# Is Thanksgiving a bigger deal than Christmas in the USA? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 25, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thanksgiving-a-bigger-deal-than-christmas-in-the-usa/518915 "2009-11-25T16:08:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Cullain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cullain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cullain)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thanksgiving-a-bigger-deal-than-christmas-in-the-usa/518915/101 "2009-11-30T02:28:02Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > The reason why I asked, because I know that Christmas is a bigger economic beast, is that it seems more de rigueur for family members to be together at Thanksgiving than at Christmas. Is my perception wrong? Hmmm - I work in an office of around 40 people. About 25 of us are from back east. Of that 25, 1 went home for thanksgiving. 24 of us will be heading home for Christmas. In school, everyone within driving distance would go back home for thanksgiving. But nearly everyone would fly back for christmas. Christmas is a much, much bigger deal IMO. Though I do sorta prefer Thanksgiving. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thanksgiving-a-bigger-deal-than-christmas-in-the-usa/518915/102 "2009-11-30T02:53:13Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Because it’s a religious holiday. Whether you’re a lapsed Catholic or not you’re still nominally a Christian and haven’t experienced how ostracizing it is to be outside the Christian camp at this season, or how pervasive the pressure is to join in whether you want to or not. > > I may want it to be secular but the larger society around me does not. If it was, we wouldn’t have communities going to court over whether or not to display manger scenes. > > Memorial day and the fourth of July are secular holidays. Christmas is not. It is now, for many people, and I’m speaking as an atheistic Jew. Remember, Christmas started as a pagan solstice holiday which got co-opted by the Christians - now the Christian holiday is being co-opted by the secular society. Where I live, easily 50% of the people shopping around Christmastime are in no way Christian. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thanksgiving-a-bigger-deal-than-christmas-in-the-usa/518915/103 "2009-11-30T03:11:20Z")
OF course it’s possible to celebrate Christmas without being a Christian. It started out as a secular holiday, got Jesus shoehorned into it, but he got taken out pretty quick. None of the stuff we do now has anything to do with Christianity. But the thing is that the thread wasn’t even about this, at all. But that doesn’t stop some people from taking a thread and converting into yet another place to gripe about their own religious beliefs. And I find it appalling that reporting this crap as threadshitting doesn’t get anything accomplished. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thanksgiving-a-bigger-deal-than-christmas-in-the-usa/518915/104 "2009-11-30T03:13:36Z")
> [@hello again](#): > > you don’t see a difference between > a) a holiday created by a specific religion, that commemorates the beginning of that entire religion, and whose celebration is one of the most universal practices of that religion because it is one of its holiest days > b) a holiday created by a nation-state, that commemorates, at _most_ a moment of generic thankfulness, of which members of several religions were incidental participants? > > Well, i’m jewish, and i do. You can’t “make” christmas be “secular” that’s just laughable, from a jewish perspective. Only a christian could say there’s nothing religious about christmas lol!!! The holiday that started Christianity is called Easter. The fact that you do not know this makes your entire argument more useless than it already was. Christians didn’t even celebrate Christmas until much, much later. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thanksgiving-a-bigger-deal-than-christmas-in-the-usa/518915/105 "2009-11-30T03:25:50Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The holiday that started Christianity is called Easter. The fact that you do not know this makes your entire argument more useless than it already was. > > Christians didn’t even celebrate Christmas until much, much later. ok, I give, the birth of your Lord and Savior is not at all an important event in the Christian calendar. You got me. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thanksgiving-a-bigger-deal-than-christmas-in-the-usa/518915/106 "2009-11-30T05:11:32Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > ok, I give, the birth of your Lord and Savior is not at all an important event in the Christian calendar. You got me. It’s not as big as Easter, religiously speaking. Anybody can get born. Dying & coming back to life is a bit less common. (If you don’t count various fertility gods.) ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thanksgiving-a-bigger-deal-than-christmas-in-the-usa/518915/107 "2009-11-30T15:45:40Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > OF course it’s possible to celebrate Christmas without being a Christian. It started out as a secular holiday, got Jesus shoehorned into it, but he got taken out pretty quick. None of the stuff we do now has anything to do with Christianity. > > But the thing is that the thread wasn’t even about this, at all. But that doesn’t stop some people from taking a thread and converting into yet another place to gripe about their own religious beliefs. And I find it appalling that reporting this crap as threadshitting doesn’t get anything accomplished. Christmas is huge in Japan, where only .5-1% of people are Christian. It’s a big party/celebration time and is fun. Honestly, that’s how most people I know (even Christians) treat Christmas. Jesus definitely takes a back seat to Santa, Rudolph, Christmas trees, baking cookies, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thanksgiving-a-bigger-deal-than-christmas-in-the-usa/518915/108 "2009-11-30T16:36:05Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > ok, I give, the birth of your Lord and Savior is not at all an important event in the Christian calendar. You got me. Plenty of Christian groups didn’t and don’t celebrate it at all - our steadfast pilgrim ancestors, for one. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thanksgiving-a-bigger-deal-than-christmas-in-the-usa/518915/109 "2009-11-30T16:37:31Z")
Has this thread run so far off the rails that we now have atheists demanding that we acknowledge Christmas as a religious holiday? ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thanksgiving-a-bigger-deal-than-christmas-in-the-usa/518915/110 "2009-11-30T17:41:23Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Has this thread run so far off the rails that we now have atheists demanding that we acknowledge Christmas as a religious holiday? I think what’s more hilarious is that Christians are demanding it be viewed as a _secular_ holiday. When, in a less combative mood, all would agree that it is virtually the ONLY religious holiday other than Easter that will bring the lapsed into Church (the fabled, “Christmas and Easter Christian”) because it is the second-most important religious observance in the liturgical calendar. Yet they seem right put out that some people just don’t care to participate in this religious festival. Of course its fun! Lots of things are fun!. I’m not all steamed up that y’all didn’t want to celebrate Purim this year. Why do people care so much??? It still amazing me how profoundly people can be insulted by a simple disinclination to celebrate a holiday. There is no gaping void in my life where Christmas should be, I truly promise you. I wish everyone a very happy celebration that is to their tastes and belief systems. Please, just leave me out of it. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thanksgiving-a-bigger-deal-than-christmas-in-the-usa/518915/111 "2009-11-30T17:56:48Z")
Christians feel threatened by creeping secularism; atheists feel threatened by being a minority. Christmas is the intersection where everybody feels threatened. The wonderful magical 😉 thing about Christmas is that it has dragged so much baggage along through the centuries that it can be celebrated as a religious holiday; a completely secular holiday; or not at all. Whatever floats your boat; I hope your December is as happy as you want it to be. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thanksgiving-a-bigger-deal-than-christmas-in-the-usa/518915/112 "2009-11-30T18:06:45Z")
Christmas has a ridiculously long marketing run-up, surpassed only by the presidential election campaign. I’ve blown off Christmas before and didn’t miss it much. Thanksgiving comes as a bit of a surprise because it’s less of an event (if you have kids) than Halloween. It sort of “happens” to you while you’re still reeling from the candy scam. I’ve blown off Thanksgiving before and felt incredibly hollow inside (no pun intended). My take is that there is so much commercialism involved with X-mas that the resulting level of gratitude is very near zero and as such it’s not a very satisfying holiday. Thanksgiving is completely different. Plus, I REALLY like to cook. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thanksgiving-a-bigger-deal-than-christmas-in-the-usa/518915/113 "2009-11-30T18:18:46Z")
> [@Maiira](#): > > Nah…my family has chicken instead. > > Anyone else do this? We vary every year! I don’t know what Christmas Eve will be this year, but it’s not likely to be turkey. Christmas day is steak and lobster tails this year, though. Light years better than turkey. ---
**Author:** ![Chopper9760](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Chopper9760](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chopper9760)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thanksgiving-a-bigger-deal-than-christmas-in-the-usa/518915/114 "2009-11-30T19:58:49Z")
Christmas is bigger in the US but we just had this conversation at the office and nearly everyone liked Thanksgiving better. My family and I like Thanksgiving better because we invite immediate family and friends, the crappy extended family that we have to suffer at Christmas is absent at Thanksgiving. Not to mention that it’s hunting season, the most wonderful time of the year! The whole holiday is eating and hanging with your friends - AWESOME. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thanksgiving-a-bigger-deal-than-christmas-in-the-usa/518915/115 "2009-11-30T20:18:50Z")
I just have to say to **An Gadaí** that I am really amazed by the perception in Ireland that Thanksgiving is a bigger holiday than Christmas in the US. I’ve had soooooo many Irish people say it to me matter-of-factly and I always wonder where the notion came from. (I mean, clearly judging by this thread it’s a bigger deal for some people or families individually, but the Irish seem to believe that it’s just a bigger holiday, full stop, in the States.) ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thanksgiving-a-bigger-deal-than-christmas-in-the-usa/518915/116 "2009-11-30T21:00:31Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Plenty of Christian groups didn’t and don’t celebrate it at all - our steadfast pilgrim ancestors, for one. I believe that the Puritans made celebrating Christmas illegal for a time, and if this were GD I’d look up a cite. ---
**Author:** ![Vihaga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Vihaga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vihaga)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thanksgiving-a-bigger-deal-than-christmas-in-the-usa/518915/117 "2009-11-30T21:49:18Z")
Some atheists don’t mind Christmas at all. My atheist husband loves Christmas more than anyone I’ve ever met, and he certainly doesn’t feel the need to drag Jesus into it. To answer the OP, Christmas in the U.S. is huge compared to Thanksgiving- radio stations started playing Christmas music weeks before Thanksgiving, many stores started to put out Christmas decorations around Halloween, and the retail consumption is truly remarkable. Cards, parties, food, travel- the planning starts well in advance and the frenzy increases throughout December. Thanksgiving is one day, two if you get Black Friday off, and, at least for me, it’s a smaller gathering with a turkey dinner and some family time. It is nice, though, because it’s much less stressful for many of us. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thanksgiving-a-bigger-deal-than-christmas-in-the-usa/518915/118 "2009-12-01T07:32:25Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > It still amazing me how profoundly people can be insulted by a simple disinclination to celebrate a holiday. > There is no gaping void in my life where Christmas should be, I truly promise you. I wish everyone a very happy celebration that is to their tastes and belief systems. Please, just leave me out of it. :rolleyes: No one in this thread is insulted that \*you \*don’t celebrate Christmas. But it is complete bullshit for you to claim that _no one_ can celebrate in a secular way. I’m an atheist Jew and I celebrate Christmas, with the tree and the presents and the songs and so forth. There’s not a blip about Jesus in my house on Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![FrWindyShephardHenderson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@FrWindyShephardHenderson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrWindyShephardHenderson)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thanksgiving-a-bigger-deal-than-christmas-in-the-usa/518915/119 "2009-12-01T12:14:49Z")
> [@ruadh](#): > > I just have to say to **An Gadaí** that I am really amazed by the perception in Ireland that Thanksgiving is a bigger holiday than Christmas in the US. I’ve had soooooo many Irish people say it to me matter-of-factly and I always wonder where the notion came from. (I mean, clearly judging by this thread it’s a bigger deal for some people or families individually, but the Irish seem to believe that it’s just a bigger holiday, full stop, in the States.) I dunno, most of us think that Chirstmas is huge in the states too. I mean I can’t think of one American Thanksgiving movie that’s on regular rotation on Irish or British tv. Also shows like the Simpsons regularly have Christmas episodes but I can’t think of any Simpsons Thanksgiving based show, save for the one were Bart runs away. And that was years ago. Its just that thanksgiving is so uniquely North American (doesn’t Canada have a thanksgiving too?) we figure that it must be just as big if not bigger over there. I guess its kind of like people expecting St Patricks day to be the biggest celebration of the year over here. Take away a few lame parades and its a day spent in the pub, just like St Stephen’s day really without the Turkey sandwiches. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thanksgiving-a-bigger-deal-than-christmas-in-the-usa/518915/120 "2009-12-01T14:18:15Z")
> [@Audrey\_Levins](#): > > I can only hope that people will try to be a bit more kind than usual, considering that I am working America’s biggest holiday. > > Not that people ever are. Merry fucking Christmas, everyone! > > :smack: Let me guess, you have people accusing you of ruining their celebration because you can’t run and jump and fetch at the speed of light, what with having all those other people to run and jump and fetch for. I nearly came to blows with someone over that, one Christmas when I worked at the emergency clinic. It was the first Christmas since I’d gotten married, my husband and I were working overlapping shifts so we didn’t see each other from early Christmas Eve afternoon to 10pm Christmas night, the entire rest of our families was 3 states away, and I’d spent 20 minutes on my hands and knees sifting through his dog’s vomit guestimating whether or not we’d gotten the whole pound of coffee beans out, when he started screaming at me about how an hour was way too goddamn long to wait for us to see his dog, induce vomiting, do bloodwork and xrays, and get his discharge papers. After all, he had _plans_ with his _family_, and we were _ruining_ their celebration. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thanksgiving-a-bigger-deal-than-christmas-in-the-usa/518915.md?page=5)