Christmas Religion vs Commercial

Hey guys,

I normally don’t do this type of posts but I felt the need to express my opinion. Enjoy xx

“Christmas is giving. But the best gifts are often ones you can’t wrap in paper”
(Justbetweenus, The purpose driven Christmas, n.d.)

Christmas: religion vs commercial

So Christmas is coming up, and we pretty much can’t ignore it anymore. Why? Because it’s visible everywhere we go, at least in Amsterdam it is. Christmas trees on almost every square, decoration lights and our oh so long christmas wish list.
But are we celebrating Christmas pure of its religious nature or because of the whole commercial drama around it?

Christmas
I guess you know the story of Christmas.
Virgin Mary was engaged to Joseph. She got a visit from an angel and he told her that she would bare a child called Jesus. For some reason Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem and gave birth to Jesus there in a stall. Then three wise men came and each gave baby jesus a gift, after they’ve followed a star that leaded them to bethlehem.
Time and time again before the first ‘n second day of Christmas there are concerts, plays that replay the birth of Jesus, Christmas eve celebrations etc.

Christmas is a time for reconciliation, for forgiving, and for restoring broken relationships. Christians believe that Jesus came to restore broken relationships with God and with one another. The purpose of Christmas is to make peace, which requires courage, patience, openness, initiative, and maturity.(Justbetweenus, The purpose driven Christmas, n.d.)

Commercial
The main reason why Christmas has become so commercialized is because there is a great amount of money to be made. Many retailers, such as the big department stores, depend on the Christmas shopping season to make their biggest profits of the year. To do this, they do a great deal of advertising, which entices people to spend more money buying things. People spend money on gifts, food and decorations. ( ask, Why has christmas become so commercialised, n.d), (nieuws, Meer kerstomzet voor winkeliers, 18-12-2013)

Is creating a whole commercial drama such a bad thing?
The focus of Christmas cán be giving gifts. Does giving gifts have to take away from the true meaning of Christmas? No, it does not. Giving to others is a natural expression of gratitude. The key is our focus. (got questions, Should we give gifts at christmas, n.d)

So, what is the final aim of Christmas? Of course the spirit of togetherness being together with everyone, getting gifts and feeling light in this early darkness times. Come on it’s friggin dark when it’s 5pm, which country has that……… The Netherlands

Sources
Just between us, n.d., http://justbetweenus.org/pages/page.asp?page_id=92477, 17-12-2013
(Image) Christmasgator, n.d,http://christmasgator.com/christmas-wallpapers/hd-christmas-wallpapers-for-2013 ,21-12-2013
Ask, n.d., http://www.ask.com/question/why-has-christmas-become-so-commercialized , 18-12-2013
Nieuws, 18-12-2013, http://www.nieuws.nl/economie/20131218/Meer-kerstomzet-voor-winkeliers , 18-12-2013
Got questions, n.d, http://www.gotquestions.org/Christmas-gifts.html, 18-12-2013