Holiday Ethics

Beautiful jewelry, extravagant roses, expensive chocolates, and six dollar singing greeting cards… Exactly what you think of when you think of St. Valentine’s Day. We celebrate many holidays that may have, perhaps, lost meaning in society. Retailers have focused our advertising around holiday seasons and push the idea that we have to give the best gifts (I’ve Christmas decorations out as early October). Pressures from retailers, and lending services, have given society the impression of the wrong meaning behind holidays with profound meaning.
We need to remember that holidays aren’t about giving the best gifts. If people weren’t so judgmental there would be no need to impress anyone with gifts. One Olivet College student surveyed said, “retailers take advantage of shoppers during the holidays because they can. People need to buy gifts and most of the times are willing to splurge more than they normally would in order to please the person they are buying the present for.” From the same survey, which consisted of 81 students, 12 students main concern about retail overtaking the holidays was the tactic of high pricing. One student raised concern about specific retail scams, “They try to bring you in with big sales that aren’t really sales. But one get one for .99 deals. You spend too much on the first one.”
“Prices are raised on toys and gift item and then marked down to make it look like the consumer bought it on sale” and “they raise prices of everything because they know demand is going up” were two student responses that raise good questions points. You must know why you celebrate and be accepting over others traditions also. If holidays are about the exchange of gifts than partake, but all too often people slaughter the reputation of religious holidays, Christmas, Easter, and Halloween for example. Families today place so much emphasis on gifts, whether it is the retails ethical issue or not. I mean, Father’s Day is about thanking father figures in your life, so maybe a gift would be appropriate, whereas St. Valentine’s Day is about honoring Christian martyrs not giving long stemmed roses and the fanciest restaurant. Retail would have less demand during the holidays if we were less materialistic.
91 percent of students surveyed on campus thought Christmas was too consumerized, 78 percent felt the same about St. Valentine’s Day, and 72 percent responded Halloween. Religion Link.org said, “Gift giving is a meaningful practice in all cultures and most religions,” so we aren’t saying gifts are bad, but we should examine why we celebrate, ask your family about Holiday traditions and why they are in place. “Who needs ten pounds of candy on one holiday anyway” said one student surveyed. Besides our ethical analysis, retail also needs to take into consideration different cultures and there practices, one student said, “Art Van has a sale for EVERY holiday!”
Despite the high level of consumerism in American holidays, a simple random survey of fifty students revealed to me that maybe Olivet College has a better ethical standard or stronger traditions as compared to the rest of society. When asked what one word they associated with Christmas twenty students responded “family”, six responded “Jesus, two “noel” “holy”,“happiness”, “charity”, “joy” and 4 “giving”. Only two students responded “Santa”, and no one responded presents or gifts. Contrary, Times Online, claims society feels Christmas is too taken over by retail. They feel that Christmas in America is, “time to practice the fine art of shopping (a religion in its own right). In America, I would argue the bigger celebrations are "Black Friday", the first day of the shopping season following Thanksgiving, and the blessed "Day After Christmas Sale.” According to Theological Studies Journal, “Consumer culture is best diagnosed not as a deformation of belief but as a particular way of engaging religious beliefs that divorces them from practice." American poet Henry Van Dyke said, “Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received”... not having 6 new Christmas sweaters, a fruit basket, and stale fruitcake.

SOURCES: Find the famous quotes you need, ThinkExist.com Quotations.. (n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2008, from http://thinkexist.com/.
Holidays on the Net - Holiday Celebrations and Descriptions. (n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2008, from http://www.holidays.net/index2.htm.
Kenneth R. Himes "Consumerism and Christian ethics". Theological Studies. . FindArticles.com. 14 Nov. 2008. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb6404/is_1_68/ai_n29331308
What does Christmas mean to you? - Times Online . (n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2008, from http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/article598571.ece?token=null&offse....