Production Statement and Introduction

Think about the major holidays that you celebrate yearly. What are the images and traditions that come to mind? For Christmas, many Americans would say Santa, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, gift giving, Black Friday sales, and candy canes. For Easter, one might think of the Easter bunny, painted eggs, hollow chocolate bunnies, and Peeps. For Valentine’s Day, the usual response is hearts, Cupid, cards and flowers, and red roses. For St. Patrick’s Day, common associations are leprechauns, four leaf clovers, drinking, and wearing green.

One can’t argue that all these do describe normal symbols with which these holidays are associated with. But do these items truly capture what these holidays are about? In your answer, would you recognize the true meaning of these holidays? What the American culture tends to forget is that all these holidays were originally celebrated as Christian holidays with specific religious backgrounds and meanings. For example, Christmas is meant to celebrate the birth of Christ, making Jesus the true religious symbol of the holiday. Easter commemorates the resurrection of Christ and calls to remembrance His crucifixion and death. Valentine’s Day commemorates St. Valentine and his unrelenting dedication to marrying young Romans during the third century. St. Patrick’s Day celebrates St. Patrick, the man who Christianized the Irish people during the fifth century.

The truth is that a majority of Americans, including those who celebrate these holidays, do not know these religious associations. We were certainly surprised in our findings to discover that holidays such as Saint Patrick’s and Valentine’s Day were started to memorialize two Catholic saints. We were also surprised to see that many holidays even had a history prior to their religious celebration, with different traditions that were adopted by the Catholic church upon recognizing the day as a “Christian” holiday. Through our research we realized that many factors, both religious and secular, contributed to the creation of the holidays, and many other factors since their creation have also played a role in their gradual secularization.  So, one can’t be too critical of the secular representations of these holidays and the Americans who associate these holidays with non-religious aspects. It’s not uncommon in a media-centered culture such as ours to simply recognize the commercial characters and symbols with which a holiday is most often depicted.  They are easier to use when it comes to commercializing and the need for present-purchasing and giving, mostly in the case of Christmas.  Stores can use these more secularized symbols to sell their materials as they are not as denominational to the specific religion, in this case Christian.  But is it wrong that these holidays are now being celebrated by people who have no concept of what the holiday is meant to represent? For example, it is common today for people who are do not associate themselves with a specific denomination of Christianity, and even people who are not religious at all, to celebrate many or all of these holidays, clearly without recognizing their religious meanings. They have become overwhelmed with the commercial symbols, which are constantly present in our media and at public locations.  The holidays themselves have inherently become secularized over the years due to factors such as the increasingly valued commercialization in our society. Although Americans celebrate these holidays, many do not pay due respect to the Christian backgrounds which these major holidays all share.

According to a Gallup poll conducted in 2004, while approximately 84% of Americans identify with some denomination of Christianity, 96% say that they celebrate Christmas. This statistic shows how Christmas is celebrated by many non-Christians as well as Christians, and therefore no longer corresponds with its traditional Christian roots as closely.  But is this necessarily bad? One might argue that our nation, being a “melting-pot” of cultures, needs these holidays to be secularized, so that more of our population is able to enjoy them without having to pay respects to the Christian religion.  But what about those who are Christian, and still fail to fully recognize what these holidays symbolize? Are material goods and artificial themes ruining these holidays, when they were originally intended to exemplify Christian values and morals?

Our goal in researching this topic and delving more into the history of these holidays was to understand how and why these holidays have begun to lose their religious context and what effects this has had on the American public’s individual “representations” of these different holidays. We wanted to understand how these holidays developed from their origins and how they have eventually become what they are today.  Will this trend continue as time progresses?  We’re curious to know that answer.

Producer's Journal: Katherine Sanderson

          Over the time I have spent researching our topic, I have not once felt that the information I was uncovering was not interesting. From the start of our project, I found it fascinating learning about holidays that I have celebrated my entire life, and learning about how they have and are celebrated and why they are celebrated in those ways. I was not raised under any certain religion, so as a child I was one of those people who attended church for Easter and that was the extend of my knowledge of Christianity or the religious significance the holidays I celebrated had. It’s only been over the last four years since I’ve become a Catholic that I’ve come to recognize and appreciate the history and the values behind these major holidays. And I must admit, that since I’ve gained this new knowledge, I’ve often felt a feeling of superiority to those who didn’t have a religion, as well as a feeling of pity for those who didn’t know what religion could do for them. I felt like being religious made me more moral, such as my friends Melissa and Charlotte, who I worked on this project with. But over the course of this project, I have come to look at my religion with a more critical eye and see the parts that I don’t agree with. I say “parts I don’t agree with” instead of faults, because I still do feel that there’s no superior religion.  I really encourage the institution of religion, as I see it as a good structure for one to base their moral and ethics in life. But I know that even a religious person can have no morals, and that many moral people don’t have religion in their lives. Even though I knew that Catholicism/Christianity, along with all other religions, has had their bad points in history, where they have disregarded universal values, I never realized how much interaction and conflict can be caused by religion. In this project, I saw how Christians celebrating their holy days can cause controversy, and how the world has adapted to become more secular. I see religion now not as just a way in which an individual lives their life, but I understand how much religion plays a part in politics, culture, and world events. Although the world is becoming more secularized and religion is no longer the center of most cultures, it still is present in so many aspects of life. I’m truly enjoy my religion, and I hope that others enjoy their religion, whatever that may be, just as much as I do.

Producer's Journal: Charlotte Cotterill Brown

          Researching the histories of important Christian holidays such as Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day, and St. Patrick’s Day was very interesting for me.  I thought that with my limited experiences with religion in England with the Church of England that I wouldn’t know much about the actual histories other than what I’ve learned from their secularization.  However, I knew a little more than I thought I did already.  Learning more about where the actual holidays came from was very inspiring and interesting.  Although I like learning about different religions and the histories behind them, the fact that these holidays have been secularized doesn’t bug me.  As I am not religious at all, I find it actually helpful that these now mainstream religions have been secularized allowing more people to celebrate and spread holiday cheer.  The holidays, as the Christmas season is now called, are a time for giving and sharing with family and friends, despite the underlying theme and message of the birth of Jesus.  Christmas is one of my favorite holidays and always has been very enjoyable.  For my family and I it is a time for family and we always spend the day together playing with our presents and eating lots of good food.  Baking makes it homey and enjoyable.  I still recognize that the true meaning of Christmas is for Jesus, but as I was raised in a nonreligious setting I celebrate the more secularized aspects of Christmas such as Santa and gifts, but with a deeper meaning of my family and the love and support we have for each other.

Producer's Journal: Melissa Bica

When I was first assigned this project, I was very unsure about what I would be able to do or contribute due to my lack or religious knowledge. I figured that we would have to do lots of research and reading on typical and, in my opinion, boring religious topics. However, once my group and I came up with our topic, I became much more excited and interested in pursuing the project. Not being very religious, I still celebrate religious holidays, especially Christmas, Easter, Passover, and Hanukkah. My family concentrates more on the Catholic holidays, but celebrate only secularly—i.e., we don’t go to church. I feel that my family does give in to the secularization and commercialization of Christian traditions based on our typical celebrations. However, it’s not as if all we care about are gifts and shopping during the holidays—we do spend time together and enjoy each other’s company, which I think is equally important as cherishing the religious roots. Through doing this project, though, I have begun to question whether it’s “acceptable” to only personally take part in the more secular aspects of the holidays. Considering my lack of strong affiliation with any religion, I think that it is acceptable, because for me, holidays are meant to be a time to celebrate togetherness, especially with family and friends. I don’t need religion to be able to celebrate the holidays—they should be spent however people like. The over-commercialization of many holidays is much more of a problem to me because it reflects flawed values of many Americans. Overall, my holiday celebrations do not reveal any religious aspects of my life, and I am at ease with celebrating them secularly and in my own way.