Am I the only one....

....that hates Christmas?

Here's a holiday that in principle revolves around lying to children about Santa Claus and lying to children about the Nativity and religion in general.

A holiday that preaches to us about really vague and forced moral/spiritual values while at the same time driving the most pathetic display of commercialization, greed, and waste imagineable. The emotions are forced, the aesthetics are tacky, the music is as mind numbingly generic and overused as the movies. Not to mention the annual shitfest Fox News and a few activist groups treat us to regarding the "War on Christmas".

It's all around a terrible, bloated cultural abomination with very little going for it.

Anyway, am I the only one that feels like this or am I pretty much just the Grinch?

Maybe one or two more people feel like you.

I like getting presents, I like Santa Claus, I like the smile a kid has on Christmas morning, I like going shopping, I like Christmas movies.

And you can't be the Grinch since he learns that Christmas "doesn't come from a store" and learns to accept Christmas. Plus identifying yourself with a character specifically created to illustrated the "real" meaning of Christmas is, shall we say, ironic.

But I guess I don't like "the real Christmas". I like the gifts and spending time with family. That is my "Christmas".

Wait, aren't atheist supposed to not like "Christmas"? Maybe I should called them "the Holidays".

I don't give a ****, give me my present!

i don't like the feeling of obligation of having to get people gifts, but it's something my family enjoys doing so i go along with it.

i hate shopping in general and it's just worse during the holidays

other than that i generally enjoy the season

Perhaps in time I too will discover the true meaning of Christmas.

The thing about the family part for me personally is that the family I'm close to I'm already around all the time. Christmas Day is just another day that we hang out on, it's no big deal at all.

And lets be honest, the month long shitstorm of consumerism, lying to kids, stressed out workers, terrible music and elves on shelves doesn't really have much to do with the little bit of time that you spend with the relatives that you potentially don't like.

I really like Christmas! The festive atmosphere and all the traditions associated with it(family gatherings, decorations, gifts). I guess my fondness of it stems from my childhood.

I liked it as a kid as well but this didn't translate to a love of it in my late teens/adulthood. Maybe if I had kids I'd be happy for them but I still wouldn't consider Christmas good as a whole.

It's really whatever. I'll go to Christmas parties and give gifts just to appear normal in our society...what is it oh I may be a sociopath

Christmas is what you make of it. Don't let yourself get down just because the christians stole it.

I didn't grow up believing in Santa Claus. I just laughed at the kids that did.

Christmas for my family is like thanksgiving but with gift exchanging.

The Santa Claus thing is harmless. I enjoy the winter solstice and festivities. I'm agnostic so the Christmas holidays don't have any religious meaning to me but it's fun to enjoy especially giving and getting presents.

The best thing about Christmas is that the days are finally starting to get longer.

Nope. I love Christmas. I love giving and receiving gifts. And I think most of you need to go seek some mental help. I've never met people that have sounded so depressed like the people on GameSpot are.

I never understood that expectation. Giving gifts because you are EXPECTED to, I mean.

I give gifts to people I care about all the time for no reason at all. I'll see something in the store and it'll make me think of someone, so I'll get it and present it to them. They're my friend, I like making them happy.

But to have the expectation of giving, that just destroys the whole intent.

pretty much this. i hate this time of the year.

I hate Christmas too. It's not that I need mental help, I just need more money.

It's an excuse to get together with your loved ones and exchange gifts, school (and work depending where you are) are off, eat and drink a lot, etc.

That can't possibry be bad

I don't give gifts because I'm EXPECTED to. I give gifts because I LIKE to. I LIKE being the uncle that gives fucking awesome gifts. I love seeing my sister's eyes pop when I get her something she never even expected.

The true meaning are the people around you

i'm sure throughout history plenty of people hate the winter holidays.

hell, they have been around for what?

maybe 7,000 years?

i think it's kind of cool that we have combined a thousand different traditions into one big holiday mixing bowl.

i mean when else do you drag trees into your home like the druids and give saturnalia gifts to people?

it's pretty amazing we have upheld a single tradition for so long.

Christmas is coming and Christmas will make me fat... AGAIN! Whooooo! hahaha! This is the beat season in the whole year round!

pull the stick out

I don't really care about Christmas one way or another. There's nothing about Christmas I enjoy doing that I don't do any other time of the year if I feel like doing it , so Christmas has nothing special for me =) I understand the appeal, especially for the children, but I don't understand the people who live 2 streets away from their family and yet act like Christmas is the only time of the year they get to have dinner and spend time with them. Also, I don't do Christmas gifts for adults...I buy people stuff when I feel like it, when people deserve it, or when they want/need something. Also hate receiving gifts...I buy whatever I want when I want it so I never receive any useful gifts anyway...

I don't celebrate Christmas but I like the sales we get this time around the year.

I love christmas even tho i'm not a christian. Festive mood around, christmas special cakes around in bakeries. I spend christmas watching a movie and eating out :)

I do appreciate the OP and I've never celebrated Christmas. However, the content applies to all public and religious holidays pretty much everywhere. I hate holiday seasons in general, they make me feel sick to my stomach. I'm not a depressed basement dweller or anything I just can't stand all this tackiness and shit being forced down your throat on a timely basis. I seriously doubt most people actually enjoy these seasons but they feel compelled to enjoy them because God forbids you don't enjoy something dictated on you to enjoy by some imaginary authority. Its like its embedded into people's brains to at least pretend to enjoy and celebrate these seasons otherwise ther run the risk of having something wrong with them and their life. Boo hoo. Like during the last war the eid came and some people, including my family, tried to celebrate it. Give me a break really?

Don't get me started with the archaic and stagnant traditions associated with each such holiday. Maybe that's why these holidays suck they never change or evolve. I can sympathize with you TC listening one more time to the Christmas jingle bells or to the "values" to be reminded of in such a time of the year. And of course, there is no better time in the year to get stuck with people you hate their guts than these holidays. The amount of pretension I have to do almost makes me want to throw up.

when you are a kid everything is new to you so you enjoy everything. as you get older you start to enjoy the same things you enjoyed as kid less and less.

i think what you need to do is have some kids and bring them christmas joy or do something for the less fortunate kids in your area. if you cant enjoy christmas then give to someone less fortunate enough so that they can.

seeing other people makes me happy sometimes. try and make someone else happy and see how it makes you feel.