ネイティブが教える英会話のジェムスクール☆Teachers☆

In the last of the series on Christmas:

33% Santa Claus
33% Medieval Traditions of Food, Song, and Decoration
33% Baby Jesus
and 1% People who hate Christmas

Not all Christians celebrate Christmas, and not all people who celebrate Christmas are Christians. Obviously, non-Christians don't care much about the Jesus stuff, but you don't have to be Christian to enjoy going to Christmas parties, giving Christmas presents, singing Christmas songs, or decorating a Christmas tree.

However, recently, a small number of very loud and therefore influential people have tried to remove Christmas from public life. Chistmas is, at its center, a Christian holiday, and their feeling is that celebrating Chistmas, especially its Christian aspects, is offensive to non-Christians. A lot of schools, businesses, and government agencies have tried to stop mentioning Christmas to avoid potentially offending a very small, vocal minority. You can't have a Christmas tree, but you can have a "holiday tree." You can't have a Christmas party, but you can have a "winter festivity." And above all else, you can't say, "Merry Christmas!"

At the other end of the spectrum, a lot of people have become angry at the focus on shopping and gifts, and material things, instead of family and spiritual matters. Most stores in America start putting up Christmas decorations in October and playing Christmas music in November, which is a little early for most peoples' tastes. People who dislike Christmas for these reasons are often called a 'Scrooge' after the character from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol or a 'Grinch' after the character from Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas.



This is the only Grinch. Accept no substitutes.