The Focus on the Family Guide to Idolatrous Christmas Consumerism

Focus on the Family has publicized their Stand For Christmas website which checks the usage of the word "Christmas" at various retailers.

Focus on the Family explicitly states why the stand for the word "Christmas" is so important for Christians:

In response to the secularization of Christmas and the trend of censoring public references to this time-honored holiday, Focus on the Family and Focus on the Family Action began to speak out on the issue in 2007.

We soon discovered that citizens across the nation were growing dissatisfied with the tendency of corporations to omit references to "Christmas" from holiday promotions. Many said they preferred to patronize retailers that recognized the reason so many Americans exchange gifts at Christmastime.

Thus, we set out to assist you, the consumer.

There is no veil over Focus on the Family’s perception of the meaning of Christmas.  We are not worshipers, we are not celebrators, we are not the continuance of the incarnation….NO, our role as true Christians during this season is to 1) never waver from using the word Christmas as much as possible and 2) consume.

This view of Christmas is completely un-Christian.  It makes the word "Christmas" an idol, some kind of special totem word that carries magical significance even if the very thing it is pasted onto, catalogs and advertisements, are completely anti-thetical to Christmas.  The absurd reasoning that Holiday=secular but Christmas=holy is an immature approach to language in general.  How can a word that means holy days be "secular"?

One thing for sure is secular though: the bastardization of Christmas that Focus on the Family wants you to celebrate, a Christmas that focuses not on the Holy Family or your own family at all but instead on an immoral and un-Christian materialistic orgy of consumption that chips away at the foundation of families, communities and the environment.

So to truly focus on your family this year, don’t take a word of Focus on the Family’s advise and instead celebrate Christmas in a religious way: by caring about your family and the celebration of the incarnation far more than buying things out of catalogs and grabbing sales at shopping malls.