For the psychological desire for symmetry, an unfinished tree lingers in the imagination like a half mowed lawn.

Don't put any mistletoe above the bidet. I'm told this is one of the few things God can't stand, a tier of importance beneath the golden rule.

One: Are there implications to the “celebrating” the more secular aspects of Christmas…while not giving even passing thought to the religious reason the “holiday” even exists? Is there an element of hypocrisy involved…or is the activity a normal, non-hypocritical result of living in a culture motivated by that aspect?

And two (A more frivolous consideration): Because of the windowed alcove in which we set the tree, there is an area of that tree which absolutely cannot be seen by anyone inside or outside the house. My wife insists that the area be decorated as fully as the areas that can be seen. Is she nuts…or am I for suggesting it is just a waste of time? — Frank Apisa

I can sympathize with this entirely. I am a non believer but my wife is, so I can sort of say that I celebrate for her. That way I can get my Christmas dinner.

Our tree sits in the corner of a bay window that goes around the corner of the house, and there is a part that sits behind the supporting post. My wife insists that the lights and decorations do not get interrupted and that that part looks just like the rest.
That is what we men love about women, the way they think. So entertaining. :wink:

My wife insists that the lights and decorations do not get interrupted and that that part looks just like the rest. — Sir2u

Maybe she spins the tree around when you're not looking. :P

I can sympathize with this entirely. I am a non believer but my wife is, so I can sort of say that I celebrate for her. That way I can get my Christmas dinner.

Our tree sits in the corner of a bay window that goes around the corner of the house, and there is a part that sits behind the supporting post. My wife insists that the lights and decorations do not get interrupted and that that part looks just like the rest.
That is what we men love about women, the way they think. So entertaining. :wink: — Sir2u

Thank you, Sir. I gotta say that I laughed out loud while reading your great response.

We do love 'em!

Great response. The kind I was hoping for when I posted the questions.

1. My mother's side is Jewish, my dad's, RC. Not only did we always celebrate Christmas, but so did my mom's side of the family before the war. (Then after that most of the family was murdered in Auschwitz and burnt in the crematoria. My mother was spared for slave labour.)

I am sure we will burn in hellfire for a very long time for faithlessly celebrating Christmas. Because, basically, none of us three children believe in a god at all whatsoever.

2. Visibility of parts: You can always tell if a guy is single or married. Married guys wear ironed pants, blotchless shirts, matching sox, and their car is clean inside and out. Single guys (save for the pedantic) live in a pig-sty, don't shave on week ends, and call on their mothers only when they need a good-old-fashioned home cooked meal.

Your wive's behaviour is normal. So is yours. The human species is a two-species species within the species.

This has evolutionary roots. Men go out and hunt and / or battle; come home with wounds; women heal them. And women, long before any male doctor or medical researcher in the early 1800 formalized their findings (Pasteur, Semmelweiss), have long known about the health benefit of cleanliness, and the psychological benefits of orderliness.

'Christmas' was originally a pagan festival to celebrate the end of the year.. the winter solstice (in the Northern hemisphere). There were domestic animals that were not going to make it through the Winter anyway so it made sense to kill them and have a feast. Much later the Christians appropriated the festival and called it 'christmas'. So no its not hypocritical for a non-Christian to celebrate Christmas.