Diversity

Our country is a land made up of a lot of different people from a lot of different places. With those circumstances comes a lot of diversity. Every one of those groups of people has their own holidays to celebrate. Some of those holidays are religious and a lot of those holidays celebrate the lives of people. Some of these celebrations people do not like or agree with. A number of people dislike that certain holidays are celebrated in America, and often feel offended that people choose to celebrate them. Some of these objections are due to religious and political values that people have. Most of the people that don’t agree with certain holidays are apathetic though. Overall America is a place where people can freely celebrate their holidays within reason. Christmas is the most popular holiday by far in America and maybe even the world. Not only is it the most popular holiday it is the holiday when people spend the most money. According to the National Retail Federation Americans buy most of their nonessential goods during the Christmas season. The holiday was created in celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ whom Christians believe to be their lord and savior. A lot of people during that time use the phrase “Merry Christmas” as a greeting and a farewell. Most people are okay with it but a certain few don’t like it and would tell you that everyone is not Christian. A lot of department stores have instructed their workers to use the phrase “Happy Holidays” so not to offend the small minority who don’t like it. A lot of other people think that it’s not a big deal if someone tells you “Merry Christmas” even if you are not Christian. One group of people is the organization Jews for Jesus. Another holiday that is very popular in America is Halloween. It originally started as a Pagan holiday in 1600s. Now in days it’s a holiday mainly for kids. A lot of people like to dress up and party. Kids love to go to house to house to trick or treat for candy and other goodies. Costume stores pop up around that time of the year to sell clothes and costumes for people to dress up for that event. A lot of religious groups have a problem with celebrating that holiday because they believe that the rituals are demonic and give praise to the devil. My church does not recognize Halloween. Instead, my church chooses to take the day and call it harvest fest to celebrate another old time tradition. The church encourages kids and parents to dress up but not in costumes that are monsters and devils. I personally like Halloween. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with children trick or treating, because I know that my kids are not Pagans or Devil-worshippers. I think now in days it’s a fun time for kids and the popularity of Halloween demonstrates that. One of my favorite holidays that is not as popular is Kwanzaa. The holiday isn’t as famous for a couple reasons. One of them being that the holiday is fairly new compare to the ones I mentioned earlier. Kwanzaa was started in the 60’s by a black nationalist that wanted to have a holiday that shows pride in the black community. I’ve went to Kwanzaa celebrations and I think it is a great display in cultural pride. There’s seven days and each day has a meaning. A lot of Kwanzaa related events have performances including poetry and dances. Most people don’t have a problem with it, but a few people do. Former Whitehouse spokesman Tony Snow felt that the holiday was inappropriate. He feels that since most African Americans are decedents of West Africa they shouldn’t celebrate a holiday with eastern African roots with words from the East African language of Swahili. He was quoted as saying that it is a chump holiday and that the inventor was a radical. Most Americans don’t know about Kwanzaa or care too much of its meaning.