I love Christmas.

[nshumate]

Didn't want to derail the other thread by naysaying.  I just had to proclaim:  I love it.  It's not the music so much (I don't allow it in my house before Thanksgiving so I won't burn out), it's not the decorations or snow, it's not even the religious part (and I'm a very dedicated Christian).

I just like giving things to my loved ones.  I don't even care what I get anymore; I just love finding the perfect thing for my wife or my children, and watching them unwrap it.

[CheezeFlixz]

I don't LOVE Christmas, but I don't HATE it either. I have kids so I put up with all the trees and trimming and all that. But I must admit that "The Christmas Story" is one of my favorite films.

[Andrew]

I think that my perception of the holiday has always been colored by two things. 

Christmas leave - allowing me to go home to see my family and friends.  This was a major factor before we had children.

Children - Kids see the world a different way and having children definitely changes Christmas.  If you avoid the consumerism, you see a whole lot more.

[RCMerchant]

I LOVE Christmas. I really don't care about the money part...because I don't have any!  I think organized relgion is bulls**t- but I just like the fact that it puts a lot of people in a good mood..and that's ok withme. And Jesus is just alright with me...he's a cool guy...I really wish more were like him...

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy9uf9720mo

Dam good jam too!

[JaseSF]

I LOVE Christmas too. I try not to let the commercialism get me down. It helps I find to not watch too much TV and to not spend too long in major shopping centres where they insist on playing Christmas music much too early. But pop in those familiar Christmas classics on DVD (A Christmas Carol (1951), A Miracle on 34th Street, A Christmas Story, It's A Wonderful Life) and well that usually puts me in a good mood. Christmas generally puts me in a good mood because it gives me a chance to give to others. It helps too when others give me stuff too no doubt, especially some neat DVDs or something. Still the real joy is definitely in finding gifts for others, wrapping it up and have them wonder Oh I wonder what's this I've got here. 

[Mr. DS]

Didn't want to derail the other thread by naysaying.  I just had to proclaim:  I love it.  It's not the music so much (I don't allow it in my house before Thanksgiving so I won't burn out), it's not the decorations or snow, it's not even the religious part (and I'm a very dedicated Christian).

I just like giving things to my loved ones.  I don't even care what I get anymore; I just love finding the perfect thing for my wife or my children, and watching them unwrap it.

Blasphemer!  Don't give in to the seduction of Xmas , stay away from the light!  Read the "I Hate Christmas" thread now! 

[Allhallowsday]

Blasphemer!  Don't give in to the seduction of Xmas , stay away from the light!  Read the "I Hate Christmas" thread now! 

I had to laugh at that one...    I contributed to your rotten old "I hate Christmas" thread, but you earned your karma over here...

[nshumate]

Blasphemer!  Don't give in to the seduction of Xmas , stay away from the light!  Read the "I Hate Christmas" thread now! 

"There are many things from which I might have
derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare
say," returned the nephew. "Christmas among the
rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas
time, when it has come round--apart from the
veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything
belonging to it can be apart from that--as a
good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant
time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar
of the year, when men and women seem by one consent
to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think
of people below them as if they really were
fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race
of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore,
uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or
silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me
good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!"

- Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

(And I believe you know your next line, Darksider...)

[Allhallowsday]

"There are many things from which I might have
derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare
say," returned the nephew. "Christmas among the
rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas
time, when it has come round--apart from the
veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything
belonging to it can be apart from that--as a
good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant
time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar
of the year, when men and women seem by one consent
to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think
of people below them as if they really were
fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race
of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore,
uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or
silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me
good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!"

You're a tough critic Nathan, though doubtless insightful, so I can't not be impressed by any quote of DICKENS, particularly that one.   (Can't give ya no more karma today).

[Mr. DS]

(And I believe you know your next line, Darksider...)

"I hate the smell of tapioca"
Santa-A Christmas Story

Ok my friend, to be fair I do like some things about Christmas.  For example the movie I just quoted which is in my all time top 5 favs.  I always use that quote when I'm sick of the holidays.  I enjoy many of the classic specials like Rudolph, Frosty and The Year Without A Santa Claus.  One of my favorite decorations is the miniature Christmas villages people put up.  My parents always put one up and I loved looking at it as a kid.  And yes, some of the music is ok.  Still as a whole I generally don't like the holiday. 

[nshumate]

Then keep yer Christmas-hatin' ways in yer own thread!  Or else I'll wander over there and 'spread a little joy'...

[indianasmith]

I love Christmas.  I just don't care for what advertisers have done with it.  I know that JC's real birthday was most likely in August or September, but I always try to give him something anyway.  (Like my heart)

[Inyarear]

Well I say the trick to enjoying Christmas is to celebrate it your own way. It's all the things other people obligate you to do (shop for gifts, listen to the music for a month, be in Christmas plays, etc.) that bring you down.

Getting the gifts at Christmas was nice, but the part I always liked when I was a kid was being out of school for a good week or more. That kind of freedom (and life more abundant) is what we really ought to have more of around Christmas time.

There's even a sort of Christian significance to it: just as Joseph and Mary's trip to Bethlehem helped them get away from the wagging tongues of their neighbors so they could have their child in peace, so too Christmas vacations ought to help people get away from their chattering peers so they can spend some time with their families.

(Moreover, the bills came later for Mary and Joseph just as they do for people nowadays; by one interpretation of the Scriptures, the actual taxes from the census in which Mary and Joseph were enrolling may not have been collected until ten years later, when Quirinius was made the regional governor.)

[Ed, Ego and Superego]

I love the FEEL of christmas.  Its a slow ttime at work, there is a general air of happiness, I like decorations, I like seeing family, making special foods, putting up a tree.  Now I have discovered I like looking at special toys for my daughter.  I like Christmas markets (a holdover from living in Germany as a kid).  There is alot to like.

I don't like the TV commercials telling us we MUST by electronics, cell phones, or jewellery to have a successful holiday.  I don't like the fact places start selling Christmas sometime in September. 
Well, that didn't add to the discussion, sorry folks.
-Ed

[HappyGilmore]

I love Christmas time.  I do listen to Christmas music throughout the year, but once the last week of October hits, I listen quite a bit more.  Plus, a radio station here plays non-stop Christmas music from mid November to Christmas day, and my radio dial doesn't change. 

I also love that it means they show Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer on tv, as well as the other Rankin/Bass specials.  But Rudolph is the best one.

I love the feeling, and the fact that people are somewhat looser then.