WEBVTT - Cancel Christmas (Rerun!) 0:00:08.245 --> 0:00:23.245 School of Humans. Oh, the Puritans. I think the last 0:00:23.245 --> 0:00:25.485 time I talked about them was in the first episode 0:00:25.965 --> 0:00:28.685 when we had the New Haven Colony where they're all 0:00:28.725 --> 0:00:31.965 those dudes who were or were not being seduced by 0:00:31.965 --> 0:00:35.885 their hogs. And I just want to say, I want 0:00:35.885 --> 0:00:39.845 to reiterate on the record, bestiality, buggering. I don't think 0:00:39.845 --> 0:00:42.605 it's great. If I was in charge of the colony, 0:00:42.885 --> 0:00:47.205 I probably wouldn't hang someone for doing it, but I 0:00:47.245 --> 0:00:50.685 would be extremely disappointed in them, you know, maybe give 0:00:50.725 --> 0:00:55.525 them a few lashes. I don't know. I also don't 0:00:55.525 --> 0:00:58.445 really want to do violence. Wow, I'm such a good person. 0:01:02.285 --> 0:01:06.085 But the Puritans were back at them today, specific the 0:01:06.125 --> 0:01:09.085 ones who came over in sixteen twenty to form the 0:01:09.125 --> 0:01:14.885 Massachusetts Bay Colony. And something that is ironic about the 0:01:14.925 --> 0:01:19.085 Puritans is that, you know, they were pure, et cetera, 0:01:19.365 --> 0:01:23.685 but they also stank. Yeah, when they came over, several 0:01:23.725 --> 0:01:28.445 Indigenous people were recorded saying how stinky the pilgrims were 0:01:28.885 --> 0:01:34.205 and they had to hold their noses. And it's true 0:01:34.245 --> 0:01:37.445 the Puritans they didn't really bathe. They also hated water, 0:01:38.005 --> 0:01:41.085 and you know what another thing they hated was Christmas 0:01:42.165 --> 0:01:44.765 And in sixteen fifty nine, when they just couldn't bear 0:01:44.805 --> 0:01:48.045 witness to any more happiness. The Puritans were like, oh, 0:01:48.045 --> 0:01:51.325 we hate Christmas because it doesn't make sense with the Bible, 0:01:51.525 --> 0:01:56.645 So you can't celebrate it any of you. No more Christmas. 0:02:00.325 --> 0:02:03.285 And so over twenty two years, from sixteen fifty nine 0:02:03.325 --> 0:02:06.845 to sixteen eighty one, no one and the Massachusetts Bay 0:02:06.845 --> 0:02:11.205 Colony was allowed to celebrate Christmas. If they did, they'd 0:02:11.245 --> 0:02:14.725 be hit with a five shilling fine. Uh, the stakes 0:02:14.765 --> 0:02:19.285 are high. So today's episode, we're talking about stinky people 0:02:19.365 --> 0:02:23.525 who deemed Christmas a filthy holiday. Wow, look at me 0:02:23.885 --> 0:02:26.685 connecting it to the title of the show. Ha haha. 0:02:27.085 --> 0:02:34.805 Cue the theme music. This is American filth. I'm your host, 0:02:34.845 --> 0:02:37.765 Gabby Watts. Each week I tell you a filthy story 0:02:37.805 --> 0:03:17.245 from American history. This week's episode canceled Christmas. Okay, so 0:03:17.285 --> 0:03:19.485 a lot of this episode we're actually not even gonna 0:03:19.485 --> 0:03:22.925 be in America. But you guys, calm down. It eventually connects. Okay. 0:03:23.725 --> 0:03:26.245 So to really get why the Puritans banded Christmas, we 0:03:26.285 --> 0:03:29.765 got to travel back in time to a Christian historian 0:03:29.885 --> 0:03:35.205 named Sextus Julius Africanus, who lives sometime between one's sixty 0:03:35.205 --> 0:03:37.925 and two forty AD. It's like, bro, why are you 0:03:38.005 --> 0:03:43.965 being a historian? We haven't even finished the history yet. Anyway, 0:03:44.405 --> 0:03:47.325 Sextus was the first person to connect Jesus' birth with 0:03:47.405 --> 0:03:51.245 December twenty fifth. Here was his logic. He was like, hmm, 0:03:51.445 --> 0:03:54.285 March twenty fifth, that's the date of the spring equinox. 0:03:54.525 --> 0:03:58.045 And yes, that's not the day anymore apparently planets and shit, 0:03:58.045 --> 0:04:00.445 but this isn't a science podcast. I don't know. But 0:04:00.605 --> 0:04:02.965 the spring equinox, that's the longest day of the year, 0:04:03.525 --> 0:04:07.285 and that also marks the fertile spring time, and that's 0:04:07.365 --> 0:04:11.205 kind of like fertility, the date of creation. That could 0:04:11.205 --> 0:04:14.765 be the date of Jesus's conception. So basically, that's the 0:04:14.845 --> 0:04:18.885 day that Joseph and Mary did not have sex, so 0:04:19.005 --> 0:04:21.565 then the Son of God he would come out about 0:04:21.645 --> 0:04:26.205 nine months later, which would be December twenty fifth. Early 0:04:26.325 --> 0:04:29.685 Christians were influenced by the writing of Sexist because I mean, 0:04:29.805 --> 0:04:33.965 why not, I mean, his name is Sexus Africanus. Basically, 0:04:34.005 --> 0:04:35.525 what I'm trying to say is his name sounds like 0:04:35.565 --> 0:04:41.205 sex Anus. Sorry. But also, the Christians were looking for 0:04:41.245 --> 0:04:43.805 a holiday because they wanted to compete with the Roman 0:04:43.845 --> 0:04:48.125 tradition of Saturnalia that was being celebrated all around them, 0:04:49.245 --> 0:04:52.445 and that holiday one week before December twenty fifth, non 0:04:52.525 --> 0:04:55.565 Christian Romans would decorate their homes with pine branches and 0:04:55.645 --> 0:05:00.165 other natural materials, close businesses, schools, and courts, and go 0:05:00.365 --> 0:05:04.485 caroling for money, all in honor of the farming god Saturn. 0:05:04.805 --> 0:05:08.085 They traded in the togas for colorful garments and even 0:05:08.125 --> 0:05:11.605 gave their slaves time off to participate in the festivities. Wow, 0:05:11.685 --> 0:05:15.645 so nice of them. Sometimes slaves would say the head 0:05:15.685 --> 0:05:19.285 of the table while the masters served them for a change, 0:05:19.325 --> 0:05:23.925 and together they would all get wasted. Some sources say 0:05:24.005 --> 0:05:26.765 that the slaves even taught the nobles to stick their 0:05:26.805 --> 0:05:29.565 fingers down their throats and throw up so that they 0:05:29.605 --> 0:05:36.725 could what make room for more booze. This week long 0:05:36.845 --> 0:05:42.005 ritualistic celebration also involved animal sacrifice, which pleased the gods 0:05:42.005 --> 0:05:45.205 and provided meat for the coming winter season, and may 0:05:45.245 --> 0:05:49.725 have even included human sacrifice in the lean years yum 0:05:49.845 --> 0:05:56.405 yum cousin meat. Tradition also called for gift giving. Candles 0:05:56.405 --> 0:06:00.165 were a common gift signifying the returning light to the earth. 0:06:00.645 --> 0:06:04.125 Other gifts included cage birds and dolls. Some of these 0:06:04.205 --> 0:06:08.685 dolls were clay figure we called signalaria, which was a 0:06:08.725 --> 0:06:12.085 callback to the early tradition that did in fact involve 0:06:12.165 --> 0:06:15.845 human sacrifice. So even though you're not doing human sacrifice, 0:06:15.885 --> 0:06:17.765 at least celebrate that you did at some point good 0:06:17.845 --> 0:06:21.445 job had on the back. In one holiday game, families 0:06:21.485 --> 0:06:24.845 would hide coins and cakes, and whoever found the coin 0:06:25.005 --> 0:06:29.125 was deemed the prince or princess and the lord of misrule. 0:06:29.565 --> 0:06:33.005 It became their responsibility to create mischief during the season, 0:06:33.605 --> 0:06:40.365 insulting guests, wearing outrageous clothing, chasing women, and saturnalia. Cumulated 0:06:40.445 --> 0:06:44.565 in the winter solstice on the Julian calendar December twenty fifth, 0:06:45.365 --> 0:06:49.045 and the early Christians were jealous. They're like, oh my god, 0:06:49.045 --> 0:06:53.205 these guys are having so much fun. So they decided 0:06:53.205 --> 0:06:56.645 to celebrate too. But they would not honor the existence 0:06:56.645 --> 0:06:59.925 of multiple gods. Oh no, that would be scandalous. No, 0:07:00.045 --> 0:07:02.205 they would revel in the joy brought about by the 0:07:02.205 --> 0:07:10.045 birth of Jesus. The first known Nativity celebration was held 0:07:10.085 --> 0:07:12.365 at the Church of Rome in three point thirty six 0:07:12.485 --> 0:07:16.365 a d. Nine years later, Pope Julius the I named 0:07:16.365 --> 0:07:20.205 December twenty fifth as the official birth date, which coincided 0:07:20.325 --> 0:07:23.045 nicely with the longest darkest night of the year and 0:07:23.125 --> 0:07:27.285 the final day of Saturnalia. Other early members of the 0:07:27.365 --> 0:07:30.765 Church claimed, of course, Christ chose to be born that 0:07:30.925 --> 0:07:35.525 day because of the symbolism of light increasing after that 0:07:35.925 --> 0:07:39.045 you're in the darkest day and he brings the light debt. 0:07:40.005 --> 0:07:43.525 As Christianity developed, they decided they would allow the solstice 0:07:43.605 --> 0:07:47.005 rituals to continue so long as they too were in 0:07:47.125 --> 0:07:52.565 celebration of the birth of good Old Jesus Christ. So 0:07:52.725 --> 0:07:55.765 for over a thousand years after that, Christmas was celebrated 0:07:55.765 --> 0:07:59.045 with the Nativity and just happened to include some leftover 0:07:59.125 --> 0:08:05.005 pagan rituals. During this thousand years, the Catholic Church increased 0:08:05.045 --> 0:08:08.485 their zesa for imposing their will upon everyone in Western Europe, 0:08:08.765 --> 0:08:11.965 with religious law and courts and local priests participating in 0:08:12.045 --> 0:08:17.765 what was essentially a bureaucracy of religious officials enforcing Catholic domination, 0:08:18.765 --> 0:08:24.205 the ideals of which reinforce social inequality. Basically, they'd be like, yeah, 0:08:24.245 --> 0:08:29.405 the monarchs, the noblemen, they're closer to God than everyone else, duh. 0:08:29.445 --> 0:08:31.245 And if they're close to God, that means they know 0:08:31.285 --> 0:08:33.965 how everything works, and there's no room for thinking outside 0:08:34.005 --> 0:08:36.805 of the box. They're basically like, yeah, the earth is 0:08:36.845 --> 0:08:40.765 flat and everything happens because God willed it, and anyone 0:08:40.765 --> 0:08:42.965 who doesn't agree can shut up and go to help, 0:08:44.525 --> 0:08:48.285 and you know, blah blah blah. Crusades murdered death, la 0:08:48.365 --> 0:08:51.525 la la la la. But eventually people were like, I 0:08:51.605 --> 0:08:53.765 kind of don't like you guys telling us what we 0:08:53.885 --> 0:08:57.325 have to do. And by the sixteenth century, European Christianity 0:08:57.365 --> 0:08:59.765 had split in two, and then eventually there was like 0:08:59.845 --> 0:09:05.805 a gazillion competing subgroups of Christianity. That's what Martin Luther 0:09:05.885 --> 0:09:08.565 showed up. He was basically among the first people to 0:09:08.645 --> 0:09:11.285 outwardly be like, hold up, this doesn't make any sense. 0:09:11.765 --> 0:09:15.285 You clergymen are mean and violent, and you expect us 0:09:15.285 --> 0:09:18.885 to believe that God talks to you. I can read, 0:09:19.485 --> 0:09:22.005 and you're not telling the truth about what the Bible says. 0:09:22.605 --> 0:09:25.085 That's the thing. A lot of people didn't read, so 0:09:25.085 --> 0:09:29.085 they would just simply follow the church's orders blindly. But 0:09:29.165 --> 0:09:32.965 Luther was like, you guys are just like people, sinners, 0:09:33.085 --> 0:09:38.605 just like the rest of us. This questioning of the 0:09:38.685 --> 0:09:41.965 system grew into a full on rejection of the papal system, 0:09:42.965 --> 0:09:49.285 and that's the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther 0:09:49.445 --> 0:09:52.085 was like, yo, if we learned to read, we can 0:09:52.125 --> 0:09:55.005 interpret the Bible for ourselves, then we won't have to 0:09:55.045 --> 0:09:58.605 listen to these assholes anymore. And yes, this is a 0:09:58.645 --> 0:10:01.445 great oversimplification of what happened, but you know what, we 0:10:01.485 --> 0:10:04.485 got to get back to America at some point. We're 0:10:04.485 --> 0:10:08.605 not there yet, but we're in there. Eventually, the Protestants 0:10:08.605 --> 0:10:11.965 in the UK formed the Church of England, a church 0:10:12.005 --> 0:10:15.765 with Protestant ideals, but one that was also deeply corrupt, 0:10:18.245 --> 0:10:20.565 and even that was still a bit too Catholic. Ye 0:10:20.645 --> 0:10:25.525 for some Protestant folks who eventually became the Puritans. And 0:10:25.565 --> 0:10:29.125 the Puritans, to simplify their belief system is they were 0:10:29.125 --> 0:10:32.485 obsessed with being pure, and they were opposed to anything 0:10:32.565 --> 0:10:35.885 that was fun. They didn't want to do anything that 0:10:36.005 --> 0:10:39.205 wasn't literally prescribed by the Bible. They believed that everything 0:10:39.285 --> 0:10:42.685 happened because of divine providence, and the more they suffered, 0:10:42.725 --> 0:10:46.805 the more rewarded they would be in the afterlife, which 0:10:46.805 --> 0:10:48.405 is why a lot of them pieced out to the 0:10:48.445 --> 0:10:50.925 New World to do their own thing. Because even the 0:10:50.965 --> 0:10:53.165 Church of England was like, y'all need to chill out, 0:10:53.245 --> 0:10:55.925 you need to relax, drink a little, which is really 0:10:55.965 --> 0:10:58.485 saying a lot. And the king at the time was 0:10:58.565 --> 0:11:01.805 Charles the First, who was trying to dissolve Parliament and 0:11:01.845 --> 0:11:04.885 have ultimate power. He was like, I believe in the 0:11:04.925 --> 0:11:08.085 divine right of kings. I will not listen to Parliament, 0:11:08.205 --> 0:11:11.805 so they should go away. But a high ranking military 0:11:11.845 --> 0:11:16.045 official and politician named Oliver Cromwell showed up and challenged him, 0:11:16.285 --> 0:11:20.085 causing a war. Cromwell was a Protestant and a rebel. 0:11:20.285 --> 0:11:23.085 He studied at a peerdance school in Cambridge. It was 0:11:23.165 --> 0:11:27.085 dedicated to his version of a purified life. He led 0:11:27.125 --> 0:11:30.085 his fellow Protestants in a fight for a more balanced 0:11:30.125 --> 0:11:34.565 government in one and as his first order of business, 0:11:34.605 --> 0:11:38.765 he beheaded King Charles for treason. But then two separate 0:11:38.845 --> 0:11:43.085 versions of Parliament arose in succession, and Cromwell tried to 0:11:43.165 --> 0:11:45.805 lead them, but it didn't really work. Plus there was 0:11:45.845 --> 0:11:49.245 a ton of conflict over Ireland and Scotland, so he 0:11:49.405 --> 0:11:52.565 was like, I will create a protectorate and I am 0:11:52.605 --> 0:11:57.285 now the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England. Basically 0:11:57.525 --> 0:12:01.285 a King. But whatever Cromwell, I suppose he was sowing 0:12:01.325 --> 0:12:04.765 some seeds to early democracy, at least trying to challenge 0:12:04.805 --> 0:12:07.725 the abuse of pas. And that's where the Puritans come 0:12:07.765 --> 0:12:11.605 back in the ones in Massachusetts Bay. I told you 0:12:11.645 --> 0:12:13.005 we were going to get back to the point of 0:12:13.045 --> 0:12:18.125 the whole podcast. The Puritans in Massachusetts Bay were taking 0:12:18.165 --> 0:12:21.005 their cues from Cromwell, since he, like them, was a 0:12:21.045 --> 0:12:24.405 Puritan and he had fought for them against the monarchy 0:12:24.965 --> 0:12:28.365 as Lord Protector. Cromwell had imposed his own ban on 0:12:28.445 --> 0:12:32.685 Christmas starting in sixteen forty four, and the Puritans in 0:12:32.725 --> 0:12:36.365 Massachusetts Bay wanted to follow suit, but they were busy 0:12:36.405 --> 0:12:40.125 trying to stay alive in the New World. As they 0:12:40.205 --> 0:12:43.285 established themselves, though, they wanted to do things their own way, 0:12:43.925 --> 0:12:46.285 and in the words of the governor of the Massachusetts 0:12:46.325 --> 0:12:49.525 Bay Colony, John Whitthrop, they wanted to be a city 0:12:49.565 --> 0:12:53.325 on a hill, a model of proper society and lifestyle 0:12:53.445 --> 0:12:57.165 for all other nations and people. And they could only 0:12:57.205 --> 0:12:59.925 do that by putting the needs of the community first 0:13:00.085 --> 0:13:04.125 over the needs of the individual. And all those principles 0:13:04.165 --> 0:13:07.365 came from the Good Book. And I'm being honest, it's 0:13:07.405 --> 0:13:09.365 not really that good of a book like I definitely 0:13:09.485 --> 0:13:13.605 it could use some edits. It's too long, it drags anyway. 0:13:14.325 --> 0:13:17.005 So basically the only people who could vote or hold 0:13:17.045 --> 0:13:21.845 office in Massachusetts Bay were church members, and so the 0:13:21.885 --> 0:13:25.445 power stayed in the hands of the Puritan church elite. 0:13:25.525 --> 0:13:28.565 These clergymen claim that there wasn't even evidence of an 0:13:28.605 --> 0:13:32.205 actual day to mark the birth of Jesus. It was 0:13:32.285 --> 0:13:36.165 not in the Bible, and therefore on December twenty fifth 0:13:36.205 --> 0:13:40.285 there was no reason to celebrate. They argued instead that 0:13:40.365 --> 0:13:44.205 December twenty fifth, and the words of Oliver Cromwell, should 0:13:44.245 --> 0:13:47.965 be a day of fasting and humiliation, where men should 0:13:48.005 --> 0:13:51.605 turn inward, reflect on and feel the shame of their sins. 0:13:52.365 --> 0:13:55.965 Just be like, ooh father, I'm so bad, I'm saw wee. 0:13:58.125 --> 0:14:00.725 And the Pagan or early Roman roots of the widely 0:14:00.805 --> 0:14:04.405 practiced Christmas rituals did not help its case. It was 0:14:04.445 --> 0:14:08.085 associated with sin after all, you know, it's not family friendly. 0:14:08.165 --> 0:14:12.925 It encouraged drinking all day long, also overeating. Gluttony ugh 0:14:13.205 --> 0:14:18.365 so bad. Usually on Christmas, raucus parties would leave people blackout, 0:14:18.445 --> 0:14:21.845 drunk and stumbling home in the dark. It was a 0:14:21.845 --> 0:14:24.765 time for vagabonds, just these groups of men that would 0:14:24.805 --> 0:14:28.325 wander the streets and knock on doors demanding handouts of 0:14:28.445 --> 0:14:33.005 money and food like figgy pudding. Do you guys know 0:14:33.045 --> 0:14:35.365 that song about figgy pudding? I always thought it was 0:14:35.365 --> 0:14:38.405 really weird because it basically goes, so bring us some 0:14:38.485 --> 0:14:41.485 figgy pudding. Yes, bring some right here. We won't go 0:14:41.605 --> 0:14:44.125 until we get some. We won't go until we get some. 0:14:44.885 --> 0:14:46.605 We won't go until we get some, So bring some 0:14:46.725 --> 0:14:50.205 right here. But that was like that song. That's not exaggeration. 0:14:50.725 --> 0:14:54.365 These vagabonds, these dudes, they would wait at doors demanding 0:14:54.405 --> 0:14:57.165 food and burst in rating rich people's houses if they 0:14:57.165 --> 0:15:05.645 were turned away. Figgie pudding? Is that good? Another tradition 0:15:05.765 --> 0:15:09.205 of the Christmas season that the Puritans found especially scandalous 0:15:09.325 --> 0:15:13.245 was called mummy. Men would dress like women and vice versa, 0:15:13.285 --> 0:15:17.845 and visit neighbors houses. Honestly, back in this time before 0:15:17.845 --> 0:15:21.605 the band, Christmas sounded even more fun. A Bishop Hugh 0:15:21.685 --> 0:15:25.285 Lattimore wrote about Christmas, men dishonor Christ's more in the 0:15:25.325 --> 0:15:28.685 twelve days of Christmas than in all twelve months. Besides, 0:15:29.525 --> 0:15:32.325 so in the Massachusetts Bay Colony they banned the holiday 0:15:32.405 --> 0:15:38.125 altogether in sixteen fifty nine. We'll be right back after 0:15:38.205 --> 0:15:51.845 these doothing advertisements. So the Massachusetts Bay Colony has banned Christmas. 0:15:52.045 --> 0:15:55.525 But the thing is around the same time. Just the 0:15:55.645 --> 0:15:59.085 year before Cromwell died, his son took over as Lord 0:15:59.125 --> 0:16:02.965 Protector and was like this is hard and resigned. And 0:16:03.005 --> 0:16:06.925 guess who became the new leader, Charles the Second the 0:16:06.965 --> 0:16:10.205 air to Charles the First, who had just been executed. 0:16:11.605 --> 0:16:16.445 Parliament resumed. We're back to kings and queens. Also, Christmas 0:16:16.565 --> 0:16:20.845 is back, so that's right. The Christmas band in England 0:16:20.925 --> 0:16:25.125 was overturned just as the Massachusetts Puritans were imposing theirs. 0:16:26.205 --> 0:16:28.045 They kind of got on the train too late, but 0:16:28.085 --> 0:16:30.845 they dug their heels in. They're like, this is how 0:16:30.845 --> 0:16:34.085 devoted we are to taking the Bible seriously. See God, 0:16:34.245 --> 0:16:40.165 we're suffering for you. Ooh, hurt me. Dandy signs were 0:16:40.205 --> 0:16:44.925 posted all over the colony that read all caps, public notice, 0:16:45.445 --> 0:16:49.165 the observation of Christmas having been deemed a sacrilege. The 0:16:49.205 --> 0:16:52.805 exchange of gifts and greetings, dressing and fine clothing, feasting, 0:16:52.925 --> 0:16:59.805 and similar satanical practices are hereby forbidden. That's right, guys. 0:16:59.805 --> 0:17:06.005 When you wear fine clothing, you're supporting Satan. And the 0:17:06.045 --> 0:17:08.765 thing is, despite the ban being lifted by Mother England, 0:17:09.045 --> 0:17:11.525 the Puritans kept it in place for twenty two years. 0:17:13.045 --> 0:17:15.445 And I guess the nice ironic thing is that a 0:17:15.445 --> 0:17:18.965 lot of the Peertons came to America to escape religious persecution, 0:17:19.725 --> 0:17:21.685 but then when they got to America, they just did 0:17:21.685 --> 0:17:25.885 it to everyone else. Can you believe it? A bit hypocritical? 0:17:26.485 --> 0:17:28.485 Some would say that is the foundation of the United 0:17:28.485 --> 0:17:33.085 States of America. Some would say not me. I have 0:17:33.085 --> 0:17:37.565 no opinions about anything, as you can tell in this episode. 0:17:39.165 --> 0:17:40.645 But the thing is, even though they had that band 0:17:40.685 --> 0:17:44.005 for twenty two years, there wasn't a ton that, you know, 0:17:44.045 --> 0:17:46.805 the Purton leaders could do to prevent people from dressing 0:17:46.885 --> 0:17:50.085 up and dining together. So a lot of people just 0:17:50.125 --> 0:17:54.885 celebrated anyway, but behind closed doors. And sometimes people would 0:17:54.885 --> 0:17:57.405 still get a little bit too drunk on December twenty fifth, 0:17:57.765 --> 0:17:59.765 and they would have to pay that whopping fine of 0:17:59.845 --> 0:18:04.685 five shillings. But then eventually, because again this was still 0:18:04.725 --> 0:18:07.325 an English call, the Puritans who were in charge of 0:18:07.325 --> 0:18:11.045 Massachusetts Bay, got a lot of pressure from the British 0:18:11.125 --> 0:18:14.725 government to lift the ban, so they did in sixteen 0:18:14.765 --> 0:18:20.525 eighty one, and then once we get into the seventeen hundreds, 0:18:20.605 --> 0:18:24.525 before the Revolutionary War, it seemed that most of colonial 0:18:24.565 --> 0:18:28.685 society accepted Christmas as a sacred holiday. And then once 0:18:28.765 --> 0:18:32.645 the US won independence, there's a lot of bantering about 0:18:32.645 --> 0:18:35.845 how to deal with all the Christmas stuff. But don't forget, 0:18:36.645 --> 0:18:40.445 there was this thing called capitalism, and shop owners saw 0:18:40.485 --> 0:18:44.085 the opportunities that the holiday brought, so they're like, we 0:18:44.125 --> 0:18:48.405 should celebrate this holiday and sell some shit. And now 0:18:48.445 --> 0:18:52.045 here we are today when you got to spend a 0:18:52.085 --> 0:18:55.365 lot of money on gifts for people and then they 0:18:55.365 --> 0:18:58.565 don't even really like the gift that much, but they pretend. 0:18:58.645 --> 0:19:00.605 But you still have to spend a lot of money 0:19:00.645 --> 0:19:03.045 to give them stuff they don't even want because we 0:19:03.085 --> 0:19:06.925 don't even need all that stuff. Maybe that's just me. 0:19:07.685 --> 0:19:12.125 Is this relatable? I'm trying to be relatable. So for 0:19:12.165 --> 0:19:14.805 all of y'all who are going to be celebrating Christmas 0:19:14.805 --> 0:19:19.045 this year, just remember what the Puritans thought, that celebrating 0:19:19.165 --> 0:19:24.885 Christmas means you're doing the will of say ten And 0:19:25.005 --> 0:19:27.965 I think, obviously we learn a lot from every American 0:19:28.005 --> 0:19:31.165 filth episode, and I think what we really learn is 0:19:31.205 --> 0:19:34.645 that religion is for sure one real and not a 0:19:34.685 --> 0:19:37.965 tool used by people in power to control you. So 0:19:39.485 --> 0:19:44.605 Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, etc. Etc. We aren't going to 0:19:44.645 --> 0:19:46.285 have an episode next week because I'm going to take 0:19:46.325 --> 0:19:52.925 a break, but we'll be back in the new year. Xoxo, Gabby. Bye. 0:19:55.325 --> 0:19:57.645 American filth is a production of School of Humans and 0:19:57.685 --> 0:20:01.045 iHeart Podcast. I'm your host, Gabby Watts. This episode was 0:20:01.085 --> 0:20:05.125 written by Julia Chriscau. It was sound designed by Jesse Niswanger. 0:20:05.205 --> 0:20:08.725 He also helped me make the theme song Wow. Our 0:20:08.765 --> 0:20:12.805 senior producers Amelia Brock, and our executive producers are Virginia Prescott, 0:20:12.805 --> 0:20:16.525 Elsie Crowley, and Brandon Barr. Please like, subscribe, review to 0:20:16.565 --> 0:20:22.365 the show wherever you listen. Also follow along on Instagram 0:20:22.405 --> 0:20:41.245 at American filk Pod Bye School of Humans.