Photo Essay

The Tyrannies of Christmas

By: Mariah Lynn Parker

Christmas is an extremely tiresome and stressful time of year. There is the Christmas parties, the presents, the lights, the family, etc., but when and why did Christmas become such a stressful time of year? Christmas hasn’t always been about the glitz and glamour; it used to be much simpler. People forget that Christmas is a celebration of Jesus Christ’s birth. This important aspect has been pushed to the back of everyone’s mind during the holidays.

A major part of Christmas is the almighty Santa Claus that brings little children gifts on Christmas Eve. But how does Santa Claus connect to Christianity and the birth of Jesus Christ? Surprisingly, Santa Claus is not some mythical creature. He was an actual living and breathing human being. Santa Claus’s real name is Saint Nicholas. Saint Nicholas was born in Patara and later moved to Myra (modern Turkey), where he was elected bishop. During the era that Saint Nicholas lived in, a young woman had to had a dowry before she could be married. It’s a custom we have eliminated in our culture because we believe in the equality of women and men. Saint Nicholas wanted to help a poor nobleman with three daughters, but he wanted to do it anonymously. He did not want to be praised for his generosity. He just wanted to give for the pure joy of giving. Thus, three bags filled with gold were thrown through the nobleman’s window. However, the nobleman figured out who was the generous gift giver and any anonymous gifts were attributed to Saint Nicholas. This man was pure and good, yet he had to spend several years in prison because of his faith. Many prisoners were converted to the Christian faith by his witness. The stories of Saint Nick didn’t hit America until it was spread by the Dutch settlers.

 Santa Claus has changed dramatically through the years. Originally, he was dressed in his traditional Bishop’s robe. It wasn’t until the 20^th century that he began to be dressed in the red and white outfit in which he appears to us now in the person of his many “helpers”. In 1874, Santa Clause only had eight reindeer that pulled his sleigh until “Rudolf, the Red Nosed Reindeer” was written.

Even though Jesus is supposed to be the main star of the Christmas season, he is mostly outshined by Saint Nicholas. This is because Saint Nicholas has become the symbol of Christmas because he conveys a spirit of generosity and love, and as we remember him we too give gifts. Santa Claus has become a healthy part of the Christmas holiday because it persuades us to give, yet this has also become corrupted over the years.

Instead of giving to the poor and needy that we should during the Christmas season, we instead become greedy. The rich by more and more gifts for their family and friends and the poor are stuck with the bare minimum that churches give them. The churches donating to the poor connects the true background of what Christmas should be for everyone, to what it has become. This greediness can be shown primarily on Black Friday. Black Friday is the kickoff of the holiday season with extreme discounts and deals in stores on the day after Thanksgiving. For many people, this is a time to get serous Christmas shopping done, even before Thanksgiving Day is over. Black Friday is a major shopping holiday, but only in America. The term “Black Friday” was coined in the 1960’s to mark the kickoff to the Christmas shopping season. “Black” refers to stores moving from “red” to the “black”, back when accounting records were kept by hand and red ink indicated loss, and black a profit. Ever since the start of the modern Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924, the Friday after Thanksgiving has been known as the unofficial start to a bustling holiday shopping season. But why did this shopping frenzy become so popular and accepted? As retailers began to realize they could draw big crowds by discounting prices, Black Friday became the day to shop, even better than those last minute Christmas sales. Some retailers put their items up for sale on the morning of Thanksgiving, or email for sale online specials to consumers days or weeks before the actual event. The most shopped for items are electronics and popular toys.  

Why is an event of running around and spending money on material items become so important? When did Christmas get so far away from Jesus? Yes, people do still go to church on Christmas and pray before Christmas dinner, but this holiday has gotten so far away from what it should be.

Another absurd tradition is Christmas lights. Christmas lights are a custom that goes back to the use of candles to decorate the Christmas tree in upper-class homes in 18^th-century Germany. Christmas tress displayed publicly and illuminated with electric lights became popular in the early 20^th century. By the mid-20^th century, it became customary to display strings of electric lights along streets and buildings. Another example of something that has nothing to do with Jesus.

Yes, all these little traditions are fun and sometimes joyful, but they are so far from the point. The United States is the worst ones that corrupted Jesus’ birthday. We use this time of the season as an excuse to buy so many things that we go into debt, to gorge ourselves and convince ourselves that we will be healthier when the new year comes around, and we tell ourselves that we don’t need to go to church but twice a year for Easter and Christmas. There should be no reason that someone feels like they are forced to go to church. The fact is that not all the people that celebrate Christmas even believe that Jesus or God exists. They do it purely for the sweets and presents. This is one of the holidays that should have never gotten corrupted in the first place.

Christmas is the celebration of Jesus’ birth, the one who saved us from our own sins. Yet the modern American has become so far attached from this fact. The people that don’t go to church or ever pray all year celebrate it without thinking about the true meaning of these glorious festivities. When did it change so much that instead of telling our children to be good because God is watching over us, to be good because if you aren't Santa won’t bring you gifts? When did our society become so selfish and materialistic that simply praying and living in the light of God wasn't enough to be good, but the fact that there is a possibly of not getting some temporary materialistic object is more heartbreaking. There needs to be a change. Jesus needs to be the main event, not Saint Nick, not Black Friday, not Christmas lights. Christmas should be a holiday of joy and love, not of debt and stress. If we take in God and celebrate the one person that saved all of our sins, maybe Christmas will be a little more holy and good and less stressful.