In the apartment just below mine, the lady has done a marvelous job of decorating. The door is covered in foil (reminiscent of the Throne of the Third Heaven) and there is a whole wall of Santa Claus-related elements. There’s even a shrine to the troops on the far wall, with the injunction, “Bring them home!” Every time I pass the lady hard at work on it all, I thank her for making my day. And she does. The content aside, it is just so touching that she wants to send a nice greeting to the other people in this dirty, sometimes troubled apartment building.

Meanwhile, the “war on Christmas” is on in fuller force than usual, with escalating volleys between nativity scenes and atheist advertising.

Richard Dawkins, of all people, has offered some words that might help us get by.

So divorced has Christmas become from religion that I find no necessity to bother with euphemisms such as happy holiday season. In the same way as many of my friends call themselves Jewish atheists, I acknowledge that I come from Christian cultural roots. I am a post-Christian atheist. So, understanding full well that the phrase retains zero religious significance, I unhesitatingly wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

You don’t have to agree with him, but why not share in Christmas with him anyway? My Jewish father, with not an ounce of Christian dogma in him, always loved Christmas too. If you’re one to bring baby Jesus into it (which can be a wonderful thing to do, in my experience), or if you think he’d be best forgotten, so be it, but let’s make the holiday big enough to go around.