The Shopping Truth About Christmas. Fran Bennewith
The Shopping Truth About Christmas
We’ve been DUPED!
Elizabeth Smith
Copyright © 2012 Elizabeth Smith
The author of The Shopping Truth About Christmas has made all reasonable efforts to provide current & accurate information for the readers & will not be held liable for any unintentional errors or omissions that may be found.
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2012-05-22
Introduction
The Shopping Truth must not be regarded as a highly accurate historical or theological account of Christmas. Initially, my intention was merely to discourage the exaggerated and stressful commercialism of a Holy Christian tradition. I was unaware of the enormity and intrigue that my investigation would uncover.
The deeper I delved, the more widespread and contradicting the facts became. I chose only a fraction of the material available which I thought relevant to my booklet, but for those interested, I recommend further investigation.
I hope that readers will find these revelations as life changing as I have.
Why Do We Do It?
Whew - “Thank goodness it’s over for another year!”
How many of us share these sentiments when we survey the debris of Christmas day? Bags of torn wrapping paper, toys (some already broken) piles of dirty dishes and the stale leftovers of Christmas feasting, paper hats and a sadly drooping Christmas tree with the incessant flashing lights. Maybe even nursing a hangover and sighing over empty wallets and bank balances. What was it all really for? Why do we do it?
Why indeed? My last January bank statement astounded me. I could not believe that the costs had escalated so fast. Did I really spend so much on Christmas? In a state of depression, I totaled my Christmas expenses for the last five years and was horrified to discover that I could have had an overseas holiday for the same cost. Even the memories of Christmases past were vague and lacking excitement, so I asked myself again, why do we do it?
I made a decision to investigate Christmas traditions and the motivation behind them that creates what has become a global Christmas madness. I decided to find some statistics first to ensure that other people shared my sentiments.
Christmas Statistics
In a survey conducted by ConRes in December 2010, the following information was gathered:
54% of the survey agreed that Christmas was overrated
61% of the survey said that it was mainly for children
36% of the survey said that they would be attending a church service
51% of the survey agreed with the statement “The truth of Jesus is irrelevant”
In another survey done by the Evangelical Alliance Information End Research in November 2011, it was found that only 10% of adults think the most important aspect of Christmas is it’s religious meaning.
68% of the adults said that they would spend Christmas with family
18% would spend it with family and friends
7% would spend it with friends only
6% would spend it on their own (mostly the poorest and oldest)
Polls of 116 people interviewed by Mental Health Charity Mind on “Anxious about paying for Christmas” found:
25% felt depressed about it
20% will have problems paying for rent and mortgage in the Christmas period
Over 50% admitted to having spent more than they could afford
33% estimated that it would take them more than 6 months to pay back their Christmas debt
In other Global statistics, a series of questions were asked:
1. ”Should we re-think Christmas?”
41% said yes
15% said no
29% have done so
2. ”Does the environmental aspect worry you?“
34% said yes
65% said no
3. ”Will you reduce Christmas shopping in view of the economic crisis?”
47% said yes
32% said no
4. ”Do you get depressed on Christmas?”
27% said always
48% said sometimes
24% said never
Christmas is a purely Christian religious celebration and it is amazing that the figures above show that so many people show so little regard or reverence towards it. It is also inconceivable that Christmas has become so commercialized, leaving so many people feeling depressed and financially strained. It was never supposed to be like that. So what is Christmas all about and how can we alleviate the stress and wasted energy?
Christmas is obviously a Christian tradition, but what does it mean?
Christmas is a word derived in 1308 from the Middle English word, Crislemass. It can be broken into “Christ” and “Mass” mass meaning celebration. Other names include:
”Mid-winter” (winter solstice)
”Nativity” meaning birth
”Yule“ referring to the period corresponding in December and January
”Noel“ (Nowell) used in English in the late 14 century
The Christian Essence of Christmas
To investigate the celebration of Christ further, I thought it prudent to start by gathering information about His birth in order to comprehend our Christmas traditions more clearly.
First, I decided it important to get a very brief understanding of the political and religious atmosphere of Israel where Jesus was born. It was a Jewish country and the only nation at that time that had grasped the concept of monotheism (having one god whom they called YHWH). Although they understood monotheism, many found it hard