Do you think Christmas is too commercialised?

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

 Highly interested in the idealogical breakdown, tbh.

[SWE]

"A Christmas Story 2" is a thing, so yes.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Yeah, but pretty much every holiday is, really.

[Frodo]

Yeah, but pretty much every holiday is, really.

I've hardly noticed -stores pay more attention to Christmas than they do any other holiday. 

[Joe Republic]

Yeah, but pretty much every holiday is, really.

I've hardly noticed -stores pay more attention to Christmas than they do any other holiday. 

You've never been in a grocery store between late August and the end of October?  Hint: the color scheme is black and orange.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Yeah, but pretty much every holiday is, really.

I've hardly noticed -stores pay more attention to Christmas than they do any other holiday.  

Only because people pay more attention to Christmas. Stores still decorate for holidays just about every month, especially in that one aisle that is always dedicated to the nearest holiday. New Years, Valentines Day, Presidents Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Independence Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, birthdays all year round, and plenty others, stores leap on the opportunity to make a sale out of anything.

In two weeks we'll have, like clockwork, people complaining that a Kroger is putting up Valentine's Day decorations.

Not to say that I don't find a lot of the commercialization distasteful, but what can you do.

[Goldwater]

Yeah, all holidays are commercialized. And I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

Honestly, I see the crass commercialization of Christmas as a double-edged sword.  On one hand, it's a capitalist's dream come true.  I love decorating Christmas trees, giving and receiving presents, watching Christmas films and specials, etc.  On the other hand, it's very easy to get lost in those trappings and lose sight of the spirit of giving and the birth of Jesus Christ.  I saw a poll yesterday that showed most Gen Y-ers (or Millennials, whichever term you prefer) see Christmas as primarily a secular and commercial holiday, which I found to be a very sad commentary on our society today.  So, on the question of whether the commercialization goes too far, I'd have to lean yes.  Option 1.

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[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Well just because Christmas becomes secularised doesn't mean it must be commercialised. Contrary to popular belief; love, family, friendship, generosity and compassion were not concepts dreamt up by St Paul. And as Christians have been just as willing as the secular to parcel up the divine and treat it like abt other saleable commodity; I hardly feel secularism is at fault. You nail the point really with your first line 'it's a capitalists dream" although I don't think fully thought through the implications of such a statement.

[bedstuy]

For me, it's important that we keep the Christ out of Christmas, but at the same time, don't turn it into just a gift-giving occasion.  If you focus too much on shopping and buy things for people, you forget that there are other ways to show people you love them.  Christmas should be about spending time with your family, cooking for people, drinking, smoking marijuana, and the secular trappings and tradition of the holiday. 

[tallguy23]

I love holidays so I don;t mind the commercialization. Besides, it stimulates the economy and creates jobs.

I do think this discussion is a total First World Problem though. Celebrate Xmas as you see fit. It's no one else's business.

If you're religious, celebrate it as a Christian holiday. If you're secular, celebrate it as a cultural holiday.

Or don't. Frankly I don't care.