Christmas is a time for family and friends to get together, to buy gifts, and maybe attend church, well we all know that.
Don’t get the impression that I am some holy Joe because it just isn't so and I certainly am not against Christmas. I don't attend church neither.
I was brought up to understand that Christmas was more a festival of the birth of Christ, though I have never read the bible except the first couple of pages in Genesis, which is obviously not true but still a very beautiful piece of writing on an idea of creation. One doesn't have to read the bible to know, along with other holy books, that it has have many beautiful things to say about nearly everything.
Getting back to Christmas, it has been replaced by a new religion. The religion of the consumer. The buying of billions of pounds of consumer gifts. Not so many attend the old church as attend the new temple, the shopping centre, or as the Americans like to call, 'The Mall'
The centre of all needs is now represented in the obtaining bits of plastic, shining bobbles and devices that intrinsically have no real value, but seem to make us happy. Sure I have a computer to write this on, but it is old and just not fast enough, but I will wait till it collapses under its own memory. But do I really need a new computer, course I do, I want to do things faster, but not really, no, honest.
All this spending at Christmas is damaging the planet. Take for instance this new Plasma HDTV craze. Okay they are brilliant, fantastic, sparkling image, no doubting that. In fact they represent the pinnacle of human inventiveness. A hundred years or so ago this stuff did not exist. A hundred years before that it was ink on paper delivered by a messenger on a horse.
What is happening in this one example...?
New device, latest fashion, get rid of perfectly working former device, dispose of former device on to the rubbish tip, or export it to China or India for locals to dismantle and 'recycle'. The device holds many chemicals and rare metals that are toxic. The locals take them apart with their bare hands. No safety regulations. Bits end up in the river, in the soil, and even in the air. Disadvantaged poor people are getting rid of our disposables and to hoop add a major pollution hazard at the same time.
One could say, they accepted it, so they could earn money, it's up to them to sort it out, but we gave it to them and we are the guys who started the chain of events that creates all this mess.
Other examples include mobile phones, Ipods and computers, many still perfectly useable but got rid of in the name of Christmas giving.
It’s a problem transported somewhere else far away from the cosy living room of Christmas and all its joy. The joy we are having in that shiny new gadget is someone else's pain and damage to the environment. Its far far away, so we haven't anything to worry about, that is someone else's problem.
The other quirk or is it an illusion is the Christmas ideal of peace and goodwill to all men.. I do not wish to take sides on any of the countless wars that perpetuate the world at the moment and have done so for generations. But where on earth is this peace and goodwill to all men, despite nearly everyone believing that is what Christmas is about.. Even for a few days, it might be nice to cease this endless slaughter that haunts our reality..
To ban Christmas, of course not, we humans always need a get together for what ever reason and so let it continue, not that I have any say in the matter at all.
Where is the spirit of Christmas, I can't see it.
Would Jesus in his plea for more humanity and appreciation of the beauty of the world think this is right, I doubt it.?
