Reply #10: Exactly right--this is not about pushy Christians but pushy retailers [View All]

I just came back from Japan, and the department stores were already into the Christmas shopping mode. Only 1% of Japanese are Christian, but Christmas happens to coincide with Japan's tradition of o-seibo, in which you give presents to people to whom you have obligations, according to the Japanese social system. There is no tradition of gift giving among adult friends or family members, although children are given money (o-toshidama) on New Year's Day.

The whole retail Christmas scene is NOT Christians pushing their religion on everyone else. It's desperate retailers (religious attitudes unknown) attempting to drum up some business in what has been a bad year for department stores. Look at the business sections of newspapers, about how retailers are hoping that an early Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving)will save them from losses. (Many retailers make up to half their annual sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas.)

According to traditional Christianity, Christmas starts on December 24 and continues until January 6, the feast of Epiphany. The four weeks before are the season of Advent, which has its own customs (Advent wreaths, Advent calendars, fasts for traditional Catholics and Orthodox) and music (a whole section of the typical hymnal).

In the church calendar, it's still the Sundays after Pentecost.

What I hear around my church is NOT people saying, "Oh goody, we're getting an extra couple of weeks to push our religion." What I'm hearing instead is similar to what's on this thread, "Could we at least finish Thanksgiving first?"