I heard a rather interesting argument over the "holiday or holy day" debate. One of the pundits said that the phrasing is irrelevant. We forget that this time of year is about love and peace and family.
Now, I may not be as idealistic as him, but I do think that both terms are perfectly ok. In my mind, and no doubt some Christians will be offended by this, Christmas has split into two holidays. There is the one holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus and then there is the second. The second holiday is akin to valentines day: Americanized yet fun on the surface. The problem with holidays like this is that, when you get down to it, they are shallow, materialistic and culturally depriving.
I think that the fact that our loving holiday is marked by sales percentages and material giving says a lot about our society and where we are today. Basically, I couldn't care less about a Christmas tree at Macy's, I do, however, care about Macy's hawking their presents and telling us that they will make us happy.
" The problem with holidays like this is that, when you get down to it, they are shallow, materialistic and culturally depriving."
ReplyDeleteIn reference to one of your DOAC Religion and the USA 2 blog, isn't the first type of holiday (jesus-celebration) just a celebration of religious bigotry, and perhaps equally depriving of more productive things in society...? (I'm kind of joking.)
Although the religious aspect of Christmas (ie archeic rituals) is rather socially depriving, I think that there are lots of good things that can come from religious cultures. I take my jewish religion as a cultural part of who I am. Logically thinking, the torah makes little sense to me. I do, however, enjoy working at sunday school and continuing the thousand year long traditions of my culture.
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