BartBlog

from breadwithcircus.com

Originally Posted November 26th, 2005

The madness has begun. I don’t know how it goes in the rest of the “Christian” world, but North Americans are about to be inundated with a month of consumption. American Thanksgiving was Thursday, that led to “Black Friday” and the official start of the Shopping Season. Spend Spend Spend! Here is your chance to make up for a year of disappointing your friends and family by trying to buy their love. Since entertainment companies own the media, (and stand to profit by shaming people into buying what their parent companies sell) reporters acted as cheerleaders on Friday morning. Correspondents were stationed at big box stores across the US, capturing embarrassing footage of porcine consumers trampling each other in a race to the pile of DVD’s. These “reports” were little more than thinly disguised commercials for Wal Mart and the like. They interviewed executive types who were thrilled to talk about the great deals that their stores offered. They challenged viewers to get out there and consume, for the love of the economy, do your patriotic duty and buy crap now!

In North America, Christmas has very little to do with Christ. It is a (month long) holiday that celebrates our culture of consumption, nothing more. I would suggest that the very survival of our exploitative (not to mention unsustainable) economic system is entirely dependent upon Christmas spending. Why is the day after US Thanksgiving called “Black Friday?” It is the day that the retailers are expected to break even. In the last month of the year, there are tremendous cultural pressures urging us all to spend lots of money. The beast needs to feast before the end of the fiscal year. What does this have to do with Christianity? Though the gift-giving tradition may originate with Oriental Kings following their astrologer’s advice and making a pilgrimage to Palestine, Santa Claus is nothing more than the bastard child of Coca Cola. Would the Christ want us to celebrate its birthday by going into debt? Our culture tells us that we must be sure to match or outspend everyone else so as not to seem cheap or uncaring. If they spend hundreds of dollars, we must do the same. Its a classic race to the bottom, inspired more by pride and guilt than by love. Is this what the Christ would have wanted? We’ve really missed the point of Christmas. There’s nothing wrong with gift giving, but it has spiraled out of control. I challenge Christians to tone it down this year, give the gift of time rather than money. In the end, it will be much more appreciated. If you do intend to spend money, why not give it to the Red Cross, they need it more than Sony does. Let us reclaim Christmas from the retailers. Let us once again make it about spending quality time with family. Jesus was not a fan of merchants in the temple. The Beatles were right, you can’t buy me love.