Christmas is odd, definitely. I'm a card-carrying atheist, but all the things I love about Christmas are absolutely tied into the Christmas story, which I don't actually believe in. Without the Baby Jesus in the manger, and the angel sent by God, and the peace-on-earth-goodwill-to-all, the candles wouldn't shine as brightly and the tree wouldn't smell as pine-y and the hair wouldn't stand up on the back of my neck when the descant goes soaring up into the rafters in the Christmas carols. Without the religious aspect, it would just be one big tasteless capitalist explosion of conspicuous consumption; and yet I don't actually believe in the religious element. It's pretty much the definition of sentiment - wallowing in feelings that don't actually mean anything - but it only happens once a year, so I just shrug my shoulders and live with the contradiction.