From: REXLEX@linac.fnal.gov
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
Subject: Christmass History
Date: 24 Dec 92 06:50:24 GMT
Organization: FNAL

Taken from the Chicago Sunday Tribune, Dec. 20, 1992.  Michael Hirsley.

". . . . . . . 
      Ironically, the holiday that Christians now complain is being co-opted by
commercialism traces its roots to a pagan festival that was taken over by
Christianity.  The first reported observance of Christmas as the birth of Jesus
Christ was more than 300 years after the event.  In the 4th
Century,Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, and
scholors believe, Christians set Jesus' birthdate at Bec er to coincide with
existent celebrating by non-Christians. 
      "Rather than battle against the pagan holidays, they decided to join them
and try to replace them," said University of Utah professor Russell Belk, -who
has researched the evolution of Christmas and includes his findings in his
course on marketing and consumer behavior.
     "The  pagan  holidays  replaced  by Christianity were the
Roman.celebrations of Satumalia-which were carnivalesque celebrations with
gift-giving'-and later the Yule celebiations in England and Germany that
celebrated the winler solstice," Belk said.
      Christmas has gained and slipped in popularity over the centuries.  It
was banned for a time in England and America by Puritans who objected to the
frivolity associated with it.  But toward the mid1800s, Belk said, "Christmas
was in trouble, waning in popularity." He said religious leaders welcomed an
injection of commerce, via giftgiving and Santa Claus, to revive the holiday.
That revival, Belk said, was credited largely to English author Charles
Dickens, whose 1843 "A Christmas Carol" showed a reformed Scrooge who became a
generous gift-liver; to American scholar Clement Clark Moore-, whose 1823 poem
featuring a stout, jol!y elf began " 'Twas the night before Christmas"; 'and to
American artist Thomas Nast, whose 1881 cartoon Santa Claus fit the description
in Moore's poem.  That.was a change from the . traditional image of a thin St.
Nicholas in a bishop's hat, whose namesake was a 4th Century bishop.
     "From the end of the Civil War until the late, 180Os. the idea of oranges,
nuts or homemade toys as Chriitmits -gifts changed into store-bought lifts,"
Belk -said.  "Macy's department store in New York-was among the first to have
Christmas window displays.  Stores began offering special Christmass
merchandise, and wrapping paper was introduced.
     "With the idea that it was all right to buy gifts and that you should take
the price tag off and wrap it,. what we saw was the transformation of a profane
commodity into a sacred gift, a gift of yourself."

All the while, "religion had some concerns, but some ambivalence also "' he
said.  "While there was tacit recognition that Santa and Christmas trees and
gifts were part. of the reason, the enhanced holiday spirit also brought
increased attendance at churches and Sunday schools.
     "The popular Christmas saved the religious Christmas at one point." .
      The connection between commerce and Christmas got.an added boost in the
1930s,- Belk said, when artist Haddon Sundblum's drawings of a cherubic rotund
Santa Claus, often. in an opulent red suit with white fur cuffs began appearing
as Coca-Cola's seasonal advertising.
     That Santa was a prime ad for many years around the world, still appears
on memorabilia and in nostalgic Christmas drawings, and remains an ingrained
image for many.
   Through marketing and mystique, Santa, Claus "his become a deified
character. himself, an omniicient judge of who's good and bad," Belk said. 
    As much as critics decry the materialism associated with Santa, Belk said,
"I still don't know that seeing. a whole-hearted condemnation ... even among
religious leaders." He acknowledged similar abivalence.
"To, over-rationalize, to talk about giving only practical or helpful gifts,
"would put us back to a holiday declining in popularity ... or at least it
would threaten the magic, the sacredness, the self-transcendence of selfless
giving."