Holidays have influenced the way people think and act ever since they originated. The most influential part of the holidays are the traditions. However, not everyone celebrates the same holidays, nor the same traditions. This has led to controversy over some holidays do to religious beliefs and financial concerns. Each country and person has their own traditions for the holidays as the traditions that correspond with the holidays have been developed through years of culture. In addition to the traditions, every holiday also brings with it a fascinating tale describing the events of and leading to it’s origin. Without holidays, the United States would have been dramatically altered. For starters, the United States economy would have changed …show more content…
This makes sense because a big part of Christmas is buying and giving gifts to people. In fact, the amount of shoppers in the two months leading up to Christmas nearly doubles each year and 30-35 million real Christmas trees are sold in the United States alone (history.com). Also, because Christmas is so popular, it constantly has people questioning the true meaning of it. Those who Christian know that the true meaning of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Jesus. This of course inspires people to learn about Jesus and Christianity. Therefore, not only did Christmas bring focus to the birth of Jesus, it also has caused many to convert to Christianity, which is the largest religion in the United States. In fact, 83 percent of US citizens identify themselves as Christians (abcnews.go).
Halloween is the second most celebrated holiday, second only to Christmas. Halloween is not just an American holiday; it is popular in countries all around the world. In Europe it is called the Day of the Dead and in Africa is called the Dance of the Hooded Egunguns. They even celebrate it in Asia, where it is known as the Bon Festival. Halloween is a holiday that often piques one's curiosity because of it’s strange and mysterious ways, it is also a holiday that brings much controversy between believers and
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Throughout history, the celebration for Halloween has changed and more people are participating in some way or another. Costumes have changed, becoming more and more detailed. Parents are working more and free time is more difficult to come by, so parents are just buying expensive costumes even though it is just cheaper to make it home. Costumes are not just for the kids either. Halloween is celebrated at schools, in restaurants, in shopping malls, and around local communities. Even those who truly don’t believe in Halloween will buy a pumpkin, candy, or mums for their homes. The amount of money spent to celebrate Halloween is seeing an impact earlier and earlier every year. However people still wait to buy their decorations, candy, and costumes until right before Halloween. In fact, 50% of sales are done within the last 10 days before Halloween
Late autumn has arrived and with it comes the dark magic of Halloween--and, of course, the
Different cultures have different holiday traditions. At this time of year different cultures are preparing to celebrate Halloween or the Día de los Muertos.These two holidays occur around the same time of year. October 31st is Halloween and the Day of the Dead begins on November 1st and ends on November 2nd. Halloween is an American tradition and the Day of the Dead is celebrated in Mexico, and other Latin American countries. Both holidays share some similarities but also have some differences.Some common themes between the two holidays are food and religion. For example, Pumpkin is associated with both holidays. And Christianity is the religion associated with both holidays. The symbols for these holidays share some similarities , for example skulls. While Halloween also is associated with ghosts and witches. A big
Few people can confidently say why the United States celebrates Christmas on December 25. And I imagine even fewer people know why we give gifts, or why we pucker up when we find ourselves under some mistletoe. The answers to these questions are under a thick layer of rich human and mythological history. For me, the majority of these discoveries were absolutely shocking—Christ was never in Christmas.
Of all religious holidays that have been adopted by secularists, one of the most popular would be Christmas, originally meant to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. With the exact date of Jesus' birth unknown during ancient times, Christmas was initially assigned to January 6th, but was changed to December 25th under the influence of the winter solstice (Nothaft 903). Peculiarly however, is the universal celebration of Christmas al...
The Christmas holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ in the Christian faith has expanded beyond its religious significance and transformed into a cultural phenomenon observed by both believers and non-believers. According to a Pew Research study conducted in 2013, 92 percent of Americans and 96 percent of Christians participate in Christmas festivities. The same study also revealed that 81 percent of non-Christians, including atheists, Buddhists, and Hindus, also observe the holiday.
In total, it is a three-day celebration starting on October thirty-first and reaches to November second. Celebrating death and honoring the dead are its focal points. It is believed that during this time, the spirits of those who have died return to their earthly homes, where they are made welcome with gifts, flowers, and food (“Mexico” 218-226). In Mexico, festivals to honor the dead have been celebrated for hundreds of years, beginning in the fifteenth century when the Aztec controlled the region. These early festivals were meant to honor the Aztec god of death and were held during harvest time (“Halloween and Festivals of the Dead” 195-209). The Aztec also honored their dead during the month-long harvest celebration. As a part of these celebrations, many prisoners of war were sacrificed to the Aztec sun and war god, Huitzilopochtli (“Mexico”
Halloween was not supposed to be like that, it was supposed to be more like when I was a kid. Houses would be decorated, jack-o-lanterns would be sitting near doors, and
When Halloween approaches, I feel the air becoming cooler and the nights becoming longer. Clouds over lap the moon creating an eerie look in the sky. Children grow more and more excited to put on their costumes, and they spend one night out of the whole year going door to door getting free candy. As I have grown up over the years, Halloween is celebrated differently for me. I always notice that even though it is celebrated differetly the people haven’t changed and that’s what makes it memorable.
Christmas is a special time of year that deserves to be remembered for its true meaning. Every year, Christmas becomes more and more commercialized and society forgets the origin of Christmas. It was not started with cookies, toys, and a fat man that delivers them, but instead it started with a humble inn where our Savior was born. The definition of Christmas is “a holiday on December 25 celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.” Nowhere in that definition does it say anything about the outrageous pressure society has set on consumers to buy, buy, buy during the Christmas season. Christmas is about presence not presents.
Many people in American society assume that the main purpose of Christmas is the supposed coming of Santa Claus. Their assumption however is far from the truth. The origins of Christmas, which literally means "Christ mass," actually lie in Christianity-not in the fat man with a stomach that jiggles like a bowl full of jelly. Centuries ago, Christians developed a tradition of celebrating Jesus Christ's birthday. Although Christians were unsure of the exact date of Christ's birth, they officially declared December 25th as the day they would celebrate it. The holiday began simply as a day in which families would spend quality time together, reflecting on Jesus' life, giving thanks to God for sending his "one and only son."
From the employer point of view, the covenants-not-to-compete agreement is to protect the company’s brand and to prevent their competition from learning their trade secrets. In many cases, preventing old employees from encouraging investors to sponsors their new company based on previous relationships.
As the dominant religious culture in the United States, it contributes to the marginalization of those who practice other religions. During Christmas for example, one is prone to see Christmas trees and hear Christmas songs everywhere. Criticism of this model is seen as an attack on Christmas. The author mentions his blog post about the subject and how the comments maintain the culture of Christian privilege. Commentators claim Christian values are seen as universal and that the holiday should be celebrated since the majority of Americans are
Although it was never celebrated in biblical times, Christmas is celebrated in local churches here in Visalia, California in praise of the fact that God loved us so much; he sent his one and only son to earth. He was wholey god and wholey man. Whereas we have succumbed to the temptations of this earth, Jesus was able to overcome all temptations and live a sinless life. He was then crucified as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. One cannot understand why we celebrate the birth of Christ without seeing the other end of his life. He was crucified for our sins and resurrected.
isn't is another word for Halloween? About 2000 years ago in Celtic Ireland, Samhain was the mark between the lighter half and darker half of the year. This division was the time of the year when the veil between this world and the underworld are the thinnest. Samhain was a celebration to welcome and honor families' ancestors and warding off evil spirits. Bonfires were lit, the home fires were extiguished and relit from the bonfires, there were feasts cooked to honor the ancestors, who can't actually be able to eat the foods put beore them; so the foods were ritually given to the poor, and people wore masks and/or costumes to disguish themselves from evil spirits. Samhain was the great festival of the dead.
The Chinese New Year is fifteen days long and each day involves a different custom based off of a different ideology such as cleaning your house will wipe away the bad luck of the preceding year. Halloween although originating in Ireland, was carried to other countries and is now often seen as an equivalent to the popular Day of the Dead Celebration in Mexico. Although, Day of the Dead is about celebrating dead loved ones, the act of dressing up in costumes happens in both celebrations. Halloween follows the ideology that children dress up in costumes and go collect candy from people’s houses whereas day of the dead is centered around the ideology that for one night dead loved ones can be reunited with their families. Easter and the popular Jewish holiday Passover are often seen as the same thing because they fall around the same thing and both celebrate spring. All around the world countries celebrate independence days that are on different days but they all represent relatively the same thing. But, different countries hold different ideologies for their independence days. For