The almighty dollar.

It’s that time of year again. When visions of Xbox 360s are dancing in children’s heads and colored electric lights spell out messages wishing Jesus a happy birthday. Christmas, the ultimate combination of capitalism and organized religion, is just around the corner.

For centuries, Christmastime was a purely religious holiday. Christians celebrated the birth of Christ with little of the capitalistic fanfare that is now common. In pre-capitalist societies, this was to be expected. Families exchanged a few small gifts with one another in a nod to the actions of the three wise men who presented baby Jesus with some pretty nice presents all those years ago. Over time, this practice became an entrenched tradition and even if you didn’t really like someone that much, you were expected to give him a gift at Christmas. It wasn’t uncommon to hear sentiments such as, “Uncle Jim, you’re cool and all, but you sure as hell aren’t no son of god. Here’s your damn necktie.” When America burst onto the scene and threw the electrifying switch, the small and innocent Christmas gift-giving ritual took on new life as a bough of holly decked, cash-hungry Frankenstein’s monster.

America’s effect on Christmas was monumental. People began to forget why the holiday was celebrated in the first place, it was just a time to get lots of cool presents. Images of Jesus were replaced with secular objects like pine trees, stockings, and fat guys in red suits; the latter being a creation of a huge American corporation, Coca-Cola, no less. And the emphasis of December 25th, and later the whole month of December, and now the period from immediately after Halloween to mid-January, was changed from religious duty to spending money.

Although it often seems as though the capitalistic aspect of Christmas will eventually devour its religious side entirely, this is not the case. Americans are some of the world’s most religiously fanatic people and they won’t stand for letting the birthday of their lord become just another reason to lay down their cold hard cash. Christmas is destined to continue forever as an unholy coupling of capitalism and Christianity. So don't be afraid to max out those credit cards this holiday season as we celebrate the true meaning of Christmas: money. Oh yeah, and that whole virgin birth thing.