I have never considered
Christmas to be a
religious holiday. That might
sound a strange thing to say, but growing up in a
multi-racial part of
London, where only about half the
population were even nominally
Christian, Christmas was just an excuse for time off
school,
for relatives to visit, and for parties.
Despite the fact that in the UK church and state are linked
(the Queen is not just Head of State, she is also "Defender of the Faith")
Britain is actually a far less religious country than the USA. I grew
up seeing no contradiction in having a Chanukah menorah burning next
to a christmas tree, as to me the tree wasn't a Christian symbol but
a Christmas one: and as Christmas represented a non-religious holiday to
me everything resolved out just fine in my youthful head. Actually, having
been brought up a Jewish atheist the Jewish icons were no more symbolic
either, but that's an aside.
What this all means is that when I say "I hate it when they try to bring
religion into Christmas" most people think I'm joking. I'm not. The links
between Christianity and a winter solstice "festival of the lights" are
extremely tenuous anyway: if Christmas isn't about eating too much,
drinking too much and generally having a good time, then it shouldn't be
about anything.