Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Are we Atroctisizing Christmas?
It seems that when Christmas rolls around it means something new. A couple years back it was recognizing the contrasting meaning of Christ behind the intoxication of marketing. This year is somewhat similar thus far. I'm finding myself asking if calling this whole thing "Christmas" is really an atrocity to the name of "Christ". I know that Christmas, like probably half of the other holidays on our "Christian" calendars, is pagan in orgin and -though redeemed for Christian celebration-is still fused with various other cultural elements. I have no problem with many of these elements being there. I am a faller for culture and I think that there are many backgrounds that can contribute to the cultural richness of the season. I also recognize that to the business world (again, like most any other such holiday) the Holiday Season is an opportunity to market it up. It could be partially for this adaptation and partially for the cultural diversity that we tend to stick the name "Christmas" to all of it generally. Some people object to creating a substitute for the name (i.e. "Happy Hollidays!") but note this: if people don't celebrate my reason for the season then why should I put my name upon it. Is it out of a desperate sense that I am loosing what I once claimed as my own?
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4 comments:
I agree to a degree. I think I might have had similar thoughts in my mind. Christmas now isn't how it sould be, as in it went and made something that is it's own. It might have started pagan, then gone Christian, but now it's become a holiday of it's own, the origin, or Christian origin, nothing more than a story to aid the new Christmas.
But, if we decide that we are celebrating Jesus' birth, and not stuff, or presents, or whatever the new, remodelled holiday celebrates, then it is what you make it. Hee hee. does that even apply? Oh well.
you think too much
yea. Sure it applies (i think).
If we are celebrating Christ's birth then we can call it Christmas.
If we are celebrating presents and tinsel we can call it "mas" or "holliday spirit" or "presents and tinsel".
or we can make up reasons for presents and tinsel that "represent" aspects of the Christmas story...
But even as i'm writing this I just recalled a quote which i quite respect that almost disvalues the point I'm about to make. The quote goes somthing like "don't throw away the Christmas tree. keep it, and then build a church around it." That might have been St. Patrick's philosophy that is being spoken of.
I like that. Why distroy culture when it can be redeemed?!!
I guess my point (now even more self -dissasembled) is that I could stand to take note of what we claim in the name of Christ that isn't of him at all. But please read my next blog and see what you think.
The problem with Christmas is that there is no Biblical basis for celebrating it. None, whatsoever. My belief now is that the solitary reason that Christmas exists at all is because the political church of the middle ages (or whenever they hijacked the pagan celebration) wanted to wipe out their competition. There really were no meaningful thoughts of Christ in it at all.
The fact that Christmas is treated by the Church as pretty well the holiest day of the year is somewhat disturbing to me, when one considers the utter lack of any Biblical reason behind it. In fact, from my understanding the only "holiday" that Christians have ever been commanded to observe is the passover, which we generally DO NOT celebrate.
It makes me wonder what else about "Christianity" (Or, as I prefer to call the religion that is generally referred to as Christianity, Christianism) is based on absolutely nothing Biblical, and what other absolutely Biblical things are being left out.
Lisa and I decided a few years back that we were really disgusted with all of the gift buying and everything, because 99% of the stuff you get at Christmas is complete crap anyway, that you don't even remember getting a year later, while opening the next round of garbage.
We still get presents for people, but only if we really feel it is something worthwhile, otherwise we try to do more personal things.. one year we did a whole lot of baking and gave people tins of homemade cookies and other things. Last year made ice-wine and gave that to people. This year we've been a little disorganized, but we are still trying hard to stick to the "only if it is meaningful" rule.
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