Reddit mentions of The Battle for Christmas: A Social and Cultural History of Our Most Cherished Holiday

You should celebrate Xmas on the principle that it is a secular holiday, not even a pagan one.

Try reading The Battle for Christmas, by Stephen Nissenbaum. It explains how Christmas was really always a secular holiday rejected by Christians until Unitarians finally accepted it and popularized it.

Also, this Christmas, try listening to The Atheist's Christmas Podcast, and listen to some of the archives. I explain why it is a secular holiday as best I can, and share some of its history.

Would you find it terribly ironic if I were to tell you that the genuine Wars on Christmas were actually done by Christians themselves?

And another one.

Getting the picture yet?

I just finished reading "The Battle for Christmas" which is a history of Christmas in America since the days of the puritans. It's a great read, though sometimes a little academic. It is actual history, BTW, not a religious tract (the author is/was a professor at Amherst). If you are one to celebrate Christmas, you'll probably learn something surprising.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Battle-Christmas-Stephen-Nissenbaum/dp/0679740384

Added: Here's the blurb from Amazon:

Anyone who laments the excesses of Christmas might consider the Puritans of colonial Massachusetts: they simply outlawed the holiday. The Puritans had their reasons, since Christmas was once an occasion for drunkenness and riot, when poor "wassailers extorted food and drink from the well-to-do. In this intriguing and innovative work of social history, Stephen Nissenbaum rediscovers Christmas's carnival origins and shows how it was transformed, during the nineteenth century, into a festival of domesticity and consumerism.

Another redditor suggested I read this, so I did, so I will suggest it for you:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Battle-Christmas-Stephen-Nissenbaum/dp/0679740384
"The Battle for Christmas" by Stephen Nissenbaum. It's a great book that details how Christmas went from being a collection of pagan celebrations that were made ILLEGAL by the church in new england, to the christianity and consumerism focused "holiday" that it is today.

Very fascinating history that I think you'll find interesting and relevant.

Try this book. You should be able to get it at your local library, or you can interlibrary loan it! http://www.amazon.com/Battle-Christmas-Stephen-Nissenbaum/dp/0679740384/ref=pd_sim_b_1 ,