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By Matthew Visser

hristmas is just around the

corner and the malls and

shops have been buzzing with
eager shoppers wanting to buy those
perfect gifts for their loved ones.
And with the amount of buying and
shopping we do as a populous one
has to think maybe we should just
have Christmas morning at the mall.
I mean, the malls are where people
go even on Christmas Eve to buy
those last minute gifts. But when did
Christmas become the holiday of
getting together only to do so because
presents are involved?

Now don’t take me for someone
who hates Christmas. I love the idea
of families coming together and
sharing stories and memories, eating
the cliché turkey dinner, and waiting
for someone, normally the single
uncle, to get a little too drunk and
begin to slur his speech and become
the family clown. Oh, how Christmas
at my house would be so much more
interesting if all this took place.

I just feel that we have made
Christmas cynical. I mean this
because of what Christmas used to
mean, being with your family, all
together, because family members
do tend to move around, and it is not
easy to get everyone to spend a few

days together. But now Christmas has
become this big flashy show where
people have to flash up their homes
on the outside and the inside. For
some reason little trinkets and shiny
pins and whistles have become what
Christmas is all about. And don’t
forget about the presents. I feel that
people need to bring Christmas down
a few notches and really look inside
themselves to what Christmas means
to them.

It is not about collecting things,
admiring them and then putting that
thing away to collect dust and be only
looked at a few times a year. Children
are a prime example of this. Parents
buy young children little plastic toys
which then get put into the toy box
will all the other bought toys over
the years and are only looked a few
times a year. Consuming materials
like this has taught children to want
and demand more. Christmas is the
best time of the year for this because
children know their parents are going
to get those materials for the good
old Christmas spirit they want to
teach their kids. I guess the good old
Christmas spirit has gone from “good
will to men” and “peace on earth”, to
“mom please buy me this toy, please,
I will love you forever and will not
be able to live without this thing”.

I am saying because I did the same

act to my mom when I was younger.

CHPISTMAS- consumerism and materialism. Wait aren’t they t

ed

And sadly this works because it’s
Christmas.

Parents go out of their way,
because they love their children, to
buy them everything they want. From
a brand new PS3 to the latest iPod to
a new drum set and last year’s must
have Guitar Hero 3.1 am not saying
that owning these items would not
be great, hey, who does not want
a new iPod, but these items, these
things are really not necessary to live
a normal, happy life. But this is what
Christmas has become; consumerism
and materialism. Technology is
taking over everything and people,
especially teenagers, are no longer
asking for items for the real world,
such as the brand new set of pots
and pans my best friends got last
year because he was moving out. We
consume these things which most
of the time we really don’t need
because we feel we need them, that
we deserve them. This year I said the
only thing is want and feel I need is
a four season tent so I can go winter
camping. Now I know I will not get
this so I just said I don’t need nor
want anything. And this works for
me.

This is where we have failed
Christmas. We have tarnished what it
was meant to be. If you are religious

Baier

he same thing?

   
       

practice the same faith as you do
paying respects to that faith. Christ-
mas in a biblical sense is about the
birth of Jesus Christ. But if you are
not of the Christian faith, or any

faith for that matter, Christmas is just
another time of the year when you

get time off work and get to give and
receive presents to people you care
about. I am not saying that atheists
have failed Charismas but I am saying
that all people who believe that
Christmas is about getting that perfect
gift and needing to buy, buy, buy to
make people happy than these are the
people who have failed Christmas.

So this year why not try and do
what I am doing and making my
family members gifts from hand?

It will be something that they will
keep and will hopefully use for

years to come. And they might even
appreciate the gift more because I
have made it from hand. Or I might
go to.plan B and just make baked
goods because hey, who does not

like baked goods? This Christmas try
and make something from the heart
with your hands, or buy the loved one
something they really need and will
use for years to come. Let’s break this
habit of rushing. off to the malls to
buy Christmas.

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