Hello! Welcome to the first lesson of our final module, "Christmas in the Modern World."
In our last lesson, we concluded our journey through the Victorian era by seeing how the British Empire served as a global distribution network for the newly reinvented Christmas. We saw how traditions like the Christmas tree and festive commercialism, popularized by the British monarchy, spread to places like India, where they were both imported and adapted. This set the stage for Christmas to become a truly global phenomenon.
Today, we move into the 20th century to examine a profound and often contentious transformation: the secularization of Christmas. Our goal is to analyze the causes and controversies of the secularization of Christmas in the 20th century. We will investigate the forces that shifted the holiday's focus for many, moving from a primarily religious observance to a wider cultural event, and explore the conflicts that arose from this change.
The Sacred and the Secular
At its heart, the story of modern Christmas is a tale of two parallel celebrations, one sacred and one secular. While millions continue to celebrate the birth of Jesus as a central tenet of their faith, a powerful cultural version of Christmas has grown alongside it, complete with its own rituals, symbols, and values.
Early in the 20th century, the writer and theologian C.S. Lewis captured this division in a sharp satire. He described a fictional country where two separate holidays were observed on the same day: "Crissmas," a quiet, religious affair in the temples, and "Exmas," a frenzied, compulsory commercial rush. This distinction between the religious core and the commercial/cultural layer is central to understanding the evolution of Christmas.
Let's explore the major forces that drove this separation and the growth of "Exmas."
The Causes of Secularization
The shift towards a more secular Christmas was not a single event but a complex process driven by powerful political, economic, and cultural forces throughout the 20th century.
1. State-Enforced Secularism
In some parts of the world, secularization was a deliberate and aggressive state policy.
The Wikipedia article on 'Christmas controversies' provides stark examples of governments actively suppressing the religious aspects of the holiday.
Please read the section titled '20th century'. Focus on the paragraphs describing the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. This will show you how political ideologies sought to either ban or co-opt the holiday for their own secular ends.
As the reading highlights, totalitarian regimes saw Christmas as a rival ideology.
- In the Soviet Union, under the doctrine of state atheism, Christmas was banned. The regime successfully transferred its most beloved traditions—the decorated tree (yolka) and the gift-bringer (Ded Moroz, or "Father Frost")—to the secular New Year's Day celebration.
- In Nazi Germany, the regime didn't ban Christmas but attempted to reframe it to align with its ideology, promoting it as a celebration of Germanic heritage and downplaying the Jewish origins of Jesus.
These examples represent the most extreme form of top-down secularization. However, in most of the Western world, the process was driven by less overt, but equally powerful, forces.
2. The Rise of Consumer Culture and Mass Media
As we saw in the Victorian era, commerce has been tied to Christmas for a long time. But in the 20th century, the scale of commercialization and the influence of mass media grew exponentially, creating what one video resource calls a "secular scripture."
The ENTIRE Story of Christmas | The Hidden History of December 25th Explained
This video, 'The ENTIRE Story of Christmas', explains how commercial and media forces reshaped the holiday after World War I.
Please watch from 01:14:35 to 01:17:30. Pay close attention to the role of department stores like Macy's and classic films like 'It's a Wonderful Life' in creating a secular version of Christmas values.
The video points to two key drivers:
- Commercialization: Retailers began to systematically market a "holiday shopping season," turning Christmas into an engine of the economy. The Santa Claus figure, once a religious saint (Nicholas), was standardized into the jolly, secular character we know today, partly through decades of iconic advertising by companies like Coca-Cola.
- Mass Media: Beloved films and songs created a powerful new narrative. Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" and films like Miracle on 34th Street promoted Christmas values—generosity, family, faith in humanity—that resonated deeply with a broad audience, regardless of their religious beliefs. They offered a form of "salvation" and "wonder" stripped of specific theology.
Interestingly, this commercialization created a paradox. As people grew anxious that the holiday was losing its meaning, a market emerged for products designed to "put Christ back in Christmas," inadvertently deepening the link between faith and commerce.
'Things You Didn't Know You Didn't Know' about Christmas
This article, from a historian at Auburn University, explores this fascinating paradox.
Please read the section beginning with Brandon Etheredge's quote about the 'inherent paradoxes of Christian ambivalence'. This section explains how the very act of fighting commercialization can become a commercial act itself.
3. Globalization and Multiculturalism
As we saw in the last lesson, Christmas spread globally. In the 20th century, this process accelerated through migration, media, and the stationing of American troops abroad. When the holiday entered non-Christian or increasingly diverse societies, the secular version was often more easily adopted. A celebration centered on Santa, gifts, and family is more universal and less exclusive than one centered on a specific religious event.
The Controversies: The "War on Christmas"
The forces of secularization naturally produced a reaction. In recent decades, these tensions have come to be known colloquially as the "War on Christmas." This "war" is not a literal conflict but a series of cultural and legal debates over the place of Christmas in the public square.
The Wikipedia article we looked at earlier details the primary battlegrounds of this cultural conflict, particularly in the United States.
Please read the following sections: The short introductory paragraphs under the heading 'Modern-day controversy'. The section 'United States' (up to, but not including, the sub-section on Retail). The section 'Retail'. Focus on identifying the main points of contention: the use of 'Happy Holidays', legal challenges to public displays, and pressure on retailers.
The key controversies, as outlined in the reading, include:
- Language: The debate over using "Merry Christmas" versus inclusive greetings like "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings." One side sees this as an erosion of tradition and an attack on faith, while the other sees it as a necessary and respectful acknowledgment of religious diversity.
- Public Displays: Legal battles over the constitutionality of displaying nativity scenes on public property. This has led to compromises where religious symbols are mixed with secular ones (snowmen, reindeer) to pass legal tests, or the renaming of "Christmas trees" to "Holiday trees" in civic displays.
- Retail: Boycotts and public pressure campaigns, often organized by conservative groups, demanding that retailers use the word "Christmas" in their advertising and in-store greetings.
These debates highlight the fundamental tension: is Christmas a national cultural holiday that everyone can share, or is it a specifically Christian observance that is being diluted by secularism and political correctness?
The Full History of Christmas - Documentary
The 'Fire of Learning' documentary provides a very concise summary of these ongoing modern debates.
Please watch the short segment from 00:42:12 to 00:43:19. This will serve as a quick recap of the different facets of the controversy.
Test your understanding!
A city council decides to rename its public "Christmas Tree Lighting" ceremony to the "Holiday Tree Lighting" ceremony to be more inclusive of non-Christian residents.
Using the concepts from this lesson, analyze this decision. What cause(s) of secularization does it reflect? What kind of controversy is it likely to generate?
Show answer
The decision reflects the cause of multiculturalism. In a religiously diverse community, a neutral term like "Holiday" is seen by the council as more inclusive than the explicitly Christian term "Christmas."
This action is likely to generate a "War on Christmas" controversy. Some residents may argue that the council is being "politically correct" and is erasing a cherished tradition. This could lead to public debate, protests, or media campaigns demanding the restoration of the name "Christmas Tree," mirroring the real-world controversies over public displays discussed in the lesson.
Conclusion
The 20th century fundamentally reshaped Christmas. While remaining a cornerstone of Christian faith, it also evolved into a global cultural and commercial festival.
Key Takeaways:
- The secularization of Christmas involves the growth of a parallel, non-religious celebration alongside the sacred one.
- The primary causes of this shift include state-enforced secularism (e.g., the USSR), the overwhelming influence of consumer culture and mass media, and the adaptation of the holiday within multicultural societies.
- This process has sparked significant cultural controversies, often termed the "War on Christmas," which manifest in debates over language (Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays), public religious displays, and corporate marketing.
We have now analyzed why Christmas became more secular and the conflicts this has caused. In our next lesson, we will take a deeper dive into one of the most powerful drivers we identified today: the impact of consumer culture, advertising, and media on modern Christmas celebrations. We will explore exactly how these forces have shaped what Christmas looks and feels like for billions around the world.