American Christianity

America has personalized many Christian holiday festivities. Last Sunday was Valentine's Day, celebrated by giving stuffed teddy bears, flowers, and chocolates. In December, America celebrates Christmas Day, a day is dedicated to a fat jolly man with reindeer and gifts. In the spring, America celebrates Easter, when people search for eggs with money or candy inside and eat chocolate bunnies. Personally, this perversion of Christian holidays upsets me for a multitude of reasons. But, as an academic, I find the parallels between the American celebrations fascinating. Religion has never been purely about personal faith. By studying religion, we study politics, economics, sociology, and anthropology. So I see that we could make generalization about America through the methods of celebrating Christian holidays. First, even though America claims to be a secular nation, Christian privilege is obvious. Christmas and Easter are both national holidays and Valentine's Day is very publicly celebrated. I remember having mini parties in my public elementary school for each of those days. Even though some schools have started to provide accommodations for other religious holidays, they are not recognized nationally. For example, I did not know what Yom Kippur was until high school and that was only because I happen to have two Jewish friends who were debating whether to miss a day of classes to fast. Yet, as Christmas, Valentine's, and Easter are celebrated with food and gifts by Christians and non-Christians, we can also see that the general American public is gradually becoming more secular. There is a motion in the Christian churches of America to make these celebrations about "the true meaning", but those outside the church ignore those sentiments and celebrate family and friends. I had even forgotten that Valentine's Day was originally a Christian tradition. Finally, I see how materialistic the US has become. Success seems to be measured by money. Therefore, to celebrate someone you love, you sacrifice your own money to buy them something. Each of these three Christian holidays traditionally focuses on a different aspect of Christianity, yet in America they are all celebrated with gifts and food and spending money. The study of religion is not just about doctrine, but about understand the changing relationship between society and religion. I would project, based on the modern celebrations of Christian holidays, that the US is slowly drifting from Christian privilege towards a religion of monetary success.