Holiday and Vacation Purposes
Many holidays and vacations originally had religious, patriotic, or functional purposes. However, over the years, the purposes have changed.
Christmas was originally a Western holiday to celebrate the brith of Jesus Christ. Over the years and centuries, the main purpose seems to have shifted to Santa Clause, elves, reindeer, Christmas trees, candy canes, decorations, and presents. This joyful holiday has spread around the world, and now the significance seems to be the holiday spirit and reunions.
Easter originally celebrated the resurrection of Christ on Good Friday. As time passed, rabbits, chicks, eggs, and flowers somehow found their way into this holiday because they are abundant in the spring, when it takes place. Now people color eggs adn go egg-hunting on Easter instead of worship Jesus.
Halloween is actually All Saint’s Day Eve. The Day after All Saint’s Day is All Soul’s Day. This holiday was originally for honoring and worshipping the dead, especially our ancestors. Now, it has become a time where people dress in costumes, scare others, and visit haunted houses and parties, with children trick-or-treating or parading in costumes.
On the first Thanksgiving, the Pilgrims gave a feast to thank God and the Native Americans. We still keep the tradition of feasts, but we seemd to have moved from giving thanks to family get-togethers for enjoyment.
The patriotic holidays’ purposes did not change much. We have days off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Lincoln’s birthday, Washington’s birthday, Memorial Day, and Independence Day. We learn about King and racism around his birthday, while we learn about the Presidents and their significance in history near their birthdays. On Memorial Day we display our flag and visit graves. We celebrate America’s birthday with flags, fireworks, and parties.
While he was in jail, St. Valentine sent cards and letters to his family and friends. Over the centuries, Valentine’s Day has been twisted into a mushy holiday focused on lovers. Even the Valentine’s for children have very mushy messages, something they don’t understand much.
Originally St. Patrick’s Day was to celebrate St. Patrick’s influence on Christianity in Ireland, but over the centuries, the purpose has changed to wearing green or getting pinched. Unfortunately, some people use the chance to bully others.
The origin of April Fool’s Day is unclear, but the holiday seems to always be connected to playing jokes. Unfortunately, many jokes have become inappropriate and harmful to others. Some even commit crimes as pranks.
Summer vacation was originally for children to take advantage of the longer daylight hours to help their families in the fields. In a way, it was vacation from school, but not work at home. Now, it is just vacation from school and work for all ages, a time for entertainment.
I think adding entertainment, gatherings, and holiday spirit to the religious holidays is a good idea. It somewhat forces people to cooperate, behave, and be more peaceful and less selfish. We could have both the original and newer purposes. For patirotic holiday, I think Americans need to show more patriotism. I do not like how corrupt Halloween and Valentine’s Day has become, or how St. Patrick’s Day and April Fool’s Day promotes violence, inappropriate pranks, and other forms of harmful behavior. However, I like the purpose of summer vacation, because technology has greatly changed society, and people deserve those summer months to do whatever benefits them or others.