I was wandering through the Christian Science Monitor website and came across an article titled, “Germans join 'War on Christmas' – pre-Christmas commercialism, that is”. Since Christmas is my favorite holiday, this article caught my eye. I have been involved in the local Christmas festival, the Jubilee of Trees, for about 10 years which has made me sensitive to public opinion on the subject of Christmas. I felt this article was pertinent as we approach another Christmas season.
I have listened for years to other people complain about how early Christmas items start showing up in stores. I was amazed that they are having the same problem in Germany. The German people, for the most part, feel that the Christmas season should start with Advent, which is the four week prior to Christmas. Half of those surveyed say the early display of Christmas commercialism erodes the meaning of Christmas. A majority of the people want the government to step in and say no selling of Christmas items before this time. The German constitution projects Sunday’s as a day of rest. This law is also being challenged by commercialism. But when the German capital moved to allow stores to open on all four Advent Sundays a few years ago, churches, backed by labor unions, fought back, taking their case all the way to the Supreme Court. They won. The highest court, ruling that Sundays had to remain days of rest and "spiritual elevation," overturned the Berlin law in 2009. I was amazed by the resolve of the German people in protecting their Christmas traditions.
The article was short, but informative. I felt like the author did a good job with her research and reasoning. She used several sources for her information including a recent survey of German citizens, historical facts about the traditional celebration of Christmas in Germany, personal childhood experiences, and historical decisions, in regards to Sunday Christmas shopping, made by the German Supreme Court.
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