Christmas

is not corrupted by consumerism but rather, in holiday retailing, consumerism and religion become inseparable, forming together a kind of religions mood and motivation.

Schmidt argues that 'Christmas stands out as the grand 'festival of consumption,' with a significant segment of American retailing living or dying on profits connected with the Yuletide season' (Schmidt 1995:4), while Horsley is emphatic that 'In holiday retailing, economics is inseparable from religion' and that, to paraphrase Clifford Geertz, 'the consumer economy [is] inseparable from religious mood and motivation' (Horsley 2001a: 173)

HorsleyThinkers

Horsley