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Adam DiSarro Term
Paper
Religion in American History – Prof. Joseph Williams Due April 27, 2016
Criticizing Consumerism: The Catholic Church’s Backlash on Modern
Holiday Rituals
Paper by Adam DiSarro (RUID 134004584)
Movements continually come and go, and a large proportion of movements’
popularity is fueled by backlash about losing ground to something else. Christmas is a
time of the year where this backlash is most evident in the United States’ shopping-
based consumer economy, where retail has become potentially dangerous and religious
institutions have lost ground to the chaotic events of the secular world. This came to
light recently on Christmas of 2015, when Pope Francis, leader of the Catholic Church,
delivered a sermon at Midnight Mass which criticized consumer culture. As the world
has globalized, more countries have followed the United States of America by endorsing
a retail-driven consumer economy. There are many factors that have made Christmas in
the 21st century United States what it is, and numerous factions have been challenged by
religious authority. But ultimately, the criticism of consumer culture by Catholic and
Christian leaders traces down to the most essential values of Christianity.
On the first Christmas when Jesus was born, the event was very simple and a far cry
from today. He was born in a manger to Mary and Joseph as the inns nearby were at full
capacity, but it is believed that Jesus was born during the season of Spring, while
farmers were tilling their fields. No such “Christmas trees” or mistletoe, flying reindeer,
yule logs, holly, or poinsettias appeared at Christ’s birth. The second chapter of the
Gospel of Matthew features three wise men delivering gifts: “and when they had opened
their treasures, they presented untohim gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.”
(Matthew 2:11 KJV). But as passages of the Bible depict the delivery of gifts to Mary and
Joseph, this giving of gifts has been exploited in the material sense of consumerism and
profits which the Church has harshly criticized. The material gifts given in the Bible
symbolize praise to God, but has since become children’s anticipation for the latest new
toys and gadgets, in turn driving the consumer economy.
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The warnings against material excess trace back to Hebrew verses in both Judaism
and Christianity, and such material excess has historically been regarded as a problem
to the Catholic Church. The Twenty-Third Psalm states: “The Lord is my Shepherd, I
shall not want.” (Psalm 23:1). The Ten Commandments, also from Hebrew scriptures,
features the commandment not to covet others’ goods: "You shall not covet your
neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male or female
servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." (Exodus 20:17
NIV). Scriptures state that the meek shall inherit the Earth, including Matthew 5:5 and
the thirty-seventh Psalm. Matthew 5 is about Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount, in
the fifth verse stating: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew
5:5 ESV). Self-absorption is generally regarded as sinful, especially when one is devoid
of caring for others. In the New Testament, Luke 12:15 features a quote of “Watch out!
Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of
possessions.” (Luke 12:15 NIV). James 1:14-15, discussing “deadly” sins, states “but each
person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.
Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives
birth to death.” (James 1:14-15 NIV).
The popular Christmas of today has been around since before Christ. Before there
was ever Jesus, there was Saturnalia. This Roman pagan holiday, which most have never
heard of, was the festive precursor to Christmas in December. Much of modern
Christmas traditions really started here including charity for the poor, decorating trees,
gathering with family, and giving gifts. (Salusbury, 2009). The starting date of
Saturnalia would always be December 17, but the ending date varied throughout the
years. This pre-Christian tradition ended up becoming a weeklong event filled with
lawlessness and ending on December 25. The twenty-fifth day of December was thus
seen as a return to order and civility, and early Christian leaders established this day as
the day to celebrate Christ’s birth. Carried over traditions from Saturnalia and the
establishment of December 25 as Christmas set the landscape for both celebrations and
criticisms ever since. Backlashes against popular interpretations of the holiday are
nothing new. The continuation of preexisting pagan rituals during Christmas led to the
Puritans’ ban of Christmas celebrations in the early Massachusetts colony. The
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lawlessness holiday from Roman times carried over, along with rituals seen as not being
true to the faith by Puritans. (Nissenbaum, 1996). A common denominator is the two-
testament Bible, as both Catholics and Puritans base their Christian religion upon it.
The term “Black Friday” derives from retailers’ profits on the day after
Thanksgiving. Throughout most of the year, these retailers operate at a loss or in “red”
but just after Thanksgiving, they make a profit which brings “black” markings. Since
Black Friday has taken off in popularity, additional days have been made “special” in the
retail world. The Monday after Thanksgiving has become “Cyber Monday” while the
Saturday after Thanksgiving has become “Small Business Saturday.” The term “Cyber
Monday” was first coined in 2005 by the National Retail Federation’s Shop.org in the
United States before spreading worldwide over the next decade. (Pruitt, 2015). “Small
Business Saturday” on the other hand was started in 2010 by American Express as a day
for shoppers to support small businesses in need of more revenue during the peak
shopping season. Small Business Saturday continues rapid growth and even
endorsement from the President and Senate of the United States, with consumer
spending leaping fourteen percent between 2014 and 2015. (Walker, Mozloom, &
Agrawal, 2015). Thus, three realms of retail in the United States have their dedicated
days: big-box stores, online retailers, and small businesses. Even more recently, stores
have started having sales on Thanksgiving night right after dinner hours in a
phenomenon called “Black Thursday.” This has proven quite controversial among the
much of the public and numerous large retailers who devote Thanksgiving Day to their
families, with masses of people pledging to boycott it. There is even a “Boycott Black
Thursday” organization featuring a Facebook page and Twitter account. (Tuttle, 2014).
The conflict over Christmas finally led to Pope Francis’ sermon blasting
consumerism in December 2015, at the Christmas Midnight Mass in the Vatican before
about ten thousand congregants. Historically, the Catholic Church and the Holy See
have seen the sprawling effects of consumerism fitting the problem of people always
wanting more. The Gospel during these Masses on Christmas is no more than Jesus’
birth, and the Pope contrasted Jesus’ words to the chaos of the consumer world: “In a
society so often intoxicated by consumerism and hedonism, wealth and extravagance,
appearances and narcissism, this Child calls us to act soberly, in other words, in a way
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that is simple, balanced, consistent, capable of seeing and doing what is essential.”
(Catholic Herald, 2015). This builds on Pope John Paul II’s many comments on
consumerism’s evils throughout the years. In broader context, handling globalization
was a forefront challenge during John Paul’s long tenure as Pontiff, and continues
today. More nations are entering a world of retail and consumerism, but John Paul II
has warned about its consequences against faith, human rights, and wellbeing. One such
example during a sermon on March 1, 1998: "Christ alone can free man from what
enslaves him to evil and selfishness: from the frantic search for material possessions,
from the thirst for power and control over others and over things, from the illusion of
easy success, from the frenzy of consumerism and hedonism which ultimately destroy
the human being." (Beliefnet). Pope Francis has taken his message’s theme into the
everyday context, giving up such material possessions of high value at the Vatican
displayed by previous Popes. Francis’ message challenging the consumer world has thus
taken the Catholic Church’s historic views on the harms of material excess into a life of
leadership by example, further challenging what dominates global economics during the
holiday season.
With the modern American economy’s retail-driven structure and the rise of
shopping day sales, it is no surprise that the Roman Catholic Church’s leadership
continuously decries holiday consumer rituals. As more days of the year become major
retail events including Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday, the
establishment of the Church continues to view the world from faith based in the Bible.
Catholic leaders’ messages resonate well in the public as people continue to push back
against retail’s challenge of cherished family time, especially on Thanksgiving. The retail
chaos is a far cry from the Bible’s messages about the meek inheriting the Earth,
dismissing material possessions’ significance, against lust and greed, and against self-
indulgence. Pope Francis has enjoyed popularity among countless religions in his
humble approach to leading the Catholic Church, and as he retains his popularity, the
Church will continue to criticize the consumer economy to the likes of the multicultural
world.
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How the Peer Review Process Changed this Paper
The peer review process and subsequent meetings with a writing tutor would
narrow this paper’s thesis to something much smaller and more specific than before.
During the peer review process, ideas for this paper were either refined or discarded. In
addition, I reviewed with numerous others outside class who also contributed insights
for the paper. One of these people was a writing tutor, who suggested I narrow down the
topic to something much simpler. After that, I decided to focus on the Vatican’s backlash
against consumerism on Christmas, rather than the broader two-way relationship
between religion and the economy. This theme of numerous Popes’ criticisms made me
trace back to several Biblical verses warning about material possession, greed, and
money. As consumerism during the Christmas season is a very complex subject and I
needed a simpler base to this paper, I chose the Holy See’s consumer criticism as my
thesis. Additionally, to keep the essay from wandering, issues of the “War on Christmas”
and critics of multiculturalism are not included. While these are indeed relevant topics,
multiculturalism is a much different factor than the paper’s topic of consumerism. Much
information would be retained from before the peer review, but would take on a
different form because of a new thesis.
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Sources
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Nissenbaum, S. (1996). The battle for Christmas: A social and cultural history of
our most cherished holiday. New York: Vintage
Schmidt, L.E. (1995). Consumer rites: The buying and selling of American
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Lowe, S. (1996, December 20). From pagan rites to gifts in the parlor: How America
re-invented Christmas. The Chronicle of Higher Education, pp. A13, A14
Tuttle, B. (2014, November 25). 7 things to know about Thanksgiving shopping
boycotts. Money. Retrieved from http://time.com/money/3605226/thanksgiving-
shopping-boycotts/
Pruitt, S. (2015, November 24). What’s the real history of Black Friday? History in
the Headlines. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/news/whats-the-real-
history-of-black-friday
Staff Reporter. (2015, December 25). Christmas Eve Mass: Pope Francis denounces
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francis-denounces-consumerist-and-hedonistic-society/
Beliefnet What’s wrong with the world? (n.d.) In Beliefnet online. Retrieved from
http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Catholic/2000/01/Whats-Wrong-With-The-
World.aspx
(Pope Francis I, homily at Midnight Mass, December 25, 2015).
(Pope John Paul II, homily, March 1, 1998).
Walker, R., Mozloom, J., & Agrawal, S. (2015, November 30). Small Business
Saturday results: Shoppers provide encouraging start to the holiday shopping
season. Business Wire. Retrieved from
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151130005359/en/
History Today Salusbury, M. (2009, December 12). Did the Romans invent Christmas?
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Holy Bible: King James Version
