Christmas is celebrated in the U.S. through both religious and secular traditions. Religiously, it commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, while secular celebrations involve gift-giving and spending time with family. Other winter holidays observed in the U.S. during this season include Hanukkah, a Jewish festival of lights, and Kwanzaa, an African American cultural celebration from December 26th to January 1st. Debate exists around using religious phrases like "Merry Christmas" versus more inclusive greetings like "Happy Holidays" due to America's diversity of faiths.

1. Christmas in the U.S.

2. Christmas usually celebrated...
• predominantly
celebrated through:
– religion
– family

3. Religious aspects of Christmas
• Religion:
– those who celebrate the
religious meaning of
Christmas, usually
believers of Jesus Christ
– recognize and celebrate
the birth of Christ on
Dec. 25th
– usually celebrate by
attending mass

4. Christmas with the family
• Celebrated by
religious and non-
religious families
– a day to be together
with family
– many Americans travel
long distances to be
together with family
– families set up home
decorations together
– most families partake
in gift giving

5. "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays"
• the U.S. has many different cultures and
not everyone is Christian
– those who are of different cultures, religions
or are non-religious prefer to say "Happy
Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas"
• this is because other holidays also occur
around the same time as Christmas
(Holiday season starts after Thanksgiving
and ends January 1st)

6. Hanukkah
• an eight-day Jewish
holiday
commemorating the
Second Temple in
Jerusalem at the time
of the Maccabean
Revolt in the 2nd
century BC.

7. Hanukkah
• Hanukkah is celebrated
for eight nights and days,
starting on the 25th day
of Kislev in the Hebrew
calendar,
• in the Gregorian calendar
it may occur at any time
from late November to
late December
– in 2013, Thanksgiving and
Hannukah were in the
same week

8. Kwanzaa
• not a religious holiday,
but established as a
means to help African
Americans reconnect with
their African cultural and
historical heritage by
uniting in meditation and
study of African traditions
– Kwanzaa is a celebration
that has its roots in the
black nationalist movement
of the 1960s and created in
1966

9. Kwanzaa
• 7 Principles of Kwanzaa: unity,
self-determination, collective
work and responsibility,
cooperative economics,
purpose, creativity, faith.
• official colors of Kwanzaa:
– red, symbolizing the struggles
of the African people;
– black, symbolizing Earth and
the African people;
– green, symbolizing hope and
the future.
– One candle is lit each day of
Kwanzaa.

10. Fun Facts: Santa Claus, real or
fake?
• Santa Claus is based
on a real person!
– Saint Nicholas, a 4th
century bishop from
Myra (modern-day
Turkey)
– used his family's
inheritance to help the
poor and the suffering
– died 343AD, one
century later
cannonized as a saint

11. Fun Facts: Santa Claus, real or
fake?
• Santa Claus known
by different names
and looks
– in Holland, he's called
"Sinterklaas"
– Before 19th century,
Santa Claus was
known to be slim and
somber
– but......

12. Fun Facts: Santa Claus, real or
fake?
• Santa's makeover
– in 1863, a new image of Santa Claus in "Harper's Magazine"
showed him as plump, jolly with a long white beard
– in 1930s, Coca Cola began to use Santa Claus in it's ads, as
Coke spread all over the wrold, Santa's new image went along
with it

13. Fun Facts: Christmas trees
• Origins in a Pagan-German ritual
– as Christianity spread in Europe, Germans
made christmas trees a part of their Christian
celebration
– but many non-German Christians rejected the
Christmas tree, until....

14. Fun Facts: Christmas trees
• Queen Victoria of
England
– convinced her German
husband, Prince Albert,
to make decorate a tree
like in his childhood in
1848
– once people saw the
Queen's tree, everyone
wanted a christmas tree

15. Fun Facts: Christmas in U.S.A.

16. Questions?

17. Using your knowledge of Christmas
in the U.S., argue the following:
1. People have forgotten the
meaning of Christmas and has
become too commercialised.
2. The U.S. should not allow the
celebration of other religions
and cultures, only Christmas.
3. Merry Christmas, not Happy
Holidays
4. What is Christmas in Spain
like?
5. Find out which of your
classmates was the last to
discover Santa Claus doesn't
exist.
1. It's better that people can
celebrate Christmas however
they choose.
2. The U.S. must allow other
cultures' to celebrate their
heritage and traditions.
3. Happy Holidays, not Merry
Christmas.
4. What is Christmas in Spain
like?
5. Find out which of your
classmates was the last to
discover Santa Claus doesn't
exist.