Christmas in the U.S.

Christmas usually celebrated...

predominantly
celebrated through:
religion
family

Religious aspects of Christmas

Religion:
those who celebrate the
religious meaning of
Christmas, usually
believers of Jesus Christ
recognize and celebrate
the birth of Christ on
Dec. 25th
usually celebrate by
attending mass

Christmas with the family

Celebrated by
religious and nonreligious families
a day to be together
with family
many Americans travel
long distances to be
together with family
families set up home
decorations together
most families partake
in gift giving

"Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays"

the U.S. has many different cultures and
not everyone is Christian
those who are of different cultures, religions
or are non-religious prefer to say "Happy
Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas"

this is because other holidays also occur

around the same time as Christmas
(Holiday season starts after Thanksgiving
and ends January 1st)

Hanukkah
an eight-day Jewish
holiday
commemorating the
Second Temple in
Jerusalem at the time
of the Maccabean
Revolt in the 2nd
century BC.

Hanukkah
Hanukkah is celebrated
for eight nights and days,
starting on the 25th day
of Kislev in the Hebrew
calendar,
in the Gregorian calendar
it may occur at any time
from late November to
late December
in 2013, Thanksgiving and
Hannukah were in the
same week

Kwanzaa
not a religious holiday,
but established as a
means to help African
Americans reconnect with
their African cultural and
historical heritage by
uniting in meditation and
study of African traditions
Kwanzaa is a celebration
that has its roots in the
black nationalist movement
of the 1960s and created in
1966

Kwanzaa
7 Principles of Kwanzaa: unity,
self-determination, collective
work and responsibility,
cooperative economics,
purpose, creativity, faith.
official colors of Kwanzaa:
red, symbolizing the struggles
of the African people;
black, symbolizing Earth and
the African people;
green, symbolizing hope and
the future.
One candle is lit each day of
Kwanzaa.

Fun Facts: Santa Claus, real or

fake?
Santa Claus is based
on a real person!
Saint Nicholas, a 4th
century bishop from
Myra (modern-day
Turkey)
used his family's
inheritance to help the
poor and the suffering
died 343AD, one
century later
cannonized as a saint

Fun Facts: Santa Claus, real or

fake?
Santa Claus known
by different names
and looks
in Holland, he's called
"Sinterklaas"
Before 19th century,
Santa Claus was
known to be slim and
somber
but......

Fun Facts: Santa Claus, real or

fake?

Santa's makeover
in 1863, a new image of Santa Claus in "Harper's Magazine"
showed him as plump, jolly with a long white beard
in 1930s, Coca Cola began to use Santa Claus in it's ads, as
Coke spread all over the wrold, Santa's new image went along
with it

Fun Facts: Christmas trees

Origins in a Pagan-German ritual
as Christianity spread in Europe, Germans
made christmas trees a part of their Christian
celebration
but many non-German Christians rejected the
Christmas tree, until....

Fun Facts: Christmas trees

Queen Victoria of
England
convinced her German
husband, Prince Albert,
to make decorate a tree
like in his childhood in
1848
once people saw the
Queen's tree, everyone
wanted a christmas tree

Fun Facts: Christmas in U.S.A.

Questions?

Using your knowledge of Christmas

in the U.S., argue the following:
1. People have forgotten the
meaning of Christmas and has
become too commercialised.
2. The U.S. should not allow the
celebration of other religions
and cultures, only Christmas.

1. It's better that people can

celebrate Christmas however
they choose.

3. Merry Christmas, not Happy

Holidays
4. What is Christmas in Spain
like?
5. Find out which of your
classmates was the last to
discover Santa Claus doesn't
exist.

3. Happy Holidays, not Merry

Christmas.
4. What is Christmas in Spain
like?
5. Find out which of your
classmates was the last to
discover Santa Claus doesn't
exist.

2. The U.S. must allow other

cultures' to celebrate their
heritage and traditions.