As Advent approaches, the Injustice Gamer notes the increasing commercialization and concurrently decreasing observance of religious holidays.
But the celebration of religious holy days and festivals is largely a foreign concept, especially when one looks at the family problems of the day. When kids start seeing all the problems of Christmas and Thanksgiving in coordination at both mom and dad’s houses, and want stability instead, the concept is undermined. Yes, further than the materialistic nature Christmas has taken on more and more.
Since family has been destroyed as a concept for many, there’s the attractiveness of celebration with friends. And while holy days are indeed appropriate to share in feasting, they’ve already been poisoned in many minds and hearts. And Halloween in the minds of the nones has nothing to do with faith, after all, it’s been associated with witches and horror for ages in pop culture.
One reason why Postmoderns need to perpetually denigrate superior medieval culture is the fact that not only were holy days taken more seriously in the Ages of Faith, there were more of them. Peasants in the Middle Ages enjoyed many more days off than contemporary cubicle slaves.
But of course, we can’t mention that since Big Brother needs his tax revenue–the welfare state being another consequence of Christianity’s decline in the West. (See the destruction of family above.)
For those who don’t understand why Halloween overtaking Christmas as the most popular holiday has major cultural implications, consider that Christmas’ prior claim to the top spot is itself an aberration. After all, the holiest day of the year is Easter, not Christmas. Yet most people–even most Christians–are ignorant of this fact.
As renowned folklorist Joseph Campbell observed, myths are how a culture explains itself to itself. And no, Campbell didn’t mean “myth” in the Postmodern sense of “falsehood”. He was thinking more along the lines of Lewis.
Religious rituals like holidays are how the lessons and spiritual nourishment contained within myths are applied to people’s daily lives. Cut people off from the rituals, and you get cultural death.
You might object that Americans still participate in public rituals associated with secular holidays. But that’s like saying everything’s fine even though there’s no more water because there’s plenty of New Coke for everyone.
Put another way, there are two Greek words for time. Kairos is sacred time, liturgical time; time that touches eternity. Kairos is when the transcendent touches the mundane and thus when myths break through into people’s lives.
Chronos is sequential, earthly time. When you’re waiting in line at the DMV, stuck in traffic, or watching television, that’s chronos. It’s concerned only with the here and now.
What’s happened in Western culture is the wholesale denial of any experience of kairos to vast swaths of the population. Even when people think they’re keeping the old rituals–buying gifts, throwing big dinner parties, etc.–most of their holiday experience is stuck firmly in chronos. That’s by design.
Alfred offers some suggestions for how to revive Christendom’s dying traditions. His last point in particular resonated with me for obvious reasons.
We are seeing well written novels come out that respect faith, and “Christian” movies are starting to get the need for less insular audiences as well. Who’s missing? The commentators and populizers. But I don’t think it’s for the same reasons quite as conservatives. Some may be due to ignorance, some due to a rejection of portrayal of sin, which is lying to ourselves. We are fallen, and have redemption only as a gift.
And I have seen many push the idea of reading only old books, and the superiority of old art, etc. But the problem there is, if they won’t help with supporting the new works, the restoration they desire will never happen; art needs funding. You want to replace modern garbage with real art? Put up or shut up. Enough with the navel gazing superiority.
Luckily, I’m well placed to offer readers the perfect chance to put up.
