Sir, - May I use your Letters page to propose that the churches move the celebration of Christ's birth to another time so that it is clearly separated from the festivities of Xmas?
I have no objection to Santa Claus, to gifts, to turkey and plum pudding or to pretty lights and sparkling decorations.
What I find stomach-churning is that our churches allow this to be done under the pretext of celebrating Christ's birth. The reality is that for so many people Christmas holds little spiritual meaning, yet in the Christian calendar it is one of the most profound and exhilarating of dates: "God incomprehensibly made man".
I firmly believe that by reclaiming Christmas and celebrating it in a way that reflects what it means to know a God who became incarnate, the churches would be doing the people a far greater service and there would be more hope that the "light that came into the world" would shine in many more hearts. - Yours, etc.,
Heidi Good, 'Comer Road, Kilkenny.