I so love this topic. You are a blessing @gavvet for the way you really helped us to give thoughts to things that we previously accepted, just because society said it was so.
If people celebrated christmas in the way it should then the churches would be full and the pubs empty, but as we have now with each passing year become more morally bankrupt where Gods word has little or no meaning to many.where Gods word has been watered down. So we are correct, christmas is just a big excuse to eat and drink twice as much as you normally do. I myself am a practicing Christian, and one year i was out having a drink with my friends as you do, and i said to this woman standing at the bar beside me, isnt it a wonderful thing what christ did for us, being born as man and to die on the cross for our sins. she looked at me in amazment as if i had two heads and said are you f—–g stupid you dont beelive in all that crap do you,i said yes i do. i must have been really stupid to think people had the same outlook as me and unless you are a true christian and truly know what christmas represents youll know that you dont need to go out and spend a fortune on stuff youll know christ is with you all the time you know christmas is in your heart every day in the way you act towards other people. i love christmas for what it represents ,i hate what it has become, the world may change but Gods word is unchanging. christmas if done properly can be uplifting and wonderful ,if done badly can bring sorrow and heartache,and in this consumer ridden world i think it is more likley to be the latter,where shops make a fortune and people get deeper into debt celebrating something they dont belive in or do for 48 hrs till its all done .
To me the true meaning of christmas was lost years ago and if we don't do something urgent, it might not come back.

Awesome post @gavvet.