“Scrub the toilets, lick the Christmas card envelopes, frost these cookies, vacuum around that tree! Don’t forget your grandmother and aunt are arriving tomorrow and everything must sparkle….”
Hijacked from the ancient Paganism and put into overdrive, Christmas has been reduced to a commercialized, stressful ritual. Originally created to celebrate gods and disguised to convert Pagans into Christians, today’s Christmas demands presents, money, and perfection. The extreme need-to-impress and greed of the human race has made Christmas the worst holiday ever invented.
During every Christmas holiday people ask, “What did you get?” If the holiday supposedly revolves around giving and family values, why does the word “get” surface? Today people only seem to care about receiving. In November, almost two months before the actual holiday, commercialism fills the United States. Store managers hire more employees while tinsel, pine boughs, and signs advertising new products engulf entire cities. Commercials urging people to begin Christmas shopping await consumers on television screens, radio waves, and bus stops. Monotonous tunes singing about snowmen, Santa Claus, and merry Christmases crowd out news programs and decent music. Separation of church and state becomes nonexistent as Government officials use tax money to buy and lavishly decorate Christmas trees. Despite failing governments, recessions, and extreme poverty, the U.S. flaunts fortune and good times to the rest of the world. Adults of our society teach this conceited attitude to our children. This season many of my friends asked their parents for extremely expensive gifts including: PlayStation 3s, iPods, and blackberries. These family members have an emotional need to receive. When parents cannot afford luxurious gifts, friendly faces bear unnecessary pressures to spend, ironically hurting the people that care most.
Over-spending and pressuring of family members prove people are irrational during Christmas. During the holiday season, people spend ample amounts of money thus increasing credit card debt they must deal with later. According to the American Consumer Credit Council, the average American spent $935 on Christmas last year (2009) and bore an average credit card debt of $8,562. People sitting on a mountain of debt still feel the unnecessary pressures to spend. Although people have a need to buy, giving someone a gift provides less marginal value than if that person were to buy something for themselves; few people pick the perfect gift consequently leading to useless junk around the house no one wants or needs. Not only do Christmas-celebrators have irrational spending behavior they also have irrational decorating techniques. These hostages of yuletide kill, drag home, and bountifully decorate an innocent evergreen tree. After a few weeks the tree dries out and creates a dangerous fire hazard. According to the U.S. fire administration, Christmas trees account for 200 fires annually, resulting in deaths, injuries, and more than $6 million in property damage.
Dangerous, costly Christmas holidays attempt to disguise themselves as a time to celebrate the birth of baby Jesus. However, Christmas originated from ancient pagan traditions. Created by Pope Julius I, in the 4th century A.D., Christmas was an attempt to replace Pagan ritual Winter Solstice, or Return of the Sun (HistoryChannel.com). The holiday was meant to convert Pagans into Christians. An excellent idea -- however, Pagans continued to practice their ancient traditions during Christmas. Because the Pagans did not want to give up their religion; the earliest Christmas holidays involved drinking, sexual indulgence and singing naked in the streets (a precursor of modern caroling). Today we continue to celebrate these pagan traditions through caroling, bringing trees into our homes, and drinking alcoholic eggnog.
Originally a Pagan holiday converted to Christianity, today’s Christmas focuses on receiving rather than giving. Rooted in Paganism, the true Christmas spirit symbolizes decorating dead trees, over-spending, and lies from the Christian church. Despite fading family traditions and nonexistent goodwill to men, people still begin the monotonous songs November first. Next time the Winter Solstice rolls around, imagine Jesus perched atop a cloud, pointing his finger and laughing at the irrational behavior of the yuletide-hostages.