text: A thoughtful piece, Also Christmas is a beautiful time to celebrate the renewal of life -- in presents for children -- and the return of the sun after the solstice. 
  A less lovely aspect of Christianity is the intolerance practised by his followers in his name, in the millennia after his death. The Spanish inquisition and the crusades made one of my children exclaim, "You can love the guy, but you have to hate the fan club". The exclusivity, smugness, and irrationality of "only-if-you-believe-will-you-be-saved" made me shake my head at age eleven and walk away.
  As an almost-lifelong atheist, therefore, I can reassure some of the other commenters that there is no shortage of opportunities to help others outside church-based food drives. One can live one's love in professions such as medicine, and in celebrating mankind's diversity, and in championing social justice all year.