Politicized and commercialized holidays

The politicization and commercialization of national and local holidays and religious feast days involves the use of theatrical techniques in order to achieve psychological objectives. Theatricalized holidays include national independence days when governments mount staged processions and displays of military forces and armaments; local fairs organized for economic reasons which exploit folklore and folk customs, and ideologically-inspired and dramatized days of honour for special interest groups. Religious processions of statues or relics on holy days have also been theatricalized to attract tourists in both developed and developing countries. The synthetic character that theatricalized holidays acquire negates their original inspiration in such human qualities as heroism, patriotism, honouring of parents and forebears, and respect for human rights and social justice. Theatricalized holy days and rites themselves are a travesty of religious piety and simple and sincere worship, but remain a commercial institution of the religion business.