The Santa Claus myth is not a religious ritual unto itself. It must be anchored to a value system. 200 years ago St. Nick (German: Nicklaus=Klaus=Claus) was firmly anchored in Christianity. Since that time the anchor has switched to commercial materialism. Christmas and Santa Claus can't stand by themselves. They will always be subject…
The Santa Claus myth is not a religious ritual unto itself. It must be anchored to a value system. 200 years ago St. Nick (German: Nicklaus=Klaus=Claus) was firmly anchored in Christianity. Since that time the anchor has switched to commercial materialism. Christmas and Santa Claus can't stand by themselves. They will always be subject to the current zeitgeist and cast in it's image. In the future it may shift to something else - my bet is state politics. With a few changes, Santa has all the hallmarks of a children's myth for autoritarian governments as an agent of the state: He know what everyone does and he has a list. He rewards the good obedient people by giving them free stuff. He no longer has a magical workshop at the North Pole, but instead has a magical money creating workshop in Washington DC. The same belief and obedience lessons that Igor says motivate the original Santa Claus myth can also motivate the political one.
Interesting take on the future of Santa. But all religious festivals ar subject to the zeitgeist. Thing is, religious festivals don't really need anchors, much less Christian ones. They're just things people continue doing.
I disagree. All religious festivals need anchors, otherwise they dissappear. There are thousands of religious festivals that have disappeared. You can find plenty of them in Roman and Greek literature. Festivals remain if they change to the new anchors as the cultures change. Even though it remains relevant, Christmas has moved from a pagan winter solstice ritual, to a Christian ritual, to a Commercial Materialist ritual. My point about Santa Claus is that in the future it could switch anchors to become a Political Materialist ritual. A change in anchors results in a change in MEANING. If you were ask young people today and young people 200 years ago if they knew what Christmas was, they would all say yes. But if you asked them the MEANING of Christmas, the two groups would give you very different answers. The anchor, and thus the underlying values represented by the ritual have changed. There are certain religious archetypes that are repeated throught almost all cultures that never really go away such as remembrance of the dead. If a religious ritual is important enough, it will be shifted to a new anchor or recreated as a culture changes.
"Thing is, religious festivals don't really need anchors, much less Christian ones. They're just things people continue doing." You're talking to yourself here. Because for the most part the people "continue doing" religious festivals understand why they repeat the rituals. If you know anything about Catholicism and the Mass, you'd know exactly what that means..
Who do you mean? Which people? Too much of Uhmerukuh is poorly educated in the first place. Many have no churchgoing experience. Fundamentalist denominations further narrow the historical reality of Christain traditions. It's a form of religious "newspeak." Their focus is on the "up with people" dopamine receptor feel-good narrative as contrasted with more traditional Christian denominations that in fact make a point of teaching congregants the liturgical year traditions and the whys of said traditions. Witness Roman and Anglican Catholicism. They do point back to the Hebrew, Greek, Roman and Indigenous European traditions incorporated into their respective denominations.
Well, Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Hindus tend to be much less mindful about the "meaning" of their rituals than Protestants. Why do we baptize our newborns, have a feast when they reach age 6 (First Communion) and again Confirm them at age 11? Why do we go to the Brahmin to burn some food for us in a Vedic ritual? "It's just tradition."
Oh, there was a time when rituals became as "mindless" as getting up in the morning and going to work to make a very rich man a whole lot richer-- not enough thought there...
BTW: Have you seen the website, "Good Catholic?" Lots of education there. BEWARE of snarky "informed" sweeping general statements that are passing as "reality," as well as passing out of current circulation ;-).
The Santa Claus myth is not a religious ritual unto itself. It must be anchored to a value system. 200 years ago St. Nick (German: Nicklaus=Klaus=Claus) was firmly anchored in Christianity. Since that time the anchor has switched to commercial materialism. Christmas and Santa Claus can't stand by themselves. They will always be subject to the current zeitgeist and cast in it's image. In the future it may shift to something else - my bet is state politics. With a few changes, Santa has all the hallmarks of a children's myth for autoritarian governments as an agent of the state: He know what everyone does and he has a list. He rewards the good obedient people by giving them free stuff. He no longer has a magical workshop at the North Pole, but instead has a magical money creating workshop in Washington DC. The same belief and obedience lessons that Igor says motivate the original Santa Claus myth can also motivate the political one.
St. Nicholas was a Christian living in what is now Turkey. And that was more than a mere 200 years ago.
Interesting take on the future of Santa. But all religious festivals ar subject to the zeitgeist. Thing is, religious festivals don't really need anchors, much less Christian ones. They're just things people continue doing.
I disagree. All religious festivals need anchors, otherwise they dissappear. There are thousands of religious festivals that have disappeared. You can find plenty of them in Roman and Greek literature. Festivals remain if they change to the new anchors as the cultures change. Even though it remains relevant, Christmas has moved from a pagan winter solstice ritual, to a Christian ritual, to a Commercial Materialist ritual. My point about Santa Claus is that in the future it could switch anchors to become a Political Materialist ritual. A change in anchors results in a change in MEANING. If you were ask young people today and young people 200 years ago if they knew what Christmas was, they would all say yes. But if you asked them the MEANING of Christmas, the two groups would give you very different answers. The anchor, and thus the underlying values represented by the ritual have changed. There are certain religious archetypes that are repeated throught almost all cultures that never really go away such as remembrance of the dead. If a religious ritual is important enough, it will be shifted to a new anchor or recreated as a culture changes.
"Thing is, religious festivals don't really need anchors, much less Christian ones. They're just things people continue doing." You're talking to yourself here. Because for the most part the people "continue doing" religious festivals understand why they repeat the rituals. If you know anything about Catholicism and the Mass, you'd know exactly what that means..
I don't think people really "understand" why they carry out most of their festivals and traditions. Perhaps this is more true in non-protestant areas.
Who do you mean? Which people? Too much of Uhmerukuh is poorly educated in the first place. Many have no churchgoing experience. Fundamentalist denominations further narrow the historical reality of Christain traditions. It's a form of religious "newspeak." Their focus is on the "up with people" dopamine receptor feel-good narrative as contrasted with more traditional Christian denominations that in fact make a point of teaching congregants the liturgical year traditions and the whys of said traditions. Witness Roman and Anglican Catholicism. They do point back to the Hebrew, Greek, Roman and Indigenous European traditions incorporated into their respective denominations.
Well, Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Hindus tend to be much less mindful about the "meaning" of their rituals than Protestants. Why do we baptize our newborns, have a feast when they reach age 6 (First Communion) and again Confirm them at age 11? Why do we go to the Brahmin to burn some food for us in a Vedic ritual? "It's just tradition."
Oh, there was a time when rituals became as "mindless" as getting up in the morning and going to work to make a very rich man a whole lot richer-- not enough thought there...
BTW: Have you seen the website, "Good Catholic?" Lots of education there. BEWARE of snarky "informed" sweeping general statements that are passing as "reality," as well as passing out of current circulation ;-).