Ok, I may not be the first to tell you, or realize, but Christmas
has been completely transformed from a religious holiday to a commercialized
fiasco. Now let us discuss.
The degradation of the day: Well, for one, Christmas is to
celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Yes, I know, some of you are like he
actually was not born on that day and what not, but July 4th is not the actual
independence day of America either. So suck it up. The entire
concept behind gift giving comes in part from the notion that God gave us Jesus
as a gift to his children so that they each may achieve salvation. From
their the real Saint Nicholas would many, many years later give out gifts in
part to celebrate the birth of Jesus. At that point the tradition of gift
giving as a selfless act became a key component of the holiday.
Essentially, Christmas became even greater as it was about selflessly
showing each other love with no expectation of a return gift. However,
Santa got a makeover. For the first time, Santa was commercialized by
Thomas Nast and further by companies like Coca-Cola to sell brands and
products. As time went on, many forgot that the day was to celebrate
Jesus's birth and instead we see numerous images of children being laden with
huge quantities of gifts on television. But is that the right thing to
do. A holiday of selflessness has turned into a holiday of selfishness.
As such, I am concerned about the wellbeing of both the reason for
celebrating and even the original intentions of the original Santa Claus(s) (as
there are many people who contributed to this legend).
Conclusion: I hope that we can separate the
commercial aspect from the true meaning of Christmas. I for one may not
go to Church often, but I believe in God and give thanks for God and Jesus on
every Christmas day. So I write this as a reminder to everyone so that
they will remember the true meaning and value of Christmas.
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