Merry Christmas and the Gospel According to Linus!
Tonight is Christmas Eve. It is the official end of the Christmas Shopping Season, which began after the Fourth of July. During that period, advertisers, merchandisers and public relations people have been Hell bent on convincing consumers to spend themselves into debt, buying presents for others to prove their love. To buy their love, as it were. Traditional Christmas Carols have been perverted to reflect this commercialism. "Angels we have heard on high, telling us 'Go out and buy!'" And "God rest ye, merry merchants, may you make the yuletide pay!" This has been going on for decades, and not just in the United States. Mind you, there's nothing wrong with buying gifts for a few selected friends and family members. That, at least, is in the tradition of Saint Nicholas or Santa Claus and the Three Wise Guys...or Men...or the Magi. But the expectation that casual acquaintances and relative strangers must be bought for comes under the category of "J