A Response to ‘Jesus and Pals: Drink, Drank, Drunk?”

 I was very intrigued to see Estela’s post on St. Patrick’s Day, as I have also seen some of the craziness and absolute mayhem that takes part on St. Patrick’s Day and it has made me wonder why people act this way.

            For example this past St. Patrick’s Day I saw group of people drinking on the roof of their house. I am not sure what the reasoning behind this was, but it seemed like a dangerous combination of alcohol and bad ideas.

This post also made me think of other holidays that get blown out of proportion. For example holidays like Valentine’s Day are no longer about St. Valentine because they have become so commercialized. Not many people even know what the purpose of celebrating this holiday is. However people continue to celebrate Valentine’s Day because of societies rituals that we believe go along with the holiday. Just as we believe people are suppose to drink green beer on St. Patrick’s Day, people feel that they need to buy their loved ones over priced chocolate.

St. Valentine

Films like Valentines Day enforce the view that expressing love through gift giving is the purpose of  this holiday

I see why people take advantage of these holidays, as they are a way to have fun and a way to make money. However, I still wonder why Christian holidays have become so popular with people in western culture. By commercializing Christian holidays it is clear that the true meaning behind them is lost, an aspect of this commercialization, which seems a little sad.