Traditionally, Christmas is marked as a religious holiday. It is the time of year when the birth of Christ is recognized and celebrated. It is also the time of year reserved for family and friends to engage in a myriad of activities including family dinners, get-togethers, outings and trips.
Outside this, Christmas is generally marked by a buzz of commercial, entertainment and social activities. The shopping centres and malls usually enjoy an increase in customer traffic; there are also more parties and social gatherings as persons get together to celebrate the successes and achievements of the outgoing year.
Over the years however, the commercial side of Christmas, particularly in Jamaica, has become more of a coming out party for sellers’, moreso than buyers. The cries get increasingly higher as the years’ progress. Sellers invest in Christmas stock, only to sell them out at ‘sale’ prices after the holidays.
A decline in average merchant sales has been confirmed by data from the Bank of Jamaica, which indicates that overall spending, calculated on the grandest shopping night of the year; Christmas Eve, has trended downward for every year since 2008.
Despite this however, there is still a significant commercial buzz around Christmas. Year after year however, questions continue to be raised about how persons use the opportunities presented by the season for making money, versus reflecting on religious beliefs and family. Is it unethical to commercialize what is largely a religious holiday? And is it practical to allow the money making opportunities to pass by when mere survival today is so elusive?
Buzzz Magazine sought the perspective of two of the most prominent personalities during this very busy period on a range of issues, including the ethics of capitalizing on the financial opportunities of Christmas, versus using the period as it was intended, to celebrate the birth of Christ.
Minister at the Portmore New Testament Church of God, Chester Allman, states that the ethics of making excessive amounts of money during Christmas is dependent on the side of the fence the person sits. He notes that while making money is not a bad thing; persons in the Christian community and others who
believe in the coming of Jesus Christ, should not exploit buyers because their beliefs support the notion of giving and sharing during the season.
“Other persons who do not genuinely share the belief in Christmas should not be seen as unethical if they chose to profit excessively during Christmas, as it would just be business as usual,” he said. “Christmas is just another opportunity to make lots of money and sometimes because we find ourselves with extra money during this time of year we fall prey to their trap,” he continued.
Likewise, Businesswoman, Shanna Campbell indicated that a balance must be struck between the need to make money and giving the requisite time to recognizing the significance of the season. “Importantly for me, I get an opportunity to show appreciation to my loyal customers who have been with me throughout the year, but as a Business woman with a family, paying my bills for both home and business is critical, therefore I am not going to charge excessively, but I am going to go all out to ensure that certain financial goals are met,” she commented.
Miss Campbell intimated that mere survival as a business is a challenge. “The nature of my business makes my product offering very unique, but it is also not a consumer item, therefore Christmas is my time of year because of the gift-giving aspect. Customers are able to support both my business and the economy by buying locally made, high-quality products,” she affirmed.
Meanwhile, Minister Allman states that while the spiritual is important, the physical is also equally important and
requires attention. “The fact is Christmas is a time of celebration and quite naturally, we cannot celebrate without the means of money. Based on the celebrations we might need certain basic things and we cannot get them without money,” he confirmed. He however re-emphasized that overcharging customers is not the way to increase profits.
Continuing, Minister Allman noted that most persons in today’s society are more preoccupied with making ends meet, than with meeting the needs of the spiritual man, and this could be one of the main causes of the commercialization of Christmas. Emphasizing the need for balance, he further noted that making ends meet, cannot be accomplished at the expense of excluding Christ, particularly at a time reserved for His honour.
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Traditionally, Christmas is marked as a religious holiday. It is the time of year when the birth of Christ is recognized and celebrated. It is also the time of year reserved for family and friends to engage in a myriad of activities including family dinners, get-togethers, outings and trips.
Outside this, Christmas is generally marked by a buzz of commercial, entertainment and social activities. The shopping centres and malls usually enjoy an increase in customer traffic; there are also more parties and social gatherings as persons get together to celebrate the successes and achievements of the outgoing year.
Over the years however, the commercial side of Christmas, particularly in Jamaica, has become more of a coming out party for sellers’, moreso than buyers. The cries get increasingly higher as the years’ progress. Sellers invest in Christmas stock, only to sell them out at ‘sale’ prices after the holidays.
A decline in average merchant sales has been confirmed by data from the Bank of Jamaica, which indicates that overall spending, calculated on the grandest shopping night of the year; Christmas Eve, has trended downward for every year since 2008.
Despite this however, there is still a significant commercial buzz around Christmas. Year after year however, questions continue to be raised about how persons use the opportunities presented by the season for making money, versus reflecting on religious beliefs and family. Is it unethical to commercialize what is largely a religious holiday? And is it practical to allow the money making opportunities to pass by when mere survival today is so elusive?
Buzzz Magazine sought the perspective of two of the most prominent personalities during this very busy period on a range of issues, including the ethics of capitalizing on the financial opportunities of Christmas, versus using the period as it was intended, to celebrate the birth of Christ.
Minister at the Portmore New Testament Church of God, Chester Allman, states that the ethics of making excessive amounts of money during Christmas is dependent on the side of the fence the person sits. He notes that while making money is not a bad thing; persons in the Christian community and others who
believe in the coming of Jesus Christ, should not exploit buyers because their beliefs support the notion of giving and sharing during the season.
“Other persons who do not genuinely share the belief in Christmas should not be seen as unethical if they chose to profit excessively during Christmas, as it would just be business as usual,” he said. “Christmas is just another opportunity to make lots of money and sometimes because we find ourselves with extra money during this time of year we fall prey to their trap,” he continued.
Likewise, Businesswoman, Shanna Campbell indicated that a balance must be struck between the need to make money and giving the requisite time to recognizing the significance of the season. “Importantly for me, I get an opportunity to show appreciation to my loyal customers who have been with me throughout the year, but as a Business woman with a family, paying my bills for both home and business is critical, therefore I am not going to charge excessively, but I am going to go all out to ensure that certain financial goals are met,” she commented.
Miss Campbell intimated that mere survival as a business is a challenge. “The nature of my business makes my product offering very unique, but it is also not a consumer item, therefore Christmas is my time of year because of the gift-giving aspect. Customers are able to support both my business and the economy by buying locally made, high-quality products,” she affirmed.
Meanwhile, Minister Allman states that while the spiritual is important, the physical is also equally important and
requires attention. “The fact is Christmas is a time of celebration and quite naturally, we cannot celebrate without the means of money. Based on the celebrations we might need certain basic things and we cannot get them without money,” he confirmed. He however re-emphasized that overcharging customers is not the way to increase profits.
Continuing, Minister Allman noted that most persons in today’s society are more preoccupied with making ends meet, than with meeting the needs of the spiritual man, and this could be one of the main causes of the commercialization of Christmas. Emphasizing the need for balance, he further noted that making ends meet, cannot be accomplished at the expense of excluding Christ, particularly at a time reserved for His honour.
Share this post: