Newswise — While children line up awaiting their turn to sit on Santa's lap, parents stand at the altar of the cash register praising a Santa for grown-ups. The holiday season has shifted from a time of religious reverence to three months of shopping worship.
Dell deChant, religious studies professor at the University of South Florida, addressed the history and changes of American culture and its religious obsession with consuming in his book The Sacred Santa: Religious Dimensions of Consumer Culture.
"We buy, not because something is worn out, but because it's what we do," deChant said. "Holidays are packed with activities and 'rituals' that bring about good emotions. Because consumption makes us feel good, we spend excessive hours around holidays shopping, shopping, shopping."
The Sacred Santa was selected as one of three finalists to receive the 2003 Benjamin Franklin Award in the religion category from the Publishers Marketing Association.
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