What idiot declared war on Christmas?

Just around the corner from our place, a certain upmarket food store trimmed its tree with boxes of champagne.  Empty ones, I might add, lest you decide to pluck a sly tipple before they disappear tomorrow.  Tradition in Bavaria holds that the tree comes down after the Epiphany, or the Twelfth Day of Christmas.

Some may deplore this as a particularly crass example of Christmas gone commercial.  If so, bring it on.

Like every December, 'twas the season for self-righteous to remind us of the True Meaning of Christmas.  Which, by all accounts, is that we shouldn't be enjoying ourselves too much, since we have to remember that a pregnant lady 2000 years ago once had trouble finding a hotel room. 

But if we want to achieve  peace on earth and good will toward men, then gifts, celebration and laughter surely help. 

Any atheist who tut-tuts the holiday because of its religious origin, truly does his cause no service.  What idiot turns his nose up at joy?

Johann Hari wrote of this in The Independent a couple of Christmases ago.   And though I'm not a big fan of Objectivists,  Tom Bowden's thoughts on the Ayn Rand Institute's Voices for Reason blog make a convincing case for the atheist to roll up his sleeves and get into the holiday spirit.

The so-called "commericalisation" of Christmas makes a broadly-celebrated holiday meaningful to everyone.  To those with different beliefs, or with none at all.

Irving Berlin gives us the classic example of a non-Christian's constructive engagement with the holiday.  Many have remarked on the irony that Berlin, a Jew, should have written the most popular Christmas song of all time. But if you look closely at the lyrics for White Christmas, you'll find it utterly secular.  It's just a song about the weather, really. 

You'll notice that I put the word "commercialisation" in quotes.  I did that deliberately.   A secular Christmas doesn't need to cost a lot of dough.  

But since God and Mammon are apparent opposites, spending too much money on a holy occasion guarantees big-time blasphemy.  Right?

On those grounds, Munich is a blasphemer's paradise.  Compared to the average German, a Münchener contributes three times the GDP to the national economy, and he likes to spread the wealth.  There's no better city for a materialistic Christmas, if that's what you're after.

The upscale merchants of the Briennerstrasse turned streetlights into chandeliers

Insouciant little Christmas balls, sprinkled around a €3000 party frock

A 2008 Christmas display at the upmarket Nymphenberg Porcelain.

The last paragraph might surprise some.  After all, I've lived in New York.  Isn't that the birthplace of Christmas glitz?  

In my experience, New York Christmases are glittery, but not all that glamourous.  You'll see lots of decorations,  but apart from places like Rockerfeller Centre, they're not exactly classy.

In a 42nd Street gift shop

A Mad Manly watering hole.

A relic of better times: extravagant trees grace the lobby of Bear Stearns in 2006.

Now that we've reached the official end of the Christmas season, I've paused to reflect on it.   Few cities celebrate Christmas with such grace and style as Munich.  We enjoyed our third Christmas here.  Trust that wherever you are, you did the same.

Comments

[arizaphale]

Cold Christmas. Can't beat it. My Jewish friend in Sydney embraced the celebration openly because, as she put it, 'why should we miss out on all the fun?'

[ian in hamburg]

We were very modest in our gifts this year - mostly books and things more necessary than frivolous. Don't ask about the hole in the credit card thoughout autumn though - ouch!

[nursemyra]

wow - i love that Nymphenberg image

[headbang8]

I like it, too. I've used part of it before, for a Photo Friday.

[Kevin C Jones]

For our favourite dementia patient, Ann won the lottery and loved the mint. Sounds like a musical. Love Kevin.

[headbang8]

I don't get this, Kevin. Did she actually win a lottery? Or does she believe that she did?

[Kevin C Jones]

The more that I am exposed to dementia patients, the more closely I believe in an oxymoronic Buddhist god.
And every approach that I make to someone insane, I resile to rationionality. In a "godspace" of hyperreality Ann won the lottery and the mint.
Belief? Ann didn't but won the mint.

Kevin

[Madam]

Well, yes indeed. Every year my non-religious neighbors across the street put up one of the most incredible Christmas light displays I have even seen. I open my front drapes and I get the full Monty. It's delightful and tacky. I mentioned to them I might do some pretty white icicle lights on my trees next year and one of them growled: "What is it with you women and things having to be tasteful. God, just go for it."

Tasteful may even be a remnant of non-materialist guilt, no? Or is the true materialist an aesthete too?

[headbang8]

Fascinating questions, Madam. I'm torn over how to answer them.

Part of me wants to say that good taste does pay the holiday a reverence it doesn't necessarily deserve. But good taste may say less about the holiday, and more about the way one chooses to live life, for one's own sake. A refined sensibilty which a Japanophile woud appreciate.

On the other hand, a part of me wants to say: Good Taste = Waste. Of. Fucking. Time. Wiggle your Yuletide tits in the wind, and good taste be damned!