Take the TM out of Christmas

As Christmas approaches, holiday images flood our minds; family gathered around a decorated tree, the smell of a special dinner cooking, snowy carolers, and jingly sleigh rides. Light-filled entertainment offers respite from the gray, loved ones return to a place of importance, and Santa - that impish distributor of presents - laughs a hearty 'Ho Ho Ho!" to all within earshot of the Mall. Christmas, we tell ourselves, offsets our otherwise cold world.

But how many folks standing in long lines at the mall would say their holiday season is replete with warmth, affection, and neighborliness? Feeling obliged to go through the motions of preparation, which they've been socialized to believe are necessities, they spend money out of proportion to their income on obligatory and unnecessary gifts. Accruing additional debt keeps them beholden to a system with little hope of gaining economic freedom or maneuverability. Bankruptcies will increase, junk will overflow into storage facilities, and the earth will continue to pay the terrible price for our legitimization of the bumper sticker, "He Who Dies With The Most Toys Wins."

Religious clerics and 'family values' pundits will again longingly call for a return to the 'original meaning' of Christmas, to 'put Christ back in Christmas,' or to 'Remember Jesus is the Reason for the Season.' These slogans ring hollow because they presume some Dickensian Christmas from which we have fallen. Appeals to the mythology of Christmas - the Hollywood movies, music and rituals, - are equally misplaced. The cry, instead, should be, 'Take the TM (trademark) out of Christmas.'

To be sure, consumerism violates the biblical understanding of Christ's nativity, and people who spend $14,000 for a diamond bracelet to celebrate the birth of Jesus who said, "Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions," completely miss the point. But setting your sights on these and other slow moving targets is equally misplaced.

Christmas has now become the primary face of USAmerica's cultural hegemon - consumer capitalism. The destructive path(ology) of consumption illustrates that Christmas is no longer a religious holiday, but a celebration of consumer capitalism as a religion. While consumerism does deaden some religious and spiritual joy, it should no longer be our primary focus. Our nation's mindless consumerism, which has now blossomed into a free-market fundamentalism, is directly threatening the very ideals of democracy.

The dogma of this unregulated free-market fundamentalism asks us to uncritically worship the callous, corporate-dominated political economy where business leaders are venerated and the most powerful corporations are awarded the magical powers of salvation.

This unexamined belief system threatens the democratic way of life by acquiescing to obscene levels of wealth inequality, intensified class hostility, and the redefinition of that which we all should be striving for; glamorized materialist gain and individual narcissistic pleasure.

This free-market fundamentalism is as dangerous as today's religious fundamentalisms because it trivializes the concern for public interest. Reckless consumerism encourages the sleepwalking populace to see false prophets handsomely rewarded with money, status, and access to power. This free-market fundamentalism has shifted our attention from schools to prisons, from worker's conditions to profit margins, from civic associations to Internet porn sites, and from health clinics to hi-tech breast surgeries. Our country's young people gifted with creativity, intelligence, humor, and imagination - perhaps our best and brightest citizens - seem to automatically boycott public office, choosing instead the lucrative private sector of the business world. It appears we've traded Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision of a beloved community where we could 'let freedom ring' for a lifestyle adorned with 'bling-bling' acquired by 'cha-ching.' So we're left, it seems, with a freedom that has been reduced to owning material toys - the very ones dictated by free-market fundamentalism.

This consumer-driven imperialism is silently devouring USAmerica's democratic ideals. Seduced by this unbridled grasping for power, wealth, and status, we're left to pursue Quioxitic dreams of global domination that will only result in more doom and decay. This profit-driven vision, which we've been sold, slowly sucks the democratic marrow out of our society. When government officials become accountable only to corporate elites they bastardize and pulverize the essence of democracy.

We're living in a time in which it has become fashionable to celebrate the benefits of imperial rule and accept the decline of democratic ideals. The foundation of Democratic leadership is taking the country back from imperial elites. Isn't it time for a new awakening (dare I say revival?) from the slumber of seductive lies and comforting illusions to channel a new progressive ideal into the status quo?

If you believe it is, then I challenge you to avoid the orgy of consumption this holiday season. If you find yourself frantically searching for something, for the person who already has everything, who doesn't need anything, stop. If gift giving has turned into order-fulfillment, stop. When you begin to feel Yule-phobic, remember you can practice 'freedom of religion' by not buying into and implicitly supporting the free-market fundamentalism of mindless consumerism. Participate in Buy Nothing Day (the day after Thanksgiving), donate to a charity, make your own gifts, support a non-profit organization, use Bay Bucks, or give you time and talents to someone. If you choose to buy a gift, support local artisans, shop downtown, or try a hundred dollar Christmas. Support and help are available.

And when Christmas is finally past and somebody asks you that seemingly innocuous question, 'What did you get this year?' - with the implied sub-question 'How important are you?' or 'How loved are you?' - remember that your worth and value lies not in the abundance of material goods but within yourself

Written by Rev. Corey J. Sanderson

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