, all over the globe lie to their children about Santa Claus? One reason in particular is selfish gain. When you lie to your kids and they readily gobble up the complete misconception of christmas, you see how inferior they are to you and how much you're in control of what they believe.
It can be argued that Christmas as a holiday is far removed from the way it was first envisioned. That said, there are certain element that many people share or celebrate making it an arguably complex holiday. As the preeminent children’s author of his generation, Geisel serving heavily on the minds of his young readers helped shape what Christmas means for many people with his narrative How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. Though at the surface the work is a simple morality tale that promotes unity over consumerism, it has subtle nuances that make the work interesting on several
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.
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.
When most people think of December they tend to think about Christmas. It is supposed to be a time of everyone coming together, being joyful, and
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
According to the American Heritage College Dictionary the word Christmas is defined as “the annual festival of the Christian church commemorating the birth of Jesus: celebrated on December 25 and now generally observed as a legal holiday and an occasion for exchanging gifts.” When one thinks of Christmas they may think of Santa, elves, Jesus, and Christmas music. One such as Scrooge, who hates Christmas and is greedy. However one English author reminds readers Christmas can be found in the most dark people. Charles dickens’s A Christmas Carol helps readers identify the negative effects of greed.
Christmas can have many meaning to different people depending on how they interpret it. However, if looking at the Christian aspect of it. The
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.
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.
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed most commonly on December 25 as a religious culture. Christmas Day is a holiday when some kids get presents. Many homes have Christmas trees and other decorations in the weeks leading to Christmas Day. They also have movies and shows like Rudolph, Frosty The Snowman, Santa Claus, Gingerbread Man, and Little Drummer Boy. That is part of my american
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
Religious beliefs soon formed new values as the importance of gift giving became a ‘tradition’ among religions. In most religions helping others who could not help themselves was already a steadfast belief. As people’s values of wanting to help and give to others started to intertwine with the calendar holidays many people started to look for newer and better gift ideas for their loved ones and soon strangers as well. Christian’s predominantly could be found buying minuscule little gift items, such as notebook paper, pencils, and ribbons, for the homeless children, their families and the poorer community that could not provide for themselves during the holiday seasons.