Every year when Christmas rolls around there is a mad rush to find the biggest and best presents. People should stop commercializing religious holidays because we are forgetting the religious part of the holiday. We spend way too much money, children expect gifts, and we emphasize the fantasy part of the holidays. By emphasizing the fantasy part of the holiday, the gifts, and money we lose touch with the true meaning of the holiday.

People should stop commercializing Christian religious holidays because they are called religious holidays for a reason. They started out as holy obligation days then turned into commercialized holidays even non-denominational people have been celebrating. Parents tell their children that “Santa” brings gifts on Christmas. The celebration or feast day of St. Nicholas is actually on December 7th, and we just conveniently moved it to Christmas. “Is today a genuine religious holiday…[or] is it another pagan/roman festival that later religions have appropriated, like Easter and Christmas? Or is it just another 'Hallmark Day' to help the greetings card and flower industries.” This is a quote from siren5ong on Valentines Day also voicing the fact holidays are commercialized. Bill Keller said in an interview "In today's overly commercialized Christmas holiday season, it reminds me of a variation of the classic Tina Turner song, 'What's Christ got to do with it?'”. Siren5ong voiced her opinion on how commercialized holidays are, how we move feast days around to be more convenient, and Bill Keller told how we are straying from the religious aspect. People need to turn back to the religious aspect of the holiday and stop commercializing.

Young children have been raised to expect gifts for every holiday. Do we want our youth to be greedy? Five small children were interviewed with the question: “Why do you like Christmas/ Easter/ Valentines Day?” All the children replied with reasons like candy and gifts. Another way young children show their expectation of gifts is most by writing wish lists to parents, grand parents, and Santa. Children have been taught from a young age to write wish lists-a list of demands- and to expect candy. In 2005 more then 120,000 letters were sent to North Pole, Alaska. This is even further proof of how children expect gifts. People should stop giving into commercialization and not buy everything, so children won’t expect gifts and will appreciate the ones they receive.

Some parents argue that commercialized characters (Santa, Easter Bunny, and
Leprechauns) are good to have because they make the holidays fun for children.
Most people can recall the time they first found out Santa or the Easter Bunny wasn’t real and how they felt betrayed because their parents lied to them. "There's really no one right time to tell kids that there's no Santa Claus," says Glen Elliott, Ph.D. The commercialized characters are often emphasized, so children think the holiday is about Santa, Easter Bunny, ect., instead of the religious part of the holiday. People should stop so our future generations understand that they are religious holidays not just any day.
People should stop commercializing religious holidays because people spend so much time shopping to find the perfect gift, they lose quality time with their families. In
2006 on Black Friday alone people spent $20 billion! The average household spends over $750 per person. Newspaper article stated that Americas spent $12.79 Billion dollars for Valentine’s Day (Hopkins). All this money is wasted on candy and presents instead, people should spend more time with their loved ones. People should stop commercializing religious holidays so families can spend more time together and grow closer during the holiday seasons.

Religion is being lost in a sea of candy, gift tags and other commercialized riff raff.
Most people get caught up in planning parties and buying presents. They forget what they are truly celebrating. Mandy Vincelette in an interview said "I believe (Easter) has been commercialized way too much," she said. "It’s about God, it’s about
Jesus. ... It’s about being together with family." Families should use that
holiday to spend time with loved ones and celebrate that important day. We need to put our foot down and stop feeding this horrible monster. We need to stop spending so much
money on children and spend time with them and show them the reason for the
season! People should stop commercializing religious holidays so we can grow closer, children will not become greedy, and people will turn back to the religious aspect of the holiday season.