• oce 🐆
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    11 months ago

    Actually there is a possible Bible reference to the Three Magi who brought gifts to baby Jesus, some Christian traditions refer to this for gift giving instead of Christmas.

    • MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca
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      11 months ago

      The so called “three Wise Men” or whatever. Yep.

      IMO that’s a bit of a flimsy argument. Jesus’ family got gifts on his birthday, so everyone should participate in unrestricted consumerism because Jesus.

      … Almost everyone celebrates their birthday with gift giving. Why then, in this case, does it constitute that everyone should give stuff to their friends/family/etc? “It’s someone else’s birthday, so I got you a gift!” What? Why?

      The logic is insane.

      • oce 🐆
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        11 months ago

        Why do you expect perfect logic from religious practice and other rituals (ex: national celebrations)? They are just made to strengthen the ties between people. It makes people happy to receive gifts because it makes them feel valued. Consumerism is a phenomenon that adds to this but it’s not specific to religious rituals, it is everywhere. Kids used to just receive simple stuff like oranges.