By ramming Christmas down shoppers’ throats, retailers are doing their duty by their countries. At this time of extreme economic weakness, what could be more national-minded than encouraging people to spend their money on festive tat?

[Muggle]

Deck the halls with shop-bought holly

FINANCIAL TIMES
Published: December 23 2009 20:09

In 601, as England was being claimed by Roman Catholic missionaries,
Gregory the Great, the Pope, wrote to Mellitus, one of his men on the
frontline, with instructions to move slowly. He advised that some of
the trappings of local pagan religions -- such as animal sacrifices
and temple buildings -- should be preserved and respected by the
incoming Church. "Whilst some outward gratifications are permitted
them, they may the more easily consent to thee inward consolations of
the grace of God."

Gregory was probably not, however, advising that his disciples move so
slowly that 1,408 years later the commemoration of Jesus Christ's
humble birth would still be celebrated across the Anglosphere with a
heathen potlatch feast and rowdy Godless singing.

There is, after all, nothing Christian about hanging mistletoe -- an
ancient sacred plant -- inside houses, hunting and gathering gifts, or
ritually gorging on mulled wine, goose or turkey. Nowhere in the Bible
is it suggested that God-fearing folk should eat Brussels sprouts as a
Christmas-time penance for their sins.

Gregory was right to counsel leaving the older rites alone: Puritans
attempted to purge the festival of its paganism in the 17th century --
and prompted revolt. People who believe that Christmas should be more
Christian are not being nostalgic: they are being radicals, hoping to
silence the deep-felt echoes of an ancient culture.

However, one not need be a devout follower of Jesus Christ irritated
by the slow progress of Gregory's softly-softly approach to believe
that there is something distasteful about Christmas. These days,
celebratory lights appear in October and jingling songs become
ubiquitous in November.

This lengthening of the festive season is not driven by evangelists
hoping to use an extra-long celebration to spread a Christian message
far and wide. Nor is it pushed by spear-carriers of the pagan gods who
lost market share to the Christian incursion. The Christmas frenzy is
driven by shopping chains that are keen to cash in on the holiday.

But give these soulless merchants some credit. By covering themselves
in tinsel, antlers and baubles, and ramming Christmas down shoppers'
throats, they are doing their duty by their countries. At this time of
extreme economic weakness, what could be more national-minded than
encouraging people to spend their money on festive tat?

The commerce-driven Christmas, of course, intrudes into the home. Some
may regret that home-made toys and food fresh from the kitchen are
being supplanted by gadgets that will be forgotten in a few hours and
shop-bought puddings bounced out of foreign production lines. But
commercialisation allows specialisation -- and that makes for a good
Christmas.

Toys are now made by companies who know -- far better than you do --
what your children want. (Hint: it isn't a crocheted glove-puppet or a
hand-whittled wooden horse. It's a PlayStation.) Some readers may have
fond memories of making Christmas puddings with their mothers. But
your family -- trust us -- would prefer either something digestible,
or a technicolour feast of E numbers.

So the commercialisation of yuletide is a good thing, and a lack of
Christ in celebrations of the bleak midwinter is hardly new. Nor, one
can be sure, is moaning about the festive season. When Mellitus was
converting the Anglo-Saxons, he probably came across nostalgics who
claimed that the solstice was better when every family slaughtered
their own pig and every person knew the real meaning of the midwinter
bacchanalian orgies in honour of the goddess Sulis. Educated as
Mellitus was, he probably replied in what was, even then, time-
honoured fashion: by telling them to cheer up, have a sausage and
enjoy a merry Christmas.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/da51c616-eff9-11de-833d-00144feab49a.html

[John Fahrtlington Poopnagle]

Robert Lowell (surely you remember him ?) would call this frenetic
phenomenon a "SAVAGE SERVILITY" ...