ROOT: Religion aside, Christmas is a time for generosity and hope for all

Most of what I know about Christmas stems from TV specials, movies and TV shows. I learned about kindness and the benefits of being a misfit from "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." I learned about generosity from "A Christmas Carol." I learned about embracing the Christmas spirit from "Elf."

And my favorite, "A Charlie Brown Christmas," taught me that consumerism shouldn't overshadow kindness.

The criticism that Christmas is too commercial rings even truer today than it did in 1965.

There are a dozen other lessons here too, like treasuring your loved ones and helping those who are less fortunate than yourself. None of these shows are particularly religious, with the exception of "A Charlie Brown Christmas." But even then, you don't have to be a religious person to enjoy any Christmas special. Nor do you have to be a religious person to celebrate Christmas.

Let me make a quick distinction here: there's Christmas the religious holiday, the mass consumerist "holiday" and then there's the warm, fuzzy non-religious Christmas that's full of good cheer and joy. I support celebrating the last one.

Christmas hasn't been a truly Christian holiday for a long time. The mindless mass-consumerism that's seized our country is about as un-Christian as you can get. I doubt Jesus would approve of people pepper-spraying one another for $2 waffle irons.

To be fair, the Christians first stole Christmas from the pagans. The early Christians incorporated the winter solstice into their celebrations in order to gain more followers. The "Supernatural" episode, "A Very Supernatural Christmas," explains the Pagan origins better than I can.

Sam: I mean, pretty much every Christmas tradition *is* Pagan.

Dean: Christmas is Jesus' birthday.

Sam: No, Jesus' birthday was probably in the fall. It was actually the winter solstice festival that was co-opted by the church and renamed Christmas. But I mean the Yule log, the tree, even Santa's red suit is all remnants of Pagan worship.

Dean: How do you know that? What are you going to tell me next, the Easter Bunny is Jewish?

To be fair, then the CEOs, businessmen and businesswomen stole Christmas in order to turn bigger profits in the last quarter of the year. Christmas shopping starts right after Halloween for this reason. This is why we barely talk about Thanksgiving anymore, Christmas has stolen all its thunder. (Black Friday, Cyber Monday, anyone?)

The nasty aspects of the holiday are sometimes difficult to reconcile. The moment you point out that Christmas has become super materialistic, you're called a Grinch. Or at least I am.

Now a quick word on the "War with Christmas" wherein big-box store greeters say, "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas!" Of all the things to flip out about, this should be near the bottom of the list.

I'd be more worried about those who break limbs in the name of your holiday. That being said, not everyone is comfortable celebrating Christmas, though it has increasingly become secular, so they celebrate other holidays in their culture. Nothing wrong with that. And big-box stores don't want to potentially alienate any clientele, so "Happy Holidays!" is a smart thing to say.

The ideals of Christmas: kindness, generosity, treasuring your loved ones and accepting others for who they are, are notions everyone should embrace, regardless of religion. If your religion helps guide you to these ideas, that's fantastic. But, do recognize that sitting in a church pew isn't necessary for learning morality and acting as a moral person. If morality were entirely dependent on religion, you'd hear about atheists pillaging every day in the news. And that's certainly not the case.

That's not to say that you can't make Christmas a religious holiday. Many families attend special church services. (And sometimes that's the only time they go to a church.) I've spent a handful of Christmas Eves in a church – against my will. And before you ask, no, I didn't catch on fire. Actually, there's a small population of atheists (about 17 percent) who do attend church on Christmas, for a variety of reasons.

One of the wonderful things about Christmas being thoroughly non-religious is that anyone can celebrate it pretty much however he or she wants to. The holiday is flexible enough in its presentation and traditions that you could do all sorts of things.

We should embrace the ideals of Christmas all year long, whether we're religious or nonreligious.

Rhiannon Root is a senior news-editorial and history major. Follow her on Twitter @rhiannonroot and reach her at rhiannonroot@dailynebraskan.com.