for me, neither. it's an affront to those who are not christian (and those who are not capitalist, but we're used to that, daily, not just at christmas). from october through mid-januray i, a jewish atheist, don't exist in the media, on the street, in shops, anywhere. i am accosted by christmas everywhere i go. if someone wishes the world a happy chanukah (during chanukah, which this year, as in many years, does not fall during christmas but certainly falls during the christmas season) i practically pee myself, even though chanukah is not "the jewish christmas" and isn't even a major jewish holiday (unless you're a kid or have kids). hell, it's not even mostly a religious holiday; it's got a miracle at the end but most of the story is about an historical war, and god isn't mentioned throughout. i don't even think he's mentioned in the miracle part (which can be taken metaphorically). anyway, it doesn't exist as far as the overwhelmingly christian society in which we, in the western world, live. i don't exist. no one asks "what if anything do you celebrate?" then there's the outcry about the so-called war on christmas, an example of which my post is NOT (i'm just qvetching). put christ back in christmas. well, okay, yes, get him out of MY face, anyway. put him back in your home if you must and your church, which i won't attack, honestly, but keep him off my tv and off my street. that's one part of the christian invasion. the other part is of course the capitalist part, and it's overwhelming. it was before i was an atheist and it is now, too, though it's easier to hide now. (you should see how mad my mom got when my second-grade teacher had class making christmas wreathes; poor teach had no idea what she'd done wrong; don't jews celebrate christmas? actually i had an acquaintance with whom i was friendly and spoke on the phone sometimes who, upon finding out, to her shock, in her adulthood, from me, that jews don't hold jesus as the messiah or any representation of god at all, dropped me cold. it was just too horrible for her to bear. she'd had no idea that jews were not just some other kind of christian. this is an american, raised in the united states, presumably among people. i may be presuming too much there; after all, that's why god invented home-schooling, right?) grrr, don't get me... well, you already got me started. don't get me continuing! christmas. i'm not a scrooge. i'm not a grinch. i'm just not christian (or theist but that's continuing and i said i'd stop, didn't i? sort of?)

g