Is Christmas too commercialized?

[rocklobster]

Every year, it seems like the stores push Christmas earlier and earlier into November. Does it seem like Christmas is too commercial to you folks too?

[EricTheFred]

November? I' ve already seen Christmas stuff up in many different stores, and my calendar still says October!

[Alexander]

Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes and yes.

I've started seeing some stores sell Christmas things in September now actually. I can't wait until we start seeing it in July. XD

[Blitzkrieg1701]

If I wasn't such a total junkie for Christmas related things, I would agree.

...but I AM, so I really can't help getting excited no matter how shallow or premature it is.

[AsianBlossom]

How 'bout those "Christmas in July" television specials?

But yeah, they need to cut back. Not all the way, but quite a bit.

But Christmas, besides Easter, is still my favorite holiday.

[HiddenWoodchuck]

Well, sort of... but I don't really mind. I'm a Christmas nut, so it's no biggie to me. I think I am most worried about people forgetting what Christmas is really about, but it has been that way forever. I'm just glad they still call it "Christ"mas at some places...

[bigsleepj]

Yes, yes, yes, yes!

[Roy Mustang]

Ask yourself this, are all hoildays too commercialized.

I think we all could say yes.


I love Christmas and I will not let the real meaning of Christmas be taken away from it being too commercialized.

[color="Red"][font="Book Antiqua"]Col. Roy Mustang[/font][/color]

[rii namuras]

[color="Red"](I quite honestly don't care. If I know what it's really about, what does it matter if stores start selling related things a few months before hand?)

(And even so, it Christmas really isn't *that* far away. But maybe I'm just too much like an old person in my perception of time.)[/color]

[beau99]

To be technical, Christmas has been commercialized ever since "Santa Claus" was invented.

[mathgrant]

To be technical, Christmas has been commercialized ever since "Santa Claus" was invented.

. . . "Invented"?

. . . *looks up*

I'VE BEEN DECEIVED! D:

GOD WAS PROBABLY INVENTED, TOO! THIS FORUM IS A FAKE! :O

. . . not really, but that was one argument I read against teaching kids about Santa. Of course, every parent should make that decision individually. But I'm off-topic. D:

[termyt]

It's the most wonderful time of the year. I got burned out on it for a few years until I realized something important. It doesn't matter what other people do. I am just glad that Christmas continues to be a major holiday and the whole world celebrates it with me.

You barely know when Easter has come and gone these days. Be happy Christmas is still a big deal.

It is impossible for anything to be too commercial. It just is. If you feel it is too commercialized, then ask your self this: "Why am I letting other people dictate to me my own feelings?" and "Why am I trying to dictate other people's feelings/actions?" If you don't want to participate until December 24th, you don't have to, but that's no reason why anyone else who wants to start celebrating in February should be restrained from doing so.

Selling Christmas stuff in July could be great - especially if they were discounted nicely so those who shop early could also save money on decorations and what-not.

My bottom line is this: Christmas is the celebration of the birth of my savior. It can’t come soon enough nor last long enough. The event is that important and that wonderful to me.

[Taran]

I haven't seen any Christmas stuff out in any of the stores around here.

but anyway I really don't care

[RobinSena]

Look, Charlie, let's face it. We all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket. It's run by a big eastern syndicate, you know.
-Lucy Van Pelt


Roy Mustang's post pretty much sums up my opinion. =)

[Slater]

Eh, I don't think it's something to worry about. Businesses are entitled to sell and to advertise, people are allowed to buy what they want. There's a price to pay on both sides, but most people walk off happy for it.

I don't think the commercialization is a problem; it shouldn't come as a hinderence to our own enjoyment of the holiday, or obstruct its true meaning. Just... like my guitar teacher once said, "Be in the world, but not of it."

[EricTheFred]

When I was a kid, Christmas, Thanksgiving and Halloween all had a magical feel to them that my kids clearly don't experience. Bear in mind that I'm talking about forty years ago.

To me, it isn't even vaguely the same way it used to be. Children and adults enjoyed these holidays to an extent I don't see anyone enjoying them any more. I blame the stores. Christmas music playing on speakers two months before December 25 means people are tired of hearing it by the time it is supposed to be played, and it completely distracts from the other two holidays, shouldering them aside like a bully.

I know Halloween isn't exactly a Christian holiday (actually, in my denomination October 31st is a holiday, but we call it "Reformation Day!" You know, the day Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenburg? Eh... never mind.) but it used to be a really cool day for the kids. That got lost somewhere. Thanksgiving used to mean more than just Turkey and Football, to my mind. But the most damaged is Christmas itself. I haven't personally enjoyed Christmas for many, many years. It is easily the most stressful, least enjoyable time of the year for me, because I'm up to my ears at my job with end-of-the-year rush work while simultaneously trying to deal with school, church and home stuff. I look forward to New Years, frankly.

[Nate]

Meh. Doesn't matter to me. It is what it is.

[uc pseudonym]

Well, it is ideologically bothersome that the celebration of the incarnation is rampant with mindless consumerism and wastefulness.

[Fish and Chips]

Wait, what, a Christmas thread? It's still October, people.

Seesh, you guys.

[EricTheFred]

Wait, what, a Christmas thread? It's still October, people.

Seesh, you guys.

I knew the irony would draw a comment or two eventually!

[Jack Bond]

They can start Christmas shopping the day after the previous Christmas for all I care.

[termyt]

Well, it is ideologically bothersome that the celebration of the incarnation is rampant with mindless consumerism and wastefulness.

How is that different from the other 364 days of the year? We may not celebrate the incarnation specifically on the other days, but matters of the spiritual are daily drowned out by the matters of the physical. Every day is a sacred and wonderful gift.

Sure, Christmas has a lot more commercial than any other day of the year. It may be more commercialized than all the other days combined. But even in this ultra-heightened sense of buy-buy-buy-give-give-give-get-get-get mentality, the spiritual side of the day shines through to many people who think little of the spiritual side of anything.

There’s practically nothing commercial about, say, June 3rd, but that day’s spiritual side is even harder to find.

So I say, "Rejoice!" Rejoice that no amount of materialism drives out what this day truly means, even in the hearts of many non-believers.

[mitsuki lover]

You can't even mention Christ and Christmas in the same breath these days without someone wanting to sue you.

Santa Claus was brought to us by a combination of the English Father Christmas and the Dutch Sinterklaus.The Dutch had the whole idea of putting coals in bad little boys and girls stockings.

There of course buisnesses that run Christmas 365 all the time.For example my sister lives in North Pole,Alaska where they have Santa Claus House.

Speaking of which we have to get our Christmas shopping done soon before the snow and crowds.

[uc pseudonym]

How is that different from the other 364 days of the year? We may not celebrate the incarnation specifically on the other days, but matters of the spiritual are daily drowned out by the matters of the physical. Every day is a sacred and wonderful gift.

I didn't say all the other days weren't ideologically bothersome as well, did I? However, as a symbolic celebration, Christmas is an excellent time for evaluating how materialism overwhelms the spiritual in our culture. Certainly, the holiday may receive a massive amount of attention, but I consider little of that attention good. Jesus chased the money-lenders out of the temple not because they prevented it from being the place of God, but because those actions profaned the spirit of the location.

Ultimately, our difference of opinion may come down to this:

But even in this ultra-heightened sense of buy-buy-buy-give-give-give-get-get-get mentality, the spiritual side of the day shines through to many people who think little of the spiritual side of anything.

I'm a lot more cynical, I guess. You are absolutely correct about the commercialization having no power over how I celebrate Christmas, but that doesn't mean it has no power over the way the holiday is celebrated by many.

[creed4]

:shake:

You can't even mention Christ and Christmas in the same breath these days without someone wanting to sue you.

Santa Claus was brought to us by a combination of the English Father Christmas and the Dutch Sinterklaus.The Dutch had the whole idea of putting coals in bad little boys and girls stockings.

There of course buisnesses that run Christmas 365 all the time.For example my sister lives in North Pole,Alaska where they have Santa Claus House.

Speaking of which we have to get our Christmas shopping done soon before the snow and crowds.

While yes it is getting to commercial I think not even saying Christmas is the ultimate insult

[termyt]

I didn't say all the other days weren't ideologically bothersome as well, did I?

LOL! I consider myself to be a recovering cynic, but that, my friend, is a wonderful, beautiful example of cynicism of purest form! Well said! You are correct, as well - I think we differ mostly in point of view. The commercialism as well as the spiritualism of the day both provide insight into our culture and object lessons for how to make each one of us as individuals (and thus the world around us) better.

You can't even mention Christ and Christmas in the same breath these days without someone wanting to sue you.

This is further proof to my point, I think. The fact that even with the rampant commercialization, those who hate the spiritual still feel the need to launch further attacks against it shows that enough of the spiritual side of the day is coming through to make them uncomfortable.

[Smile:)]

I think it's over commercialized!
But sadly a part of me LOVES it! I love all the christmas cartoons on tv, I love that my family watch them together, I love the tree, I love the ligths, I love the memoreys of past christmas spent with family, I even love all the christmas stuff in the stores.
What I don't like is that so many get lost in Santa Calus, what gifes their going to get, or even give for that matter, and the consumerism that they forget it should be a celebration of the borth of Jesus, but like mitsuki lover said you get sued for saying them in the same breath, I find that to be very sad.
Over all I'd say there are more bad things about an over commercialized christmas, then good, even if I like some of the good.

[mitsuki lover]

I was watching the special on Charles M. Schultz on American Masters on
Monday on PBS and they said in it that he had to fight CBS tooth and nail
to keep any mention of the reason for Christmas in it.They thought any mention of Christ,even the little part in the reading of the nativity story in Luke's Gospel that Linus reads,would be bad for ratings.Fortunately CBS was wrong.

[righteous_slave]

Yes, it is far too commercialized, not so much because of the season beginning earlier and earlier each year, but because of the removal of the reason for the season. There are tons of Christmas specials, but how many mention Jesus? Millions of Christmas commercials, but how many mention Jesus? Lots of happy holidays, vacations, events, school programs, but how many...

Anyway that's my two bits. If there's no Jesus, there's no Christmas, so whether a person believes in Him or likes it, they should at least acknowledge the source material.

[SnEptUne]

It is too commercialized, but that doesn't mean I don't like those stores because I like Christmas. I however, found it very distressing that parents would outright lie to their own kids about Santa Claus. I don't think lying to a kid is any better than tricking an adult.