Keep Christmas in perspective

Weber State University professor Kay Gillespie is a lot like many of us, we suspect. He loves Christmas but he loathes what it has become.

Unlike most of us who merely grumble under our breath as we go about obligatory holiday preparations, family gatherings or migraine-inducing excursions to malls and big-box stores, Gillespie gets on his soap box. This past week, Gillespie conducted a public lecture at WSU's Ogden campus to air his concerns.

So there's no misunderstanding, Gillespie says he loves Christmas. But his version of holiday has nothing to do with Santa Claus. His holiday centers on the birth of Christ.

Today's Christmases have become far removed from the story of the babe in the manger. Instead of being centered on the Almighty, the holiday is centered on the almighty dollar. Scarcely has the Halloween sugar buzz subsided before stores are decking the halls with Christmas selections. Thanksgiving? Forget about it.

Gillespie thinks Santa Claus has had a role in the commercialism that overshadows the true meaning of Christmas. After Santa became a staple in Coca-Cola advertisements in the 1920s, parents started telling children that Santa is real and he would bring them presents. With those types of expectations, who would dare to disappoint their child?

Gillespie takes exception with that approach because it violates issues of trust and honesty between a child and his or her parents. It's a lie, he says. He practices what he preaches: Santa has no place in the Gillespie home.

He prefers the European practice of giving Santa his due on Dec. 6, then focusing on the true meaning of Christmas, which is to celebrate the birth of Christ.

When one thinks about it, there are probably no more disparate traditions. Christ urged followers to love and help their fellow man. The tradition of Santa Claus encourages giving and consumption, not necessarily among those who need it. There's nothing to suggest that families don't do both, but the commercialization of the holidays makes it difficult for many Americans to keep their priorities straight.

In a pluralistic society such as the United States, there is no single correct way to celebrate the winter holidays. But credit Gillespie for drawing the distinction between rank consumerism that urges buying the hottest gift every year and the birth of a child that Christians believe was the greatest gift of all.