Not once was the religious significance of the feast alluded to.

Which was fine with me, because I do not participate in Christmas for religious reasons, though I do share in it’s gift-giving rituals.

While their members submerge themselves in the shopping frenzy, many Christian organizations bewail the rampant commercialism of the season. They shouldn’t.

It’s time to realize that we are concurrently celebrating several religious festivals at this time of year, participation in which is limited to adherents of a particular religion (Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice, Yalda), and one large Saturnalia, celebrated by almost the whole population with mercantile abandon. The latter, which is by far the most important,  appears to be a manifestation of a Cargo Cult which starts at Thanksgiving and ends at the new year. 

With the economy emulating the weather and racing downhill like an avalanche, we could promote this popular festival as a good way to stimulate the growth of wealth and put the nation back on a sound commercial footing, not only this year, but in the following years as well, starting it ever earlier, at Halloween or even Labor Day.

To make it more beneficial and enjoyable, we could turn it from mere gift giving into a competitive sport, based on a few simple rules:

The individual or family who gets the most stuff wins. To make sure it's not only the filthy rich who triumph, we could divide the competition into different categories:

by age

by income

by religious affiliation

by social affiliation

by dividing bought gifts from handmade gifts

foods

services

et al.

We could even place bets on the scores of the different categories.

The winners could be awarded coupons or a shopping spree during the next holiday season. 

This is just a tentative stab at bringing the feast more in lime with the popular mood. I bet many of you could come up with even better ideas.