Dear Editor,
This is a response to Ms A Ally’s letter published in Stabroek News of November 6 captioned ‘Slogan is in bad taste.’ Ms Ally’s concern was to “express displeasure at GT&T’s current promotion” and its emphasis on the commercial in light of the Christmas season.
Ms Ally pointed out that she’s a Catholic who cherishes what she views as the “true meaning of Christmas.” She deplores those who use the occasion “to explicitly capitalize on the spiritual occasion of one religious group to push material profits and avarice.”
I express no interest in arguing that any holiday or indeed day-to-day life should revolve around “materialistic morass of money, inebriation and wild celebrations.” However, I think Ms Ally fails to recognize that a state holiday means that Christmas is not just a holiday for Christians no more than Diwali is just a holiday for Hindus or Eid just a holiday for Muslims. Because these holidays are endorsed by the state, anyone can celebrate in any way they find pleasurable or enjoyable, regardless of religion or creed.
Furthermore, Ms Ally’s claim that Christmas is solely a “spiritual occasion of one religious group” is in bad taste for those of us who consider the season as a secular (and pagan) one and celebrate it as such – with good reason.
Christmas was not originally part of Christianity for many of its early years. Although many Christians believe that December 25 marks the birth of their Christ, Jesus, religious scholars and historians agree that he was not born on this date. In fact, no one knows for certain when Jesus was born! Why then do Christians celebrate his birth on December 25? In the 4th century, some 400 years after Jesus died, the Western and Eastern Churches of the time adopted December 25 as the birth of Christ because they believed March 25 was his conception, thus counting exactly nine months after that leads to December 25. However, some churches were following the Julian calendar and instead placed his birth date in January. According to archaeological and biblical sources, Jesus would’ve been conceived a few months earlier. Furthermore, prior to the early Christian movement, Roman pagans were already celebrating the birthdays of their pagan gods, such as Saturn and the Sun god Sol, around this time. Most of the customs we see surrounding the Christmas holiday have been heavily influenced by the pagans; one could even say ‘borrowed’ by the Christians. Additionally, pagans traditionally celebrated the winter solstice, also occurring around December 25, because it marked an important moment of the year. So the season has not been exclusive to Christians, but in fact, celebrations on or around December 25 were occurring long before Christianity became a religion.
As a secularist, I enjoy the Christmas season just as much as Ms Ally, though for different reasons. Guyana is a secular country, diversified by various customs and traditions. As such, it is unsurprising that the Christmas season means different things to different people. As humans, we strive for significance and purpose in most things we do and the reality we observe. This particular season belongs to all of us (capitalists, liberals, conservatives, religious, irreligious, etc). I would suggest that Ms Ally save her Catholic ire for other, graver instances of “avarice” that truly affect the whole of society for the worse and spend more effort addressing those real issues.
Yours faithfully,
Ferlin F Pedro
