Christmas And Religion
Introduction Many people would agree that Christmas is the most important ceremony in terms of both religion and society in the Western nations. Christmas itself represents the belief of Christianity. However, this idea appears to be changed its original meaning over many years. It seems likely that stores tend to start Christmas sales quite early season: streets are full of Christmas decorations and advertisements. It can be assumed that the change is somewhat related to economic change. With change in economic conditions, people tend to follow materialistic attitudes, and abstract aspect like religious beliefs will be regarded as a less significant factor for their lives. But there will be other reasons in the context of this change.
…show more content…
By this research project, we seek to find out what British people really think about difference in the concept of Christmas between in the past and in the present, and what kind of sense they have for Christmas. In this report, I am going to analyse the difference by mainly taking account of people’s feeling.
Research questions Our main questions in this research project are, “Is there any difference in Christmas in Britain between the past and the present?” In addition, we prepared two questions in order to support the main question. One is “What is your plan in Christmas? “. The other is “What is the meaning of Christmas for you, and is there any change between before and now? “. Based on three questions, we added individually some questions when we interviewed.
Methodology This research project was carried out by interview. Each member interviewed at least one person individually, then we interviewed together in the street which were able to see many people doing the shopping for Christmas. Interviewees were mainly divided into two groups which are younger people and elderly people because our main topic in this research project is the difference between in the past and in the present. Comparing to two groups will bring clearly different consequence about this question.
We conducted the interview with more than ten people. After the interview, we gathered the samples and chose nine samples. Five of them were younger people: four of them were elderly people.
Our findings There was interesting information in this research. We managed to obtain not only typical answers, but also the answers which we did not expect. As both young people and elderly people commented, Christmas has been more commercialised than it was before; moreover, they felt children were given a lot of presents. When they talked about this topic, they would regard this change as a negative aspect. In spite of that, some of them had many shopping bags for Christmas.
Also, many of the interviewees mentioned lack of religious belief which is related to original meaning of Christmas compared with in the past.
While many of them know the real meaning of Christmas, they tend not to go to church. Even Christians accepted this attitude. One elderly person, who was a Christian, said that he was going to church on Christmas day, and Christmas had more religious meaning. But, he also mentioned that even if Christmas had not religious meaning, it would be a special time. That is, there is a tendency that Christmas is an annual event rather than religious a ceremony.
On the other hand, the meaning of Christmas has become more important in terms of family relationship. Nearly every interviewee answered that they stayed with family or relatives and did not say that they would go to travel. One young man said he was Christian and Christmas has religious meaning for him; yet, the most important thing was family relationship. Also one young female said she always stayed with her family. I thought that young people were more likely to spend the time with their friends as Japanese young people do in the New …show more content…
Year.
One interesting answer was the topic about Christmas trees. One younger female said people used artificial trees instead of real trees. This change will be related to environment element and changing Christmas concept. This topic will be discussed in our conclusion.
Conclusion By this research project, I noticed that Christmas has changed. Many people think that Christmas has lost its original meaning and has become more commercialised as just a festival. It seems likely that this transition of the concept occurred partly because of the change in social idea. With capitalism and globalisation being more common, people tend to regard economic factor as a means of improving their standard of living. That is, people are more likely to value economic growth above abstract value. It appears that companies and shops consider Christmas to be the opportunity for business: people enjoy the situation without religious belief.
However, Christmas is still one of the most important ceremonies in terms of maintaining family relationships.
As has been mentioned above, many of the interviewees think that to stay with their family on Christmas is the most significant thing. Although this attitude existed in the past, this tendency seems to be a more influential element, even for young people. The trend is somewhat of a reaction to the social change. It is likely that family size has shrunk in recent years. In addition, people may behave individually with a high standard of living. In short, it can be stated that there is less connection between families in daily life. Therefore Christmas provides the opportunity to reconsider the meaning of family relationships and to make the relationships more
closely.
Also, the use of artificial tree will imply environmental issue. In the past, few people probably care about cutting the tree only for Christmas, but now the trend has become more environmental. To use the artificial tree, people can avoid to waste of real trees every year.
To sum up, although the original meaning of Christmas has become less important, the value of Christmas is still a vital element of people’s lives.
Through the research I realized that interview research was more difficult than I expected. When I conducted the interview, I managed to ask the questions only I prepared. So the information was not good enough quality and quantity. Moreover, it was more complicated to analyse and summarise the information which is obtained by each member because it was relatively different direction. So I think that it is necessary for organized correct result to spend enough time on preparation of proper questions and to discuss the information.
Appendex
[pic]
Peter Palmer: A teacher in Northumbria University (? – elder)
-“I’ll be at home with my family”
-“It’s for family, for children”& “when you are a child, it’s all about presents.”
-“It’s important for me but not for religion reason.”
-More people went to the church in the past than now in Britain.
-TV become more important and shops are open on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas).
-Not sure whether Christmas is important. But Christmas time is a time that most suicides (people killed themselves) happen.
1. People who didn’t have family become disappointed.
2. Family do need families.
[pic]
Elderly couple, 60-70,
11-09-2004, 12:30 PM
‘…always with the family, don’t go anywhere’
‘…more commercialised’ than they were children
‘I think children now… get more, they get more treat.’
[pic]
Jean Primary School teacher (65years)
7-11-2004 4.30pm
“The meaning of Christmas for me, is the time celebrate the birth of Jesus, when Jesus was born, and also it’s the time when we think about our family were given gifts coming from Jesus. So we give our family and friends gifts. So it’s a special time. I think it’s very important, even not religion’s, it’s still important to them. ”
[pic]
[pic]
Simon, 35, M, Salesman
11-07-2004, 13:35 PM
I think ……, every day you see ads saying "buy this for Christmas". You always see windows decorations too early. There are tons of christmas movies, and …… one radio station starts playing continuous Christmas music from the beginning of October! …… Some kids (not all) don't really know the actual meaning of christmas and that it's only about santa. It’s just people care more about the gifts than they do about the spiritual meaning of it, and thats just sad. …… I'm not saying that christmas is evil, because most of the people I know are very religious. It's just I've been seeing so much more stuff this year than last year. And when there are decoration fads, like the Christmas lights, and those blow up santa things, then you you know ……
[pic]
Andy, 20, M, Student
11-10-2004, 17:00 PM
‘…always with my family, everybody gets together’
‘I’m a Christian, I’m going to church, but…family relationship is more important for me.’
‘difference...Christmas is same…past and now, just get more present.’
[pic]
A female student in Newcastle University (age of 20 – younger) - “ I’m going back home with my family” - “For me, it’s religion meaning and with family now.” & ”it’s all about presents when you are a child”. - She thought ”most people stay with their families with meal” - It is commercial for buying things now.
[pic]
[pic]
A lady (30+) with her daughter (5-6)
9-11-2004 1pm Fenwick window
“ Christmas like general holiday. A lot of people forget the real means about Jesus. They only spend so much money to buy. The shops start very early; sell Christmas presents, Christmas gifts, and Christmas decoration, Christmas cards, Christmas trees. A lot of things in shop you can buy. Very commercial! Children want to Christmas very much. Sometimes gifts are quite expensive. Many single families, they haven’t got more money. They will go to debt over the Christmas. That’s not a good thing.”
[pic]
Carrie, 30, F, Teacher
11-08-2004, 17:40 PM
…… It's just an event where some people actually do believe in it's meaning, and others just use to spend lots of money...etc. I agree, kids don't look forward to the celebration of the birth of Christ, they look forward to getting new toys and presents. …… Real trees are much prettier and much more attractive than artificial trees, and they smell wonderful. More and more people start to use artificial trees cos an artificial tree can last for many years and a live tree is only chopped down for the Christmas season. ……
[pic]
David Common, 30, M, Teacher
11-09-2004, 18:05 PM
My mum and dad will do a big Xmas meal, ……I’m not Christian, so I needn’t go to church. I drink with my brother and friends …… I image in the past it is much more tendency to go to church, and less and less people go to church now. I think less people are Christian, they believe themselves, believe money, ……
[pic]
[pic]
By this research project, we seek to find out what British people really think about difference in the concept of Christmas between in the past and in the present, and what kind of sense they have for Christmas. In this report, I am going to analyse the difference by mainly taking account of people’s feeling.
Research questions Our main questions in this research project are, “Is there any difference in Christmas in Britain between the past and the present?” In addition, we prepared two questions in order to support the main question. One is “What is your plan in Christmas? “. The other is “What is the meaning of Christmas for you, and is there any change between before and now? “. Based on three questions, we added individually some questions when we interviewed.
Methodology This research project was carried out by interview. Each member interviewed at least one person individually, then we interviewed together in the street which were able to see many people doing the shopping for Christmas. Interviewees were mainly divided into two groups which are younger people and elderly people because our main topic in this research project is the difference between in the past and in the present. Comparing to two groups will bring clearly different consequence about this question.
We conducted the interview with more than ten people. After the interview, we gathered the samples and chose nine samples. Five of them were younger people: four of them were elderly people.
Our findings There was interesting information in this research. We managed to obtain not only typical answers, but also the answers which we did not expect. As both young people and elderly people commented, Christmas has been more commercialised than it was before; moreover, they felt children were given a lot of presents. When they talked about this topic, they would regard this change as a negative aspect. In spite of that, some of them had many shopping bags for Christmas.
Also, many of the interviewees mentioned lack of religious belief which is related to original meaning of Christmas compared with in the past.
While many of them know the real meaning of Christmas, they tend not to go to church. Even Christians accepted this attitude. One elderly person, who was a Christian, said that he was going to church on Christmas day, and Christmas had more religious meaning. But, he also mentioned that even if Christmas had not religious meaning, it would be a special time. That is, there is a tendency that Christmas is an annual event rather than religious a ceremony.
On the other hand, the meaning of Christmas has become more important in terms of family relationship. Nearly every interviewee answered that they stayed with family or relatives and did not say that they would go to travel. One young man said he was Christian and Christmas has religious meaning for him; yet, the most important thing was family relationship. Also one young female said she always stayed with her family. I thought that young people were more likely to spend the time with their friends as Japanese young people do in the New …show more content…
Year.
One interesting answer was the topic about Christmas trees. One younger female said people used artificial trees instead of real trees. This change will be related to environment element and changing Christmas concept. This topic will be discussed in our conclusion.
Conclusion By this research project, I noticed that Christmas has changed. Many people think that Christmas has lost its original meaning and has become more commercialised as just a festival. It seems likely that this transition of the concept occurred partly because of the change in social idea. With capitalism and globalisation being more common, people tend to regard economic factor as a means of improving their standard of living. That is, people are more likely to value economic growth above abstract value. It appears that companies and shops consider Christmas to be the opportunity for business: people enjoy the situation without religious belief.
However, Christmas is still one of the most important ceremonies in terms of maintaining family relationships.
As has been mentioned above, many of the interviewees think that to stay with their family on Christmas is the most significant thing. Although this attitude existed in the past, this tendency seems to be a more influential element, even for young people. The trend is somewhat of a reaction to the social change. It is likely that family size has shrunk in recent years. In addition, people may behave individually with a high standard of living. In short, it can be stated that there is less connection between families in daily life. Therefore Christmas provides the opportunity to reconsider the meaning of family relationships and to make the relationships more
closely.
Also, the use of artificial tree will imply environmental issue. In the past, few people probably care about cutting the tree only for Christmas, but now the trend has become more environmental. To use the artificial tree, people can avoid to waste of real trees every year.
To sum up, although the original meaning of Christmas has become less important, the value of Christmas is still a vital element of people’s lives.
Through the research I realized that interview research was more difficult than I expected. When I conducted the interview, I managed to ask the questions only I prepared. So the information was not good enough quality and quantity. Moreover, it was more complicated to analyse and summarise the information which is obtained by each member because it was relatively different direction. So I think that it is necessary for organized correct result to spend enough time on preparation of proper questions and to discuss the information.
Appendex
[pic]
Peter Palmer: A teacher in Northumbria University (? – elder)
-“I’ll be at home with my family”
-“It’s for family, for children”& “when you are a child, it’s all about presents.”
-“It’s important for me but not for religion reason.”
-More people went to the church in the past than now in Britain.
-TV become more important and shops are open on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas).
-Not sure whether Christmas is important. But Christmas time is a time that most suicides (people killed themselves) happen.
1. People who didn’t have family become disappointed.
2. Family do need families.
[pic]
Elderly couple, 60-70,
11-09-2004, 12:30 PM
‘…always with the family, don’t go anywhere’
‘…more commercialised’ than they were children
‘I think children now… get more, they get more treat.’
[pic]
Jean Primary School teacher (65years)
7-11-2004 4.30pm
“The meaning of Christmas for me, is the time celebrate the birth of Jesus, when Jesus was born, and also it’s the time when we think about our family were given gifts coming from Jesus. So we give our family and friends gifts. So it’s a special time. I think it’s very important, even not religion’s, it’s still important to them. ”
[pic]
[pic]
Simon, 35, M, Salesman
11-07-2004, 13:35 PM
I think ……, every day you see ads saying "buy this for Christmas". You always see windows decorations too early. There are tons of christmas movies, and …… one radio station starts playing continuous Christmas music from the beginning of October! …… Some kids (not all) don't really know the actual meaning of christmas and that it's only about santa. It’s just people care more about the gifts than they do about the spiritual meaning of it, and thats just sad. …… I'm not saying that christmas is evil, because most of the people I know are very religious. It's just I've been seeing so much more stuff this year than last year. And when there are decoration fads, like the Christmas lights, and those blow up santa things, then you you know ……
[pic]
Andy, 20, M, Student
11-10-2004, 17:00 PM
‘…always with my family, everybody gets together’
‘I’m a Christian, I’m going to church, but…family relationship is more important for me.’
‘difference...Christmas is same…past and now, just get more present.’
[pic]
A female student in Newcastle University (age of 20 – younger) - “ I’m going back home with my family” - “For me, it’s religion meaning and with family now.” & ”it’s all about presents when you are a child”. - She thought ”most people stay with their families with meal” - It is commercial for buying things now.
[pic]
[pic]
A lady (30+) with her daughter (5-6)
9-11-2004 1pm Fenwick window
“ Christmas like general holiday. A lot of people forget the real means about Jesus. They only spend so much money to buy. The shops start very early; sell Christmas presents, Christmas gifts, and Christmas decoration, Christmas cards, Christmas trees. A lot of things in shop you can buy. Very commercial! Children want to Christmas very much. Sometimes gifts are quite expensive. Many single families, they haven’t got more money. They will go to debt over the Christmas. That’s not a good thing.”
[pic]
Carrie, 30, F, Teacher
11-08-2004, 17:40 PM
…… It's just an event where some people actually do believe in it's meaning, and others just use to spend lots of money...etc. I agree, kids don't look forward to the celebration of the birth of Christ, they look forward to getting new toys and presents. …… Real trees are much prettier and much more attractive than artificial trees, and they smell wonderful. More and more people start to use artificial trees cos an artificial tree can last for many years and a live tree is only chopped down for the Christmas season. ……
[pic]
David Common, 30, M, Teacher
11-09-2004, 18:05 PM
My mum and dad will do a big Xmas meal, ……I’m not Christian, so I needn’t go to church. I drink with my brother and friends …… I image in the past it is much more tendency to go to church, and less and less people go to church now. I think less people are Christian, they believe themselves, believe money, ……
[pic]
[pic]