On Tuesday, Juan Calypso of Viva Veracruz and Bliss of 1st Mate posted their impressions of how the American commercialization of Christmas has invaded Mexico like some form of holiday kudzu.
The blight appears to be far worse in the north where Bliss reports that for several years school teachers have been teaching their students to write letters to Santa for Christmas gifts. The schools appear to be the route for social indoctrination throughout Mexico; Calypso's small village of Ursulo Galvan is beginning to suffer the same Santa fate.
So what's the problem? Santa is the very essence of spreading joy to all, isn't he? Even Japan and China have Santa these days.
I refuse to use terms like cultural imperialism -- merely because they have become as meaningless as other political epithets: "fascist" being a prime example. But there is something insidious going on here.
Mexico, like all other Iberian-based cultures, does not include Santa in the pantheon of holiday saints. In his current incarnation, Santa is an Anglo-Saxon invention. His only Spanish connection is the Dutch Saint Nicholas, who lives in Spain -- probably in a condominium project where the market has collapsed -- and has a servant helper named Zwarte Piet. (Political correctness prohibits me from further describing Zwarte Piet, who has become an embarrassment to the race-sensitive Dutch).
What the Iberians have is the three kings (another Biblical extrapolation, with next to no scriptural support). On 6 January (Dia de Los Reyes) the three kings bring gifts (often no more than foil-wrapped chocolate coins) to children. The gifts are meant to symbolize the material gifts given to Christ at his birth -- gifts of sacrifice. (A little cultural footnote. Castro has now forbidden the Spanish embassy from distributing chocolate coins from a horse-drawn carriage on Dia de Los Reyes. With unintended irony, the ban described the practice as being a feudal practice. Pots and kettles, I guess.)
Of course, that is the very antithesis of a Santa Christmas where the whole family expects to receive absolutely anything that pops into their collective material mind.
I am not certain that I support either version of this cultural war. For all of its romantic notion of sacrifice and small gifts, my Mexican friends tell me that Dia de Los Reyes long ago became the same type of gift orgy that Christmas has become for Americans. The only difference is the day.
I have long disliked Christmas. But I could not tell you why. I enjoy getting together with my family. I love group feeding time. And the theology gave me hope.
But all of the symbols seemed to be a bit askew. The central message of hope and love seemed to be pushed to the rear by Santa and his horde of expensive toys -- along with all of the accompanying financial angst far more fear-enducing than the most horrid stories of Zwarte Piet.
Earlier this year, I read an interesting article by the philosopher, Roger Scruton. He also had the same uneasiness about Christmas, and summed it up in one word: kitschification. He was not merely talking about the material kitsch of plastic Santas. His concern was the very theological basis of the holiday (the incarnation) had been reduced to papier-mâché platitudes.
The dispute is not really about Santa displacing the three kings. It should be about not letting symbols take on a reality that makes a mockery out of the reason why we celebrate Christmas. If we focus on loving others more than we love ourselves, and that we often need to sacrifice to show that love, the symbols will simply fade into irrelevance.
Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, I wish each of you the joy that loving one another can bring.
The blight appears to be far worse in the north where Bliss reports that for several years school teachers have been teaching their students to write letters to Santa for Christmas gifts. The schools appear to be the route for social indoctrination throughout Mexico; Calypso's small village of Ursulo Galvan is beginning to suffer the same Santa fate.
So what's the problem? Santa is the very essence of spreading joy to all, isn't he? Even Japan and China have Santa these days.
I refuse to use terms like cultural imperialism -- merely because they have become as meaningless as other political epithets: "fascist" being a prime example. But there is something insidious going on here.
Mexico, like all other Iberian-based cultures, does not include Santa in the pantheon of holiday saints. In his current incarnation, Santa is an Anglo-Saxon invention. His only Spanish connection is the Dutch Saint Nicholas, who lives in Spain -- probably in a condominium project where the market has collapsed -- and has a servant helper named Zwarte Piet. (Political correctness prohibits me from further describing Zwarte Piet, who has become an embarrassment to the race-sensitive Dutch).
What the Iberians have is the three kings (another Biblical extrapolation, with next to no scriptural support). On 6 January (Dia de Los Reyes) the three kings bring gifts (often no more than foil-wrapped chocolate coins) to children. The gifts are meant to symbolize the material gifts given to Christ at his birth -- gifts of sacrifice. (A little cultural footnote. Castro has now forbidden the Spanish embassy from distributing chocolate coins from a horse-drawn carriage on Dia de Los Reyes. With unintended irony, the ban described the practice as being a feudal practice. Pots and kettles, I guess.)
Of course, that is the very antithesis of a Santa Christmas where the whole family expects to receive absolutely anything that pops into their collective material mind.
I am not certain that I support either version of this cultural war. For all of its romantic notion of sacrifice and small gifts, my Mexican friends tell me that Dia de Los Reyes long ago became the same type of gift orgy that Christmas has become for Americans. The only difference is the day.
I have long disliked Christmas. But I could not tell you why. I enjoy getting together with my family. I love group feeding time. And the theology gave me hope.
But all of the symbols seemed to be a bit askew. The central message of hope and love seemed to be pushed to the rear by Santa and his horde of expensive toys -- along with all of the accompanying financial angst far more fear-enducing than the most horrid stories of Zwarte Piet.
Earlier this year, I read an interesting article by the philosopher, Roger Scruton. He also had the same uneasiness about Christmas, and summed it up in one word: kitschification. He was not merely talking about the material kitsch of plastic Santas. His concern was the very theological basis of the holiday (the incarnation) had been reduced to papier-mâché platitudes.
The dispute is not really about Santa displacing the three kings. It should be about not letting symbols take on a reality that makes a mockery out of the reason why we celebrate Christmas. If we focus on loving others more than we love ourselves, and that we often need to sacrifice to show that love, the symbols will simply fade into irrelevance.
Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, I wish each of you the joy that loving one another can bring.
