'Splain this to me,,,,"

[Working Man]

We didn't see many "Christmas sales" this year.. The major vendors such as the department stores, appliance discounters, etc.. all had Holiday Sales... But, now that Christmas is gone (good riddence*), we have all kinds of "after Christmas sales",,

Christmas is back on the banners and fliers now that it is time to unload junk that was too pricy before Christmas..

I think even Andy Rooney was aware this was going to happen. Doesn't anyone else care that the true meaning of the holiday is gone???

Only in America I guess.

*If the day is only recognized as a way to bolster the economy, or line some rich bitches pockets,, then I don't need it or want it.

 

[dilloduck]

We didn't see many "Christmas sales" this year.. The major vendors such as the department stores, appliance discounters, etc.. all had Holiday Sales... But, now that Christmas is gone (good riddence*), we have all kinds of "after Christmas sales",,

Christmas is back on the banners and fliers now that it is time to unload junk that was too pricy before Christmas..

I think even Andy Rooney was aware this was going to happen. Doesn't anyone else care that the true meaning of the holiday is gone???

Only in America I guess.

*If the day is only recognized as a way to bolster the economy, or line some rich bitches pockets,, then I don't need it or want it.

The churches were full though and Christians around the country had personal celebrations that reflected to true meaning of the holiday.--Don't give up dude--Christmas was victorious and still exists in spite of powerful efforts to stop it. The TRUE meaning is more powerful than anything!

 

[rtwngAvngr]

Working man, you need to get your lips off that Rooney knob. His idiotic "insights" do not define reality.

 

[Said1]

We didn't see many "Christmas sales" this year.. The major vendors such as the department stores, appliance discounters, etc.. all had Holiday Sales... But, now that Christmas is gone (good riddence*), we have all kinds of "after Christmas sales",,

Christmas is back on the banners and fliers now that it is time to unload junk that was too pricy before Christmas..

You're just noticing this now?? Christmas isn't Christmas without boxing day sales. Duh.

 

[dilloduck]

You're just noticing this now?? Christmas isn't Christmas without boxing day sales. Duh.

oh ya---happy boxing day!


I mean happy boCHRISTing day-------subtle ain't I :tng:

 

[Said1]

oh ya---happy boxing day!


I mean happy boCHRISTing day-------subtle ain't I :tng:

I'm waiting for my mother to pick up my daughter, then I'm gonna hit the mall! Yeah me!

 

[dilloduck]

I'm waiting for my mother to pick up my daughter, then I'm gonna hit the mall! Yeah me!

Wear your body armor !!

 

[Said1]

Wear your body armor !!

I think we hijacked workingman's thread again!

 

[dilloduck]

I think we hijacked workingman's thread again!

What do you mean "WE" white woman ?? :tng:

 

[Said1]

What do you mean "WE" white woman ?? :tng:

 

[dilloduck]

Smart ass :cof:

 

[Zhukov]

In defense of the 'commercialism' of Christmas
Dennis Prager

December 21, 2004

Every year, as predictable as the arrival of the winter solstice is the arrival of criticism about the commercialization of Christmas. We are told by well meaning killjoys that Christ and all religious meaning have been taken out of Christmas because Americans spend too much money on Christmas gifts and because stores have rendered Christmas little more than a great time to sell product.

If there is a better example of people complaining about something that is overwhelmingly good and wholesome, I would like to know what it is.

During one period of time each year, the great majority of Americans feel obligated to buy presents for their friends and relatives. Imagine that! What an awful thing!

This is beyond silly. It is actually harmful.

Here is the key rule governing criticizing: Before you criticize something, imagine its alternative.

Imagine that Christmas came around, the stores put up no Christmas decorations and no one bought gifts. Would we be a better society? To me, and I suspect to most Americans, the question is rhetorical. Of course we wouldn't. Why on earth would we be a better society if Thanksgiving to Christmas were no different than a month in October or August? Not having a special time of year such as Christmas time, a major part of which is gift buying, would be an incalculable loss to society.

Do some people spend too much money? Yes. But the solution to the problem of some people spending too much on Christmas presents is encouraging those people to spend less, not discouraging everyone from buying Christmas presents.

Spending one's money on presents for people is one of the nicest traditions in society and ought to be cultivated, not discouraged. People who don't buy Christmas or Chanukah gifts aren't particularly noble; they are usually particularly cheap. Or naive: When I raised this topic on my radio show, one woman called in to tell me that she doesn't spend any money on Christmas gifts for her grandchildren, instead she sends them poems she wrote. If there is a grandchild in the world who would rather receive Grandma's poetry than a tangible gift, I want to meet that child.

Furthermore, how much is "too much"? The term is so subjective as to border on meaningless. If one goes into such debt that he seriously depletes his savings or risks bankruptcy, one has spent too much. Otherwise, the term is simply an act of judgmentalism that may reflect more on the judge's generosity of spirit than on the person judged.

Another objection is that some people spend out of obligation, not out of purely loving or altruistic motives. Wow. This is a real eye-opener. You mean people sometimes do altruistic things out of a mixture of motives?

If we were to encourage only altruistic acts that come from pure love, few people would have children or get married, almost no gifts would ever be exchanged, and goodness would essentially come to an end. It is none of my business to judge why other people give Christmas gifts. It is only for me to appreciate the fact that they do.

And what about children? Various religious commentators warn that children will lose the real meaning of Christmas or Chanukah if they associate it with getting gifts. This is another corker. What child who waited all year and then all Christmas Eve to see what he or she would get for Christmas thought primarily about the theological implications of Christmas? Isn't it enough that some of the happiest memories of a Christian child are associated with one of the two holiest days of the Christian calendar? Would it really religiously benefit a child to receive no gifts on the day celebrating the birth of Jesus?

I received the biggest gifts of my childhood on Passover. My grandfather gave me expensive gifts (like a portable typewriter) for "stealing the afikoman," a ritual of sheer bribery devised by the rabbis many centuries ago to keep children awake as long as possible through the lengthy Passover Seder. Believe me, I thought a lot more about what I would get if I stole Papa's "afikoman," the matzo set aside for dessert, than I did about God liberating the Jewish slaves. But the "commercialism" of the Seder eventually worked, and I came to love Passover and believe that God took the Jews out of Egypt.

Finally, dear critics, Christmas is greatly honored by all the gift giving. Would you rather see gift giving associated with Halloween, for example? Wouldn't that signify that this society had now become overwhelmingly secular, if not pagan?

When you buy Christmas gifts, you bring joy to the recipients, you feel good about giving, you have spent time thinking about what the recipients would like, you keep many businesses alive, and most of all, you honor the holiday. It is incredible that all this is not obvious to everyone who cares about Christmas and about American society.

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/dennisprager/dp20041221.shtml

 

[Bonnie]

The churches were full though and Christians around the country had personal celebrations that reflected to true meaning of the holiday.--Don't give up dude--Christmas was victorious and still exists in spite of powerful efforts to stop it. The TRUE meaning is more powerful than anything!

Absolutely right Dillo!! Standing room only at my church during midnight mass, and the church holds at least 6,000

 

[KarlMarx]

The real history of Christmas.....

If you think that Christmas has always been candy canes, Santa and Christmas trees.... you are dead wrong!

Christmas as we now know it has only been in existence for about 200 years. Before that, Christmas was celebrated more like Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Technically Mardi Gras is a religious observance too, but as anyone that has been to New Orleans during Mardi Gras can tell you.... it certainly isn't anything you'd want to bring kids to.

OK.... so where did Christmas come from? First off... no one really knows the actual birth date of Christ. We know that he was born about 6 BC or thereabouts, but we do not know what month or what day he was actually born on. The reason that Christ's birth is 6 BC has to do with a mistake made by a certain monk, Dionysius in the 6th century who was tasked with calculating the year of the birth of Christ. He made a miscalculation of 4 to 6 years, so that the year that we call 1 AD actually was 4-6 years after the birth of Christ.

So why do we celebrte Christmas in December? Well.... the Christian Church started in the Roman Empire, right? And the first Christians were mostly Romans, right? And the calendar that we use today is based on the Roman one, right? Well... the Romans celebrated a feast at the end of their year called "Saturnalia" in honor of their god of time. It was pretty much like our Christmas with gift giving, bushes with candles, and feasting. At the end of the feast, the Romans made resolutions to start their new year (sound familiar?). Once the Roman Empire became Christianized, the Church decided to substitute Christmas for Saturnalia.

Unfortunately, the spirit of Christmas was lost due to the feasting aspect of the holiday. In fact, many people used the holiday as an excuse for getting drunk and partying. In fact, things got so out of hand in some parts, that the celebration of Christmas was banned under the law!

Before the Industrial revolution started in England, people celebrated several feasts during the winter months, among them, Martinmas (Nov 11), St. Nicholas Day (Dec 6), Candlemas (sometime in February), and Epiphany (first Sunday in January). With the advent of the Industrial Revolution at the end of the 18th century and beginning of the 19th century, many people did not have the time to celebrate many of these holidays, since many people were transitioning from farming to working in factories. So many of these feasts were soon abandoned. However, there were some who thought that there should be one holiday to celebrate and it should be a family holiday. That holiday was Christmas.

Furthermore, the holiday's focus was to be on children and giving gifts and giving to charity, there was a commercial aspect to the holiday. Since gift giving meant gift buying, merchants started to endorse the holiday and its celebration. Well, then came "A Christmas Carol" and eventually Prince Albert introduced the Christmas Tree and the idea of Santa Claus from his native land of Germany.... well, as they say, the rest is history.

So, actually, commercialism has always been a part of the modern day celebration of Christmas as well as a large upswing in charitable giving.

 

[MtnBiker]

Nice post Karl!

So, actually, commercialism has always been a part of the modern day celebration of Christmas as well as a large upswing in charitable giving.

But saying this takes away from demonizing evil, corupt, greed driven, power hunger corporations.

 

[KarlMarx]

Nice post Karl!



But saying this takes away from demonizing evil, corupt, greed driven, power hunger corporations.

Thanks

but.... since the rise of the investor class (of which most of us are part of).... most Americans are owners of the evil, corrupt, greed driven, power hungry corporations ......

 

[MtnBiker]

but.... since the rise of the investor class (of which most of us are part of).... most Americans are owners of the evil, corrupt, greed driven, power hungry corporations ......

Oh come on, don't say that!! Now more people might have to face the fact that profits are good.

 

[dilloduck]

Oh come on, don't say that!! Now more people might have to face the fact that profits are good.

LOL no kiddin---good thing libs don't own or support corporations !

 

[KarlMarx]

LOL no kiddin---good thing libs don't own or support corporations !

Yeah.... good thing..... except of course, there is the entertainment industry.... but that doesn't count in the libs eyes. Never mind that entertainment is one of the leading exports of the American economy in terms of dollars, right up there with airplanes, software and ,oh yes, pharmaceuticals.

(DANGER! DANGER! WILL ROBINSON! ONE OF KARL'S RANTS AHEAD!)

I always chuckle when I hear some liberal squawking about the "evil drug companies" and how they are greedily pursuing profits at the expense of poor innocent children, AIDS patients and so on. I laugh hysterically when I hear some looney toon suggest that the drug companies ought to be giving some of their drugs away for free. As if the drug companies survive on their good looks or have crows that bring them dollars from God (like Elijah in the Bible).

When you stop and consider what the entertainment industry takes in a year (which is "billions, and billions" to quote the late Carl Sagan) and how they don't seem to be in any shape, manner or form preparing to give anything away.

Have you watched a DVD lately? What is the first thing you see? A one minute warning about what they are prepared to do to you if you dare copy one of those DVDs! And you can't skip around it, either. And it doesn't matter if you watch 100 DVDs a day; you always get that warning each and every time. And part of the expense of a DVD is the technology that they put in place to ensure that you can't copy one of those suckers (but apparently, someone's figured out a way to do it anyway!)

Have you heard that the movie industry is going after people who have been illegally downloading movies? Oh yeah! They are threatening to sue you, your grandmother, your kids, your priest, the nuns who live across the street, your mother, even an orphan in a wheelchair and his one eyed cat named "Fluffy" if any one of them dares.... dares! download even a single second of a movie off of the Internet!

And wow.... don't you remember? The "Sue Napster until they're in the crapster" escapade a few years ago? Boy, Death don't have no mercy and neither does the Entertainment industry if you dare cross them!

And here they are, the litigating limousine loony leftist liberals... making billions of dollars a year, acting like capitalists, like the greedy corporate captains of industry they so despise have the gall to preach to us, the unwashed masses, about the evils of capitalism!

And, oh by the way, now that I'm venting my spleen here. What about all that filth that they are pumping out and making tons and tons of money while they're at it? What is their response? "Well... if you don't like it... change the channel". God! Don't they sound like free market capitalists when they do that?

Oh... I see, the rest of us should be socially conscious, and refrain from enjoying the blessings of a free market economy (at least excessively so).... but Hollywood, they're different. They get a pass, they can glut themselves as much as they want like pigs at a trough, sue the rest of us for daring infringe their precious copyrights and at the same time, sanctimoniously preach to the rest of us about the evils of a free market.

Uh.... can someone 'splain this one?

P.S. I don't want to give the impression that I believe that illegally downloading copyrighted material is acceptable or moral. I don't. I believe that people who do that should be held accountable, like the Chinese, for instance. It is estimated that well over half, if not 90% of the software used in China is either pirated or unlicensed. Which by the way is having a negative effect on our economy and our trade balance.

 

[Zebra]

The real history of Christmas.....

If you think that Christmas has always been candy canes, Santa and Christmas trees.... you are dead wrong!

Christmas as we now know it has only been in existence for about 200 years. Before that, Christmas was celebrated more like Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Technically Mardi Gras is a religious observance too, but as anyone that has been to New Orleans during Mardi Gras can tell you.... it certainly isn't anything you'd want to bring kids to.

OK.... so where did Christmas come from? First off... no one really knows the actual birth date of Christ. We know that he was born about 6 BC or thereabouts, but we do not know what month or what day he was actually born on. The reason that Christ's birth is 6 BC has to do with a mistake made by a certain monk, Dionysius in the 6th century who was tasked with calculating the year of the birth of Christ. He made a miscalculation of 4 to 6 years, so that the year that we call 1 AD actually was 4-6 years after the birth of Christ.

So why do we celebrte Christmas in December? Well.... the Christian Church started in the Roman Empire, right? And the first Christians were mostly Romans, right? And the calendar that we use today is based on the Roman one, right? Well... the Romans celebrated a feast at the end of their year called "Saturnalia" in honor of their god of time. It was pretty much like our Christmas with gift giving, bushes with candles, and feasting. At the end of the feast, the Romans made resolutions to start their new year (sound familiar?). Once the Roman Empire became Christianized, the Church decided to substitute Christmas for Saturnalia.

Unfortunately, the spirit of Christmas was lost due to the feasting aspect of the holiday. In fact, many people used the holiday as an excuse for getting drunk and partying. In fact, things got so out of hand in some parts, that the celebration of Christmas was banned under the law!

Before the Industrial revolution started in England, people celebrated several feasts during the winter months, among them, Martinmas (Nov 11), St. Nicholas Day (Dec 6), Candlemas (sometime in February), and Epiphany (first Sunday in January). With the advent of the Industrial Revolution at the end of the 18th century and beginning of the 19th century, many people did not have the time to celebrate many of these holidays, since many people were transitioning from farming to working in factories. So many of these feasts were soon abandoned. However, there were some who thought that there should be one holiday to celebrate and it should be a family holiday. That holiday was Christmas.

Furthermore, the holiday's focus was to be on children and giving gifts and giving to charity, there was a commercial aspect to the holiday. Since gift giving meant gift buying, merchants started to endorse the holiday and its celebration. Well, then came "A Christmas Carol" and eventually Prince Albert introduced the Christmas Tree and the idea of Santa Claus from his native land of Germany.... well, as they say, the rest is history.

So, actually, commercialism has always been a part of the modern day celebration of Christmas as well as a large upswing in charitable giving.

and today is Candlemas