2020 marks my 8 year anniversary of blogging. As a result, I have been going back and reading some blogs from my earlier years for the sole purpose of using these as a benchmark for determining my own personal evolution as a human being. Do I still agree with the Jimmy of 4, 6 or 8 years ago? As I read some of these earlier entries, I noticed that I largely still agree with myself, yet now tend to possess slightly more nuanced opinions. For example, I have written a couple of blogs on the subjects of relational cheating and monogamy in the past, and largely still hold to those previous positions. However, as I shall post next month, my position has been modified and somewhat crystallized when it comes to these subjects (read: teaser).
For this month, I take a trip down memory lane, December 2014, to be exact, to read of my thoughts towards the Christmas Holiday. As I present to you the article below, untouched from when it was written 5 years ago, I still stand by every word. I suppose the only thing that has really changed is that with each passing year, the notion of Christmas becomes a more distant and unrelatable memory. Frankly, though I still stand by sentiments, in 2019 I’m not sure I even care enough about Christmas to waste my time writing a blog about it.
This being said, I still find people intrigued by my complete Christmas apathy. I would love to read any pro-Christmas arguments you may have as well as any thoughts to contribute to the matter.
Now, Tis the season…to read this blog blast from the past.
Scrooge This: The Five Reasons I Do Not Celebrate Christmas
Now that Christmas is over I feel free to write the blog I have felt compelled to write the entire month of December –though did not do so because I did not want to rain on anyone’s Christmas parade and harp on the negative– and then subsequently be called what I have been labeled for many years, “Scrooge,” followed with an insulting, “bah humbug.”
Our family does not celebrate Christmas–nor Chanukah, Kwanza nor any other kind of December holiday. No lights, no tree, no manger scene, no Santa, no presents, and, above all, no stress –and I love it. So what is the point in writing this blog? I am not out to change anyone’s mind, even if I could. Yet, since I get the question all the time by perplexed and surprised people as to why we do not acknowledge this holiday, I will now put my sentiments in written form and when asked the question in the future, I can simply point to my blog.
In my last entry, I explained how we are like seeds in the fields of culture and it becomes very difficult to objectively be critical of that which is literally a part of us. For many, there is no cultural practice more ingrained into our personal and collective psyche than Christmas –to question it is ludicrous and so iconoclastic as to be completely off the critical thinking table. Christmas is the untouchable sacred cow of the masses, I realize this. So, that said, I encourage you to hear my 5 reasons for not celebrating Christmas with an open mind. Again, I am not out to change anyone’s mind, rather, at the very least, promote understanding that there are legitimate and beneficial reasons for not observing the holiday –and perhaps some take it easy on those of us who choose the Christmas avoidance route and understand we are not awful people, ie. Scrooge.
1. Christmas is great for the economy though very dangerous for the soul.
I believe we all would agree that for the great majority Christmas is about gift giving. At its face, gift giving is a wonderful and edifying practice that nourishes the soul. Yet when we culturally mandate compulsory gift giving, it sucks the spirit and heart right out of the practice; frenzied, tit-for-tat gift exchanges zap any genuine life right out of the otherwise healthy custom. Our shopping malls turn into crowded, soulless bastions of bargain shoppers robotically hunting for the best deals after they have fought tirelessly for a parking spot –only to typically purchase crap that no one really needs. But, hey, this comes from a guy who believes a part of his soul dies every time he waits in line at a Wal-Mart. I love meaningful and relevant gift giving, yet it means so much more when it comes at unexpected times, motivated by none other than love. I realize not every activity in life will feed the soul, though it is important to avoid activities that will drain it.
2. It goes against the goal of living an emotionally balanced and healthy life.
Things are never as good, or bad, as we think they are. Perhaps I am only speaking from personal experience, though I have found that whenever we get too emotionally high we can expect a crash landing into the emotional lows of life shortly thereafter. If we were to compare holidays to drugs, Christmas would the crystal meth…on steroids. “The most wonderful time of the year” is frequently the emotional peak time of the year for many. I do not blame Christmas and the holidays for depression (contrary to popular belief, depression and suicide rates are not higher during the holiday season; they are highest in Spring time) rather I am suggesting it certainly does not help those of us in the quest of living a life void of major high/low swings. Observing the Christmas holiday contributes to a ‘bipolaresque’ type of up-and-down existence as it embodies the manic stage -at least it did for me.
3. It sends the wrong message to children.
I believe we all know this and acknowledge it -we even make movies about this phenomenon, I am thinking “Jingle All They Way” among others. Like the insane person who never learns from her mistake, we continue to engage in creating spoiled, entitled and materialistic children, instructing them to write letters explaining everything they want to a fictional figure. Can I be blunt? That is just plain fucked up. Why are we messing with our children’s minds in such a way? Is this not a mild form of abuse? I realize culture is so ingrained in us that it is often difficult to be critical of it, yet if one can stand back and objectively observe this practice, just for a moment, it is just wrong; I, for one, do not want to perpetuate this practice. The practice of Christmas teaches children that, above all, we are soulless consumers first and foremost. When will the consumerist madness stop? We buy things we do not need for the things we do not need. Christmas teaches children we should strive for what we want –not what we need. Christmas has become much more a venture capitalist holiday than a spiritual one.
4. The entire Christmas narrative of Santa, elves, the North Pole, etc…is a lie.
Most theological scholars would even agree that December 25 is not the birth date of Jesus. Please understand that I am all for cultural myth and ritual. Totally. Myth plays an important part in the process of understanding ourselves and the human condition…but call it for what it is, MYTH. Can anyone explain why we take a perfectly healthy tree, cut it down and bring it into our house? I didn’t think so. What is the lesson from myth we can learn from this practice? In the case of Christmas, we blatantly lie about the whole thing. I told our children from the moment they could understand my words that Santa is a lie…that simple. People can go to jail for lying yet we encourage it toward our most vulnerable and gullible of society…and for what reason? I am all down for lies that might protect someone from hurt, yet we perpetually, albeit innocently and with good intentions, lie with the outcome of creating false expectations as we set children up for disappointment at some level.
5. It trivializes and demeans Christian-based religious faiths.
When I used to be a pastor many moons ago, I despised Christmas (which may explain, in part, why I was such a shitty pastor) much more than I do now –presently, I essentially just forget about it altogether. I could never speak for, or on behalf of God, Jesus, Tom Cruise, Mohammed, or any other deity-like figure, yet, something inside me believes even Jesus himself would condemn the practice of Christmas –for all the ethical reasons I have mentioned.
I collect Jesus junk. Thus far I have Jesus duct tape, a Jesus action figure, Jesus T-shirts, socks, etc… I do this as a reminder how our culture has taken that which is to be sacred, revered and honored and morphed these entities into unholy and profane trivial commodities. Christmas, as we practice it today, trivializes the holiness and reverence of a religion’s most sacred event. I used to find this disturbing yet today I find this more amusing -as these things act as a constant reminder of the culture I am dealing with on a daily basis.
So these are the five reasons why I choose not to celebrate Christmas. Agree with me or not, I have arrived at these conclusions through analysis and reasoned observation. In fact, I am quite certain many of you agree with me –at least in part on some things. Then, why is it when someone asks me about Christmas and I explain these things, I am then insulted for my calculated decision? Scrooge was not calculated, he was just an asshole. Contrary to some people’s opinion, I am not an asshole. I choose not to partake in the, what I respectfully believe to be, irrational, materialistic, unspiritual endeavor and I get questioned? Our culture has done a really good job of creating this illusion –to the point that the free thinking ones, not taken in by the smoke and mirrors of the holiday, get criticized for their sane and logical conclusions. Again, I am not out to change anyone’s mind, even if I could, but please do not disparage those of us who do not see this holiday as you might see it.
I am very proud to proclaim we have raised four very strong, independent, passionate and free thinking children who all have a very different take on Christmas today. They not only survived an, essentially, Christmas-less upbringing, they have thrived. We all live life to the very fullest.
I guess I just rained on the Christmas parade. Not to worry. You have nearly an entire year to recover.
In my lifetime, Christmas was and still is the Las Vegas glitz and glam holiday of reflective wrappers hiding treasure meant just for me. Nothing more but perhaps so much less. As a kid I remember those cool bubble lights of various colors, literally just boiling water on a tree but it was amazing! The lights, the shine, the jingle, it’s the pizzazz-y-ist time of the year. As a culture we found one day out of the year and decorated the shit out of it because, well, because we can damn it! I’ll be honest, I have my doubts about its “true” meaning but I do subscribe to the idea of bestowing a little miracle by way of donating to the downtrodden, out of luck types that I’ve had some experience in myself. I spent many years looking forward to The Christmas and thinking, ‘This year I’m going to be more cheerful and get ‘into the spirit’ this year’. That year came and went but nothing changed. Same stress new day. Thinking about it now I’ve developed a sense of disbelief in the machinations of christmas culture and have decided to say dueces’ to the whole concept and just play along while giving it my own spin. The day is whatever it means to you, a pointless thought unless that meaning is represented and practiced day by day. I’m going to take my December 25th and give it a meaning that I believe in and put a light on top of it just to say, “Hey, take a look at here.” So with that, havebabmerrybchristmas
Oh poor, poor Jimmey!You sound like you hate Christmas! I would agree that Christmas is commercialized but I would also say its an important holiday that should be celebrated. I think the focus on Christmas is more of a gathering of friends and family. Which is important. Bringing friends & family together can be helpful internally to people. Especially to those of us who are in need of therapy. I also think children could learn a lot from Christmas! acts like giving out of love have never been A negative I would say. Merry Christmas Jimmey & A happy New Year! I’m sorry Santa had you on his knotty list as A child. P.S enjoy your Family Vacation & I would appreciate the solid B. Thank you.
Reading this blog was very insightful. I agree with some main points you have about the reasons to not celebrate Christmas. However, Christmas is my favorite holiday. It’s interesting to see that theologians agree that Jesus was not born on December 25. I don’t think celebrating Christmas is bad however it should be done in a different way that is traditionally thought.
Hi Jimmy.
You have made such a compelling argument for why you don’t celebrate Christmas. In fact, I commend you for writing about this controversial opinion. Although I agree with you on some points, I do have some counterarguments.
I will start with what I agreed with. I really liked your first argument on how Christmas has a negative impact on the soul. I have personally seen how the concept of gift giving can be very harmful to one’s emotional health. Both my of my grandmas wanted to give me a chess set a couple years ago for Christmas, and it sparked a lot of hostility between them because they both wanted to give me the gift. I also agreed with your argument on how Christmas impairs our ability to live an emotionally balanced and healthy life. I know for me personally that Christmas brings out loads of euphoria, and afterwards it can feel as though something was ripped away from me.
If I may continue on what I disagreed with, I would argue that most your points are centered on the traditional celebration of Christmas, without giving acknowledgement to the other, more healthy ways of celebrating Christmas. In other words, I feel as though you could still “celebrate” Christmas without swimming in the excess of materialism and giving presents. I also feel as though you could still celebrate Christmas without lying to your children about Santa’s existence. If you just simply put more of an emphasis on family-time during the holidays (more so than you can afford to on a day-to-day basis), then perhaps that may have a better psychological impact on your children (even though they are adults)?
Finally, I would argue that celebrating Christmas gives families an excuse to meet up with one another if they are split all over the world. For me personally, I have some family members that ONLY come down for Christmas, and it is always such a pleasure seeing them despite their lack of availability.
“If I may continue on what I disagreed with, I would argue that most your points are centered on the traditional celebration of Christmas, without giving acknowledgement to the other, more healthy ways of celebrating Christmas. In other words, I feel as though you could still “celebrate” Christmas without swimming in the excess of materialism and giving presents. I also feel as though you could still celebrate Christmas without lying to your children about Santa’s existence. If you just simply put more of an emphasis on family-time during the holidays (more so than you can afford to on a day-to-day basis), then perhaps that may have a better psychological impact on your children (even though they are adults)?”
I do not disagree with you on this Trent….though at what point does it stop being called Christmas when you let go of everything Christmas is all about?
1. As you mentioned, Christmas is great for the economy. Isn’t that essential for our country? Black Friday is named for the majority of businesses that move from the red to the black. Otherwise, they would operate at a loss. How many businesses would go under without Christmas? It’s our privileged point of view from a rich country that allows us to take this good economy for granted. Yes, many gift out of necessity. However, gift-giving is one of the love languages of five. That means that around 20% of people are likely to have their love language fulfilled at this time of year. Perhaps, for many of them, it’s the only time it’s fulfilled. Even if the giver or recipient is not a ‘gift person’ or does it from obligation, it still fulfills the ‘gift love language’ person, just as a ‘physical touch love language’ person sometimes just needs a hug, even if the recipient doesn’t enjoy hugs. It doesn’t sound like your love language is gifts, but for those who are, it may be the only time of year that they can truly be fulfilled.
2. I don’t think the majority of people are looking for a void of major highs and lows. If that were the case, shows like Jerry Springer wouldn’t have existed for their voyeurism of extreme emotion. Soap operas wouldn’t exist, love movies and novels wouldn’t exist, indeed many people search out the movies and books that will bring tears for their cleansing and cathartic nature. Aggressive video games could also fall into this category. It is human nature to explore the human condition, and Christmas gives us an annual opportunity to experience a major high, and possibly the balancing low, without the movies, novels, and video games.
3. Black and white thinking. If this is how you want to practice Christmas, it is how you will practice Christmas. But not everyone sees it or practices it as mindless consumerism. Sure, a lot do. But a lot of people do a lot of things the wrong way and we don’t throw out the whole system as a result. You could take it as an opportunity to help others in need. Buy gifts for children who have nothing, or even just a Christmas day meal for a needy family. Make your Christmas Eve tradition picking up trash in a park. Holiday traditions are what you make of them, and you can say it’s one way or the highway, or you can try to change something that is mindless into something that is mindful. You don’t have to throw the baby out with the bath water.
4. This sounds like a black and white mindset. The alternative to cutting down a live tree is to buy a fake one and reuse. I’ve reused the same one for about 10 years now. I believe the biggest lie we tell children is in education – that they can be anything they want to be. This simply isn’t true. I couldn’t be a world-class mathematician or an Olympic high-jumper. It just isn’t in me. Each kid has things they could achieve in their lifetime and things they couldn’t. But this lie persists. It’s widely considered to be a good lie because it promotes good feeling in the kid. So does the myth of Santa. Yes, at some point they will feel a twinge of disappointment – I remember it – but it prepares the kid for all the shocks they are about to come across – learning about sex, for example. I don’t believe anyone has talked to their therapist yet about their trauma over the Santa myth. It’s fairly insignificant. However, how many people have been in therapy complaining that they hate their job because they were encouraged or pushed in an area that wasn’t realistic or the best option for them? Both lies, only one is extremely harmful.
5. It is the Christians who stole the pagan ideas of the Christmas tree and Father Christmas. Christianity is not being demeaned, it is stealing someone else’s ideas and claiming them as their own.
Christmas and Black Friday, and Cyber Monday are the ultimate consumer culture holidays. Black Friday and Cyber Monday kick off the Christmas shopping for the year. As a child, I did not grow up religious. I was unfamiliar with what is supposed to be the whole idea around Christmas. All I knew was that in December, I needed to be on my best behavior to get a lot of presents. When I was six years old, I noticed the handwriting on the Christmas packages that said “From: Santa” was an exact replicate of my grandfather’s handwriting. I remember pointing out to my grandfather just this. I was a clever young child and was quickly suspicious. The similar handwriting on the Christmas packages sparked so many questions in search for evidence and clarification. If Santa is fat, how does he fit does the chimney? What does he do when people do not have a fireplace? I held onto these thoughts until the next Christmas. The following Christmas, I stayed up all night. I did not go to sleep, I just laid in my bed listening for any noises. Then around 2 am I herd a car pull into my driveway. I carefully peeped out the window only to discover my grandfather carrying armfuls of Christmas presents into the house. At this point I remember being so upset that I was lied to. I thought to myself, “why do they think I’m so stupid?” Being truthful was heavily drained into me since I can remember. I thought to myself, “why can they lie but I can’t?” I truly wanted to confront my grandfather and mother about discovering that they were both lying. However, I did not. I remember thinking that if they both know that I know Santa is not real, I will no longer get any presents at all. So, I played as dumb as they thought I was for the next several years! My family going against their “values” of never lying influenced me to do the same. I thought my actions were justified. Looking back on this, I realize that even as a child I participated in the consumer culture. I used to believe those presents each year were going to make me truly happy. For as long as I can remember, (age 21) Christmas has solely been wrapped around the idea that items can generate happiness and love. Christmas, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday are the consumer culture holidays. Adults and children both participate in the consumer culture. Participating in the consumer culture can have harmful consequences for both children and adults. I’m sure the most of us, at least me, have seen a kid that throws a fit when they get a present that isn’t good enough for him or her. In “Consumerism and Well-Being in Early Adolescence” the authors address that children who developed consumerist values have an increased rate of dissatisfaction (Sevic et al. 161). “Children may experience anger, disappointment, or even unhappiness in the case when the desired product does not meet their expectations” (Sevic et al. 167). Christmas influences participation in the consumer culture. Therefore, Christmas can be a negative impact on a person’s life. Christmas is set up on the idea that buying and receiving gifts will generate happiness. However, happiness does not equal product.
Using intelligence as ethos to explain why ‘Christmas is a lie’ is soooooooo yesterday. No doubt you’re an intelligent person and were also such as a child but even dumb kids, if there ever was one, asked how a fat guy can squeeze down a chimney. The contrarian in me begs to test your argument, which comes across as suspicious more than intellectual and leads to, dare I say, ungrateful? Allow me to explain as you did the fundamental nature of Christmas. Since its religious by nature we can use the parables of the Christian, Jewish, Hindu, etc dogmas. I’m Christian so I identify with stories such as those of, Job, Moses, and Jesus. I was told as a child stories of the bible and they were told to me in a way a child would understand to show me a sense of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. As I grew into a man I looked at the same stories and could appreciate the deeper meanings of the stories. As a child you saw ‘Santa Claus’ as a myth until you saw him in his truest form, your grandfather. A man who would stay awake until 2am in the cold to sneak into your house little boxes of his happiness. I say his happiness and I’ll tell you why and how it relates to this argument. After your ‘realization’ you felt a negative impact because your intelligence was insulted through lies and lies are wrong yet you still decided to play along. You know why? Because when you opened up those gifts you were experiencing shared happiness, with a little bit of taint all of your own. Heres lies my point, you as a child were lucky enough to have people in your life that struggled one way or another to wrap a gift for you to make you happy and this in itself is the magic of Christmas because whatever product was being wrapped was actually an idea. The material and physical gift is not what’s being given, it’s the idea that giving to others is also giving unto ourselves. Happiness IS a product. It’s a series of proteins translated from you noggin to your body and expressed in various ways. Christmas is the time of year we take that little sparkle in our heads and wrap it up in reality to give happiness to each other because it makes up happy to do so. As a parent I and my wife are Santa a manifestation of the meaning of Christmas that we share with our children until they are old enough to see the Santa that lives within themselves. Merry Christmas to you and I wish joy and happiness to you and yours. -Gabe
Gabe (and everyone else who feels the need to defend Christmas) thank you! Perhaps it goes without saying, though I can only opine about Christmas based off of my experience with it. I love the idea that such a holiday brings genuine and authentic joy to you and others. I really do! Joy is a good thing and I do not doubt for a moment the honesty of your words. Yet, we cannot dismiss the idea that Christmas is a very painful and haunting season for many as well. If you interpret presents as little boxes of happiness and not capitalist-induced, materialistic examples of compulsory bullshit while representative of nearly everything wrong with our misguided culture, I am genuinely happy for you! As stated in the blog, I am not out to change anyone’s mind on this issue…why would I want to rob anyone of something that brings them such joy? Though there is such a larger issue here as everyone weights in on their Christmas take, and I absolutely love it! As you know, we all look at life through different lenses based on our fundamental values (for an excellent look at the values such as loyalty, fairness, authority, sanctity, etc…check out https://openmindplatform.org/) there are many valid ways to look at any issue, while no one is right or wrong, rather simply seeing recognizing and preferring different parts of the same ideas. My point? It is so beautiful to share differing equally dogmatic opinions and still recognize the validity of the dogmatic opponents position. In my economy, just for people to critically examine cultural norms is never an exercise in futility…it is so important and necessary. So agree or disagree with me…completely, in part or not at all, is fairly irrelevant to me…so long as we can have civil and honest discussions on the matter. I want to thank everyone who is contributing to this process 🙂
My thought process on your blanket statement. Since you’ve decided to address me directly I feel the need to respond, as an avid contrarian, yes, but also out of humble respect to the social contract. Ask yourself this, are my words a weapon or are they discourse? *Hard stop* Please pause for a moment before reading further and digest my honest inquiry…..(prepare yourself, Pathos incoming). Now that said am I to understand this communication medium is a place where we can discuss our points of view? Isnt that the premise of this blog? May we disagree? I only ask because this was my understanding and my observation. This is a place for students to access your personal space to listen and to share our thoughts as well. Allow me a moment to clarify where I’m coming from. I have suffered long the wheels and cogs of beurocracy and still am effected by the weight of its crushing pressure. I’ve been crushed, by administration, and what I see is that my words have touched the administrator in you. I intend no ill will or desire to haunt the trauma of others. I only seek to share my perspective. Is my opinion bias? Of course it is, I’m human, and because rightly who can say otherwise? Intellectually and perhaps untrue I can only imagine that either you have been contacted by the writer above or most likely (because I respect the good in you and I know you are the kind of person who would stand up to injustice), you attempt to defend a perceived attack. I realize that the might of my words while impressive, may be to some ‘too much’ to handle, but you asked me here as a student not a follower. I beseech the mentor of mine in you to spare me of the mundane wrath only that of a ruler bearing nun could impose (this is imagery, not insult). If I have violated some rule spoken or not and am in the wrong please, allow me to send my deepest apologies to you and to all the others that I may have harmed. It was not my intensions. But if this space is safe for discourse and to exercise the grandest muscle of all, our word, then surely it is I who have been assaulted by your good intentions. I would be offended if that were the case and I would implore you to reconsider your intentions. Either foster learning or condemn those who offer another perspective because its an unpopular or uncomfortable one to hear.
Truly yours,
-Gabe
P.S. Critique is appreciated.
I do actually somewhat agree with many of your comments. But as you say, it’s good to look at all angles! Also, like you, I enjoy a little contrary thought. Life is rarely black or white and most often some shade of grey. Christmas is both joyful and stressful for me. I love the gifts but also recognize the capitalist agenda behind them. I love when Christmas is coming, and love when it is done.
I can see we have found common ground. Nothing is absolute, discourse shares perspective, and the holidays can be stressful. My message is if you dont like it then change it. Make it into what makes you happiest and focus your energy in a direction that fosters personal growth. I’ve decided to challenge myself for next christmas. For the next on every gift I present is in someway touched and constructed by my hands. Best wishes to you. I’m happy about this resolution we have come to.
Extremely well stated Karina….thank you!
I first want to start off saying I really wanted to agree with you on this piece. The older I have gotten the more I have strayed away from the Christmas craze, but as I read your blog point for point I found myself defending Christmas. Although I do agree the “true meaning” behind Christmas and the reality that people make it today are worlds apart. It has become this unhealthy consumer craze that adds a lot of pressure to some. On your first point, Christmas is great for the economy though very dangerous for the soul, I agree for the most part. Gift-giving is one of my love languages and I have felt the pressure to want to provide a thoughtful gift to each of my loved ones on this time crunch and it just takes the fun out of something that usually brings me great joy. You lost me on the second point though. I believe the ‘bipolaresque’ feel to Christmas has less to do about the holiday and more to do with a person’s level of self-care and personal boundaries. Life puts enough ups and downs in your path. For example, right now Christmas is a very small blip in my life because I am finishing up a semester, getting ready for some work changes, beginning to plan out my next year. Christmas is a time, just like any other, that can be spent how you choose. Like you said at the end of this blog post, your children grew up an essentially Christmas-less upbringing and they have thrived. So that outcome goes to show that Christmas is what you make it. If you want to take the pressure off in the gifts area or you just don’t believe it’s the focus you want to bring to the holiday make that one of your values and boundaries. I was lucky enough to grow up in a home that placed family time and values ahead of the consumerism culture. Although we where guilt, especially in the teen years with four outspoken daughters in the house, of getting caught up in the material “stuff” that can be expected at Christmas when I look back on the holiday I remember my whole family getting to be together. I remember gifts, but I also remember flying out to Mississippi the night of Christmas to spend the next week working on the houses of those affected by hurricane Katrina and volunteering year after year at a Christmas tree lot to help fund another fiscal year for an organization that services homeless in my community. All the points on Santa, elves and the North Pole is just pretty silly to me and I don’t have any response to add or subtract from your point. I agreed and saw truth in a lot of what you said but, December 25th is just a day and anyone can spend that day however they’d like. To not celebrate something because you don’t like how society as a whole celebrates it is not a valid reason to me personally. I don’t know how my thought will change and evolve over time on the subject, but right now I shall keep the holiday with my family and skip some of the said bullshit others chose to partake in.
Although I do like your stance on christmas and how it’s great for the economy but very dangerous for the soul. I feel like christmas can be very good for the soul, christmas is a time were people try to be selfless and reminds others to be selfless as well. Although people should be selfless all year regardless of a holiday. Christmas helps the poor, there are many children and families that benefit from the toys drives. These toy drive give children and families the essentials in order to survive through the year also brings joy to the ones that are giving gifts. Christmas also promotes family quality time this is because it gives the family members a date for them to meet up and they could plan ahead to schedule. It’s not just Christmas occurring during December there are other holidays such as Hauanka. Globalization has made the act of Christmas familiar all over the world promoting the importance of family. As an example in World War 1, soldiers actually stopped war to celebrate Christmas. In the movie industry shows and movies are even created to promote Christmas and thus creating more jobs and sales in the world. As for myself because of my abrupt childhood were were unable to afford things. However, because Christmas is associated with the love of giving, it made it more enjoyable despite not having presents. Many other families donated the necessary items required for my family to even survive and thus made us very grateful. The act of other people giving led me to adopt similar morals and attitudes as I became older and was able to give to others myself.