I haven't looked at the poll because, judging by people's responses to it and James's own apology, it's not really going to help me contribute to this discussion.
I'm an aetheist born of Christian parents. I have no idea what my sister's views on religion are, and, after a life-long rejection of religion, my brother came back to Christianity about 6 years ago while married to his second wife.
So, having established where I'm coming from <g>, here's my view of Christmas.
Christmas is a day for goodwill towards family, friends, and even complete strangers. It's the day you watch smiles appear on your loved ones' faces as they open the presents you gave them. It's the day you sit down for a good, home-cooked lunch with your family - a meal that everyone helps prepare and clean up afterwards. It's the day you go for a walk after lunch, and everyone you pass smiles at you. Even the man in the air-sea rescue helicopter that's flying low over your heads as you walk along the cliff-top waves at you from his open door (that one's a bit specific, but it's what happened to me this year <g>). It's the day you wake up feeling warm and fuzzy inside, and strangely, being nice to absolutely everyone in your family is effortless - and you can do it all day long without flagging!
So what's my point? Um...well, I suppose I'm saying that, in my view, almost anyone can celebrate that sort of Christmas, irrespective of their beliefs. I'm not saying that they should, but hey, if you do, and your religion has another significant festival during the year, at least you'll get two lots of celebration when I'll only get one.
I'm thinking here of my Muslim colleague at work, whose family enthusiastically embraces both Christmas and Eid. They put their own, individual spin on both events, and so far as I can tell, have a wonderful time.
All of that said, I can see how irritating it would get to have someone else's celebrations shoved down your throat from around September to December. I think there's a strong case to be made for the general toning-down of Christmas mania - even those of us who do celebrate it are often heartily sick of the hoopla that goes on for month after month.
Edit: I forgot to add that, of course, the lonely and the homeless cannot, sadly, participate in the sort of Christmas I described. Those are the people who are truly excluded at Christmas time.
Yvonne
