Christmas is increasingly more about spending money than celebrating a holiday, to the chagrin of many of America’s religiously faithful.
In 2011, the average family spent $712 on Christmas gifts and entertaining, according to a Gallup poll. The same year, The American Religious Identification Survey claimed over 87 million families would be celebrating Christmas. Some quick arithmetic shows over $62 billion spent in one year.
And that figure is down from 2010.
Despite the economic woes that face Americans as a whole, holiday revelers just can’t help blowing their savings on pretty paper, tinsel and goodies made in China.
From the heyday of Cabbage Patch Kids, to Teddy Ruxpin and Tickle-Me-Elmo, every year the latest toy craze sets into motion the battle for Christmas present supremacy on the day after Thanksgiving. Black Friday, as it’s come to be known, is the biggest shopping day of the year. Its very name comes from the myth that the sales on this day alone push many retailers’ books from red to black.
It’s true that many stores make more on this day than any other week in the year. Anyone that has ever waited two days in line in front of Best Buy for the latest videogame system can attest to this. It’s almost as if the malls have become churches, retail catalogues are bibles and prayers are uttered at the altars of capitalism.
Regardless of what anyone believes about the origins of Christmas, from its Pagan symbolism to its Christian overtones and history, all can agree that what it is now is not at all what it was ever meant to be.
The churches want people to remember those they love and help those in need this time of year. But at some point, the message got lost in translation. It’s been said ad nauseam that “Jesus is the reason for the season”, but no parent wants to tell that to their children on Christmas morning, when there’s nothing under the tree but love for Jesus.
Never let it be said that programs like Toys For Tots are not done in the spirit of giving and love for fellow man. The point is that they promote the belief that charity this time of year comes in the form of an unwrapped toy, and while that is worthwhile, it has no root in the religious history of Christmas.
Being a Christian is not a requirement for celebrating during the holidays. Store greeters oftentimes simply say “Happy Holidays” to customers in an effort to be more inclusive of other religions. This fact draws ire though to some that claim we as a nation are pushing Christ out of Christmas. These groups even take umbrage at the use of the abbreviation “xmas”, as it is disrespectful to the religious nature of the holiday.
But go back far enough and you’ll find many elements that make up our modern Christmas rituals were borrowed from cultures and religions that predate Christianity by centuries. Wreaths and decorated trees are Pagan in origin. Fruitcakes were often placed in Egyptian tombs as food to be eaten in the afterlife.
Times change though, and so do traditions. Now it’s more important to give and get boxes with ribbons and bows. Joy and happiness means being the first on the block to have a complete set of all twelve days of Christmas gifts.
By the way, a trip around the internet will show that all twelve days gifts will set shoppers back more than $24,500 at current rates. And beware; a partridge in a pear tree can’t be purchased with a gift card.