Philosophizing on New Year's Celebration

As a matter of fact, I don't think it is very necessary to analyze and write about such issues! However, I would like to bring my own explanation to this issue, which we are approaching as a period of time and which divides our society into two and sometimes even three, on which there are deep discussions, and I would like to share my thoughts on this issue with you, my dear readers. 

In sociology, the angle from which you look at things is as important as what you want to see where you look! If you ask me, what you see where you look is actually what you hope to see internally! There is as much difference between a fundamentally positive view of a phenomenon and a negatively neutral view as there is between the ability of a firefly to illuminate and the ability of the sun to illuminate. So if you choose to think that celebrating the coming of a new year is unjustified and unnecessary, there will be nothing left for you to celebrate in this world. 

Here's an example: Suppose I am someone who has a negative view of birthday celebrations and is a bit of a curmudgeon! Here is my irresistible defense: birthday celebrations are based on a very simple logic. The main factor is that you leave the womb. The day when this happens is celebrated by your loved ones on the same day every year. The parties are usually short. Your loved ones buy you surprise gifts. In other words, the gifts that are supposed to satisfy you are chosen randomly by others, by guesswork and instinct, without your consent or desire! In return, you voluntarily take on the burden of smiling happily throughout the ceremony and offering cake to your friends. Even if you don't like most of the gifts, you exaggerate and say that you really like them. This is a traditional ritual for many of us. Theoretically, the situation of a person who is one year older and aging, which is an omen indicating that the person is one step closer to the moment of death, is not something to celebrate at all! In fact, for a community to celebrate, there must be an important event that has become a public event! Yes, a birthday is important for you, but it is not groundbreaking for society. 

You may not have realized it, but all the people around you were born into this society. Birthdays are a rather boring and worrying event, let alone a celebration! As you can see, if you don't want to celebrate something, you can come up with hundreds of rational excuses. Just like I did. Of course, the opposite is also possible. A group of people who want to celebrate can celebrate for dozens of good reasons without much thought. What is important here is what the celebration adds to you or takes away from you. 

A significant part of our society sees New Year's celebrations on religious grounds as negative and harmful. According to them, there is a threat of Christianization of our society in the future. Another group says that these celebrations harm our customs and traditions and that in this way we will adopt the culture of European peoples and gradually break away from our roots. Still another group of people, not insignificant in number, believe that such celebrations are only used as a means to sell things or to fill entertainment venues. Therefore, they are in favor of either not celebrating at all or celebrating without spending as much money as possible rather than having a special celebration. 

I have listed the main views of three completely different sociological and political groups that are against celebrations. Now for the fun part - I refute all the claims! The first thing I disagree with is the view that Christmas celebrations are a Christian belief. This view is no longer very popular around the world. But it is still accepted in our country. Contrary to popular belief, the celebration of Christmas and the belief in Christmas Day are not Christian beliefs, but elements of the Pagan faith supported by Shamanism. So, contrary to what we may think, they do not contain Christian propaganda! The character called Santa Claus, which is also a popular opinion, is a figure copied exactly from Norse Mythology. Let's talk about the other claims; I don't have any technical knowledge on this subject, but I would like to share with you the opinion of a famous scholar who is accepted by everyone, which I agree with. Prof. Dr. Muazzez Ilmiye Çığ, a Sumerologist, who was once a guest on Teke Tek Special with Fatih Altaylı and Murat Bardakçı on Habertürk, made important observations, and I quote: "Decorating pine trees is a purely Turkish custom. Our relations with the new Turkish states teach us brand new things. The ancient Turks envision a tree from the center of the earth to the sky. This tree of life also exists in Sumeria. At one end stands the Sky God. In the Turks, the sun is sacred but not recognized as God. On December 22, the sun begins to illuminate the world again in excess. In other words, the Sky God of the Turks regulates day and night in the sky. Supposedly day and night are in constant dispute. On December 22, day beats night. Turks celebrate this as the "festival of rebirth". There was a tree in Turkestan, the akçam, and this akçam did not grow anywhere else.

They bring the pine and put it in the house, under the pine they put gifts to God for giving them good things that year, for giving them a good life. And on the branches they put rags or ribbons for things they ask God for the following year, things they want as offerings. 

On those days they have a big feast and festival. Families gather, elders are visited, special meals are eaten and beautiful clothes are worn. This custom passed to Europe through the Turks. This has nothing to do with Christmas! I would like to say a few words about the increasing interest in foreign celebrations, despite the fact that Turkish society is multicultural and rooted in ancient history. 

As I mentioned above, New Year celebrations are not far from our culture. What I criticize is not the celebration of New Year's Eve or the time period in which it is celebrated. It is that the way of celebration is taken verbatim from foreign sources and insistently tried to be imposed despite the fact that it contains elements that are contrary to our culture and religious values. New year means new hopes. No matter how you welcome something, your subconscious mind will guide you in that direction. It doesn't seem reasonable and meaningful to me to enter the New Year with a full brain and a stressful life, on top of the debate on whether we should celebrate or not. 

In particular, the way we celebrate should urgently be customized. In other words, saying "look, this is how people celebrate here in the world" and imitating these forms of entertainment will not only lower our self-esteem but also will not stimulate our sense of fun and happiness in the real sense. We can only appear to be having fun. In reality, you're just going to have a night out shopping and spending money. I think given the limitations of human life, people deserve much greater happiness. Everyone already knows these problems, and if you ask what your solution is, my claim was to bring my own solution to the issue, the way our national and religious holidays are celebrated should be revised and spread to the young grassroots! 

For example, let me mention a special period of time that I find very meaningful. Local Goods Week. I don't remember ever gathering with the people of the neighborhood and celebrating a night of crazy celebration of the Domestic Goods Week. However, a celebration focusing on our citizens with very simple state support and of course with a focus on our citizens with insufficient income could be great. Imagine a charity event but the cameras are not there. You put on your nice clothes and take to the streets as a family. You have neatly wrapped food and gifts, as big as you can carry. Believe me, it would be much more humane to pack the things you don't use and put them in gift boxes rather than stuffing them in a dirty sack and sending them to those in need. You go street by street and leave them in the areas designated by the municipalities. Then these people go through the streets of the city and meet in the city square and eat the cookies prepared for them and dance to beautiful music. People have fun and help each other with food at the same time. Wouldn't that be great? 

Or, instead of just observing religious days with a few prayers and chants in Arabic (which most people don't understand most of the time), there could be some special activities organized for the day. If these arrangements can be made in the presence of sociologists, without undermining the values of the people, but in a way that attracts young people and the general public, then we can appreciate our own special days and create our own traditions of celebration. This can even turn into a big carnival that will affect the whole world, let alone the interest of people in our country. 

Without further ado, I will conclude my article with a simple sentence of information and, as always, leave the interpretation to you, dear readers. 

May your new year or whatever you call it bring you happiness and peace. 

Stay with respectful love.