Advent in America

What do Americans expect from Christmas these days? What does it really mean to them?

These questions are being asked all over the place, and not just by Hallmark movies. The claim of “That’s what Christmas is all about!” was perhaps first popularized by Charlie Brown (or rather that little saint, Linus), but it has become a strong if semiconscious impulse in our culture wars. It has become like that notorious description of pornography: we can’t define it, but we know it when we see it. In other words, Christmas has become a source of purely material provocation. Whether our reaction is excitement or scandal, we seem to relish the shared spectacle and the easy high it gives us.

This is the same vague sensational Christmas that our president has sought to promote.