The reality is that Christmas has become an abomination, a twisted side of its previous self. It has become cursed with a commercial plague, hell bent on fulfilling our materialistic greed. Christmas has caught a cold, and like for the common cold, there appears to be no cure, we can only try to treat its symptoms.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas. The plentiful food, the beautiful decorations and the countless presents are all brilliant, but this is where the problem lies, this is where a big part of Christmas has died.
Ironically, the part of Christmas that has died is a birth, as we shouldn’t forget the reason that Christmas even exists: to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. The majority of people in our society celebrate Christmas, Christian or not. Atheists celebrate Christmas, which when you consider it, is ridiculous, as we are celebrating the birth of a saviour that we do not even believe in!
However ludicrous this sounds, what is more ridiculous is how the big businesses use Christmas.
Christmas is now a commercial minefield of overspending and special offers. To the big franchises, Christmas is used as a marketing gimmick to attract customers to come and spend their life savings on gifts, that our loved ones don’t even want or need.
They no longer even try to hide it, they show no shame, as their decorations go up in OCTOBER and their Christmas adverts represent no traditions of Christmas whatsoever.These big businesses are building new and greed based ‘traditions’ of Christmas, to con the consumer into overspending, bankrupting innocent families in order to pay for the CEO’s new house in whichever exotic country he fancies.
Christmas has become a holiday in which we do everything in excess, everything we do on this day we do in greed, consuming our food, drinks or gifts, but what we don’t see is as we do so, we also consume the very foundations Christmas was built on.
Christmas is supposed to be centred around the family coming together, spending valuable time in each other’s company that some families only get once a year. However, the harsh reality is that this is no longer the case, families do still come together, but it doesn’t seem to be about the time together anymore, as this commercialised holiday is now even more gifts based than ever.
Unlike the common cold, it doesn’t appear that Christmas’s commercial cold is going away anytime soon. We must treat the symptoms early, before this seemingly innocent cold, turns into an epidemic.
Luke Hastings 
I love your observations about Christmas and I couldn’t agree more. It’s sad that the true meaning has gotten lost in the flashy lights and overspending, though I often fall in that category myself with gift giving, but it begs the questions for what? What is it all for? What is Christmas about anymore? Is it just about the gifts or does it have a deeper meaning? Society and media guides us so much, that often it feels like we are a bunch of brainless droids just going about as we are told. Christmas should be about family, the remembrance of Jesus’ birth and if need be, gifts and food in moderation. We aren’t a nation or world of moderation, but one can dream right? Great post!
I couldn’t agree more! I’m glad you enjoyed. Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas! Look forward to reading more of your post
Thanks!
You are welcome.
There has been many a time when I have considered these things. The materialism of America has taken over every and any trace of a traditional Christmas. As for the thoughts on Atheism, I couldn’t agree more. Why celebrate a holiday that lifts up the name of a God you don’t believe in? Hypocrisy and utter ignorance at it’s best. This post is well written, and addresses the elephant in the room, that nobody else seems to want to address. Have a very Merry Christmas! 🙂
It is the same in the UK. Christmas traditions are being destroyed by this commercialism. It is a real shame that Christmas is being turned into a commercial holiday and the true message and values that Christmas should be promoting are being blurred. When you think about celebrating Christmas as an atheist it does seem ludicrous, but that is today’s society for you! Thank you for your kind and insightful comments. I hope you too have a Merry Christmas!
I agree that the true meaning of Christmas has been buried, and the pile keeps getting bigger and bigger. And I, too, get frustrated with the “hype” starting in October…and the suppression of Jesus-related Christmas carols, decorations, and songs at our schools and in public. Even the Christmas tree is no longer welcome in many places!
As I read your post, the verse “overcome evil with good” came to mind. Jesus came to seek and save the lost – the greedy, the atheist, the gossip, and yes, even the commercial merchants out to capitalize on any and all holidays…and their CEO’s. For decades we have progressively booted God out of our country, so the way our country is today should not surprise any of us.
Every time we give without expecting in return, love and pray for our enemy, and speak kind words – and as you mentioned, celebrate Christmas with our families and loved ones – we bring the light of our Savior into this self-centered world. If all of us who are called by His name live our lives to honor Him, we’ll make a difference – one day and one life at a time.
Thank you for your post and reminder, and have a very blessed and Merry Christmas!
The true meaning of Christmas has been taken away, it is such a shame. I believe that Christmas time should be about families coming together, but this over-commercialisation means that people are more worried about the gifts they receive than actually spending time with their family. Merry Christmas and thanks again for your comment.
The very existence of “Black Friday” proves your case completely. However, there is more to the decline of Christmas than the “money changers” and their greed. The increase of “political correctness” within our societies is a prime factor in taking Christ out of Christmas.. We don’t want to offend anyone, even at the risk of offending Him..
Nice piece Luke.
I agree. I have seen the videos of Black Friday and it looks awful! People trampling each other just to get the best deals! The sad thing is that this doesn’t bother the big businesses as all they seem to worry about is their profits, not preserving any traditions of Christmas. I agree, you make a very good point about Political Correctness that I hadn’t before considered, it is Political Correctness gone mad! Thanks for your comment.
You don’t see the word Christmas at any of the major chain stores here in the US anymore, it’s always Happy Holidays, so as not to offend the sensitivities of the vocal minority. The farther we get from God the farther we get from humanity. Merry Christmas Luke.
It’s terrible really! When put into perspective it just highlights that political correctness has truly gone mad! Merry Christmas!
Amen.
I don’t want to burst bubbles, but Christmas began as a pagan (celebrating mother earth and her seasons) tradition and Jesus was against these celebrations.
Christ said, “But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matt. 15:9). Christmas is not a command of God—it is a tradition of men.
Christ continued, “Full well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition” (Mark 7:9). Every year, throughout the world, on December 25th, hundreds of millions do just that and keep to the old pagan traditions even bringing in trees!
That’s really interesting, I didn’t know that. Thanks for enlightening me. Have a Merry Christmas!
You are welcome…deception comes in the slightest ways.
As a non-Christian, I still celebrate Christmas. I’m not a believer in Jesus being anything more than just a great man and spiritual leader whose teachings of love, compassion and acceptance I do follow and teach my children. In my family, most of whom are Christians, we celebrate the joy of being together and we have a rule that all gifts must either be homemade, something we have but no longer need, or from a thrift store or flea market. Sometimes we play dirty Santa and it’s a lot of fun. This year we decided to draw names and go for a thoughtful gift. My daughter and I drew my niece and my mother and I gave my mother canned goods that I made myself and a dozen eggs from my backyard chickens. Here is a link to the gift we made for my 3 year old niece: http://earthyinspired.wordpress.com/?p=215&preview=true
The point is, it is about giving from the heart and loving each other on this special day. It’s really not about the gifts.
I couldn’t agree more! What you have done there is brilliant! That is such a great idea, making gifts so much more thoughtful and inventive. I hope you have a Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to you too!
Well said!
You make a lot of good points here, Luke! I agree with you that the focus should be back on the true meaning of Christmas and spending time with family and friends. That is what I have been attempting to do this Christmas season!
Thanks, it certainly should be. I’m glad that at least someone is trying to fight the commercialisation. I hope you have a great Christmas surrounded by your loved ones!
Wonderfully written and it echoes my sentiments exactly. It saddens me that instead of evolving toward a spirit of gratitude and compassion, we instead perpetuate materialism.
Thank you, I couldn’t agree more.
I agree and think we should focus on the Advent season as a way to orient ourselves on the true meaning of Christmas, the Incarnation of Jesus (http://wp.me/p3l76D-5N).
That definitely gives one something to think about. We are so used to seeing the vast amount of Christmas adverts on TV that we don’t even notice the fact that they’re misusing this special day to make more money.
Brilliantly written, well done! Lots of great points made there. 🙂 Merry Christmas!
Exactly! Thank you, have a Merry Christmas!
I think Christmas as we know it today, let’s say 2013 Christmas, is a palette of many colors. As a whole, is it leaning away from the Christian holiday? Yes. Individually, is it leaning away from the Christian holiday? No. Our lives, our holiday traditions and what we choose to deem important is solely up to us to decide for ourselves. Do I agree with how commercialized Christmas has become in 2013? No, but as long as people will show up on Black Friday to save a few $$, there will be a Black Friday for those people to show up and save a few $$. If the rest of us watch (terrible) television, or pay attention to print or any other form of advertising, or really just open our eyes at any given moment of any given day, we are constantly hit over the head with corporate America’s (speaking only domestically) one and only goal: to make $$. We live in a Capitalist society, and although I agree with your well thought-out post, I for one think we are too far gone to see any significant change in our lifetimes.
You make insightful comments. You are completely correct in saying that we as the consumer are feeding the frenzy on Black Friday and in the shops at Christmas time, and as you say, if people want to do that, then it is completely their right to do that, and to celebrate Christmas in any way they deem fit. Plus, as you mention, we may have to accept that this is just the way it is in our Capitalist society, whether we like it or not. Thank you for your comments and I hope you have a Merry Christmas!
Thought-provoking post! There does seem to be something in Americans that makes us want to buy and own and have stuff. Each of us needs to examine our own motivations–what needs are we trying to fill with this acquisitiveness?
Thanks, I couldn’t agree more, there is always that need to get more.
Well said Luke. That’s why I think the best things in life that we could give each other are free – peace, joy & love.
Exactly, Merry Christmas