what about "bound by tradition"

sounds great to me

"Christmas, whatever the year, in the story-telling tradition obliges us to go back to how Scrooge was the lonely and isolated miser and relive his story again."

Could there be a better example on Christmas Day than this one?

warum nicht:

noblesse oblige?

"noblesse oblige" = "Adel verpflichtet". Nicht unbedingt dasselbe wie "Tradition verpflichtet", denn lange Traditionen gibt es in vielen Bereichen außerhalb des Adels.