By forgetting about people and looking only into gift shopping we fail to see the real meaning of true giving. Instead of anonymously helping a homeless person get one hot meal a week, giving now equates directly to tax deductions and the accumulation of receipts for the family attorney to wade through in January. It merely gets you a few dollars back during refund season. Over the years, many groups have risen to fight the commercialization of the Christmas holiday. A group called Alternatives is a faith-based resistance to the take over of a season.
Alternatives urges sustainability, gratitude, charitable works and socially responsible investing.
Even as a member of the notachristian majority, I tend to follow the Christian faith-based model of resistance during this frenzied season. I do recognize its effectiveness in bringing about changes in our habits and in our relations with others. However, I follow the secular route more directly and recognize that our symbols of success are nothing more than symbols of class, superiority, and the gap between the rich and poor. The constant filling in of this gap with the crusts and the fads and the gutless indifference of our indulgence has no real religious background, so I do not think we can solve the problem purely through sacred affiliations. But you will not find any higher human purpose in the twinkle of flashing gaming images, the subtle whirring of a DVD player, or the two extra cup holders in your Ford Expedition.