Has the Time Come to Reject Commercial Christmas?
Roy Thomsitt
October 06, 2011
The onset of winter can be depressing enough for those living in North America and Northern Europe, with the cold and short daylight taking its toll on body and soul; and that is without an additional load of physical, mental and financial stress affecting millions that is now associated with what has now been re-branded as "the holiday season". Of course, Christmas is supposed to be a time for family gatherings, joyous celebration of the birth of Christ, generous giving; a time for expressing love for fellow man and woman.
Sadly the commercial Christmas of 2011 is probably going to be the most stressful of all time for millions of Americans. The Christmas season has become that other load of stress that propels so many people into the New Year in a state of financial hangover, worn out, dreading the next Christmas a year ahead; in the worst cases separation, divorce and another broken family are triggered over the holiday season.
Why did we allow ourselves to be dragged into this commercial pit that exploits human acquisitiveness, greed, hypocrisy and herd mentality? I have been as guilty as any of that in the past. What is possibly worst of all, we fall into the trap of lying to our children about a phantom commercial enterprise called Santa Claus or Father Christmas, as if he were real. Telling the story of Santa Claus is one thing, but letting our children believe it is all true is quite another. Is that really an example we should be proud of? We are able to tell children fairy stories without pretending they are true, so why not Santa Claus?
The reason, of course, is that Santa Claus has become the Head of Christmas Promotions for Christmas Incorporated. The Christ has been taken out of Christmas and replaced by a till; and Jingle Bells has become the ringing of the till, or more likely these days the swishing of the credit card. We have been duped into being sales agents for Santa, but instead of receiving pay for our marketing efforts the money is sucked out of our bank accounts or into our debts.
As much as children like to have fun and receive gifts, I am certain they would appreciate them just as much without the pretense and lies. How can we expect our children to trust us as parents when we live the Santa Claus lie for as long as we think the children will believe it. It always ends up with the child realizing it is all fantasy but not knowing whether to admit they know, just in case they get no more gifts; and the parents try to guess when is the best time to tell the child that, after all, Santa Claus does not exist?
We tend not to give credit to our children for their ability to accept reality as it is. If we read them a Santa Claus story and tell them that it is just a story, then they will accept that as a simple fact. Even if we try to explain that we have no money to buy extra things this Christmas, they are very capable of understanding that too. It is all too often the parents who have succumbed to peer pressure and a lifetime of propaganda pumped out by corporate retail America; it is only parents who can reject commercial Christmas in partnership with their children.
One thing that I have appreciated from living in a "poor" country for a decade is just how much those of the materialistic Western world can learn from the poorest about giving and generosity. It was for that reason I was inspired to write a Santa story called "Why Won't Santa Visit Visit Poor Children?". I sometimes refer to the story as an antidote Christmas story, because of it's reminder of what giving from the heart is really about.
May your Christmas be filled with love and peace.
Sadly the commercial Christmas of 2011 is probably going to be the most stressful of all time for millions of Americans. The Christmas season has become that other load of stress that propels so many people into the New Year in a state of financial hangover, worn out, dreading the next Christmas a year ahead; in the worst cases separation, divorce and another broken family are triggered over the holiday season.
Why did we allow ourselves to be dragged into this commercial pit that exploits human acquisitiveness, greed, hypocrisy and herd mentality? I have been as guilty as any of that in the past. What is possibly worst of all, we fall into the trap of lying to our children about a phantom commercial enterprise called Santa Claus or Father Christmas, as if he were real. Telling the story of Santa Claus is one thing, but letting our children believe it is all true is quite another. Is that really an example we should be proud of? We are able to tell children fairy stories without pretending they are true, so why not Santa Claus?
The reason, of course, is that Santa Claus has become the Head of Christmas Promotions for Christmas Incorporated. The Christ has been taken out of Christmas and replaced by a till; and Jingle Bells has become the ringing of the till, or more likely these days the swishing of the credit card. We have been duped into being sales agents for Santa, but instead of receiving pay for our marketing efforts the money is sucked out of our bank accounts or into our debts.
As much as children like to have fun and receive gifts, I am certain they would appreciate them just as much without the pretense and lies. How can we expect our children to trust us as parents when we live the Santa Claus lie for as long as we think the children will believe it. It always ends up with the child realizing it is all fantasy but not knowing whether to admit they know, just in case they get no more gifts; and the parents try to guess when is the best time to tell the child that, after all, Santa Claus does not exist?
We tend not to give credit to our children for their ability to accept reality as it is. If we read them a Santa Claus story and tell them that it is just a story, then they will accept that as a simple fact. Even if we try to explain that we have no money to buy extra things this Christmas, they are very capable of understanding that too. It is all too often the parents who have succumbed to peer pressure and a lifetime of propaganda pumped out by corporate retail America; it is only parents who can reject commercial Christmas in partnership with their children.
One thing that I have appreciated from living in a "poor" country for a decade is just how much those of the materialistic Western world can learn from the poorest about giving and generosity. It was for that reason I was inspired to write a Santa story called "Why Won't Santa Visit Visit Poor Children?". I sometimes refer to the story as an antidote Christmas story, because of it's reminder of what giving from the heart is really about.
May your Christmas be filled with love and peace.
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