Consumurism and cultural combat

Matt Dirks shares some top-shelf wisdom on why he won't be joining any Christmas boycotts:

By centering the battle on the money we spend to celebrate Christmas, we’ve already lost the war. We’re admitting that the “centerpiece” of our faith isn’t Jesus Christ, it’s our own desire for more stuff. We’re just making ourselves feel better about our crass consumerism by attaching Jesus to it. . . .

Here’s an idea: instead of boycotting certain businesses who aren’t religiously-correct enough in their advertising, why don’t we boycott the whole thing?

Good question. Bob Spencer offers a similar challenge:

You can wear all the "reason for the season" buttons you want, but most Christians I know keep a pre-dominantly secularized Christmas with a Creche in the front yard to emphasize that our hearts are in the right place even despite the conspicuous over-consumption.

Ebenezer Scrooge famously said, "You keep Christmas your way, and I'll keep Christmas mine." If you want to do something healthy for the Christian holiday known as Christmas, you might start by severing your celebration of the birth of Jesus from the consumerist impulse altogether. Buying nothing for Christmas is a good way to start.

Well, Christians. . . do we dare?