Christmas, the holiday originally seen as a day to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, has been overcome by commercialism. Now, just about everyone celebrates it, but not for its true meaning.

Pew Research Center has been tracking this shift in Christmas since 2013, when it was said that 81 percent of non-Christians were celebrating Christmas. 

In 2017, Pew did more research and found that 46 percent of adults see Christmas as a religious holiday rather than a cultural one, which is a pretty significant drop from the previous 51 percent. 

If you think about it, the practice of going to church on Christmas — which many older people cherish, has dwindled over the years — especially in the millennial generation. Millennials are becoming more secular and are more likely to not identify with a religion, according to Pew Research. 

Thirty-five percent of millennials are unaffiliated with religion compared to the millennials who identify with a religion. Just ask a college student the last time he or she was at church. For many, the answer will most likely be not recently. Although this is not the case for all millennials, it has become more of a trend over the years, even with the current generation of youth.

Christmas has also gone to the commercial world, and is shoved in your face from the minute the season grows near. 

You see Christmas decorations filling some department stores before Halloween has even passed. It seems like it is becoming earlier and earlier each year that advertisements fill email inboxes, television screens and billboards.

Many families take their corny Christmas card photos on Thanksgiving — breaking out the itchy matching sweaters before they can even carve the turkey. It is nearly a fact that one cannot escape the idea of Christmas nowadays — whatever the idea of Christmas is for one.

And we cannot forget about the humbugs of the world, who are the people who do not celebrate Christmas at all. They rightfully can decide that, but how can they escape the Christmas commotion when it is constantly being celebrated way before it is close to being the actual Christmas season? 

Maybe they just want to be left alone around this time of year, but they cannot step out of their house without being bombarded by the Christmas spirit. 

Christmas can be a hard time for people, especially those without family or friends, so why rub the holiday in their faces and make it worse?

After all, shouldn’t Christmas be about peace and spending time with family? This should be the case no matter what your religion is, or if you affiliate yourself with no religion at all. 

The Christmas season has gotten out of hand in the sense of commercialization, but overall, the holidays should be a peaceful time to celebrate whatever you want. 

And although Christmas might not be celebrated by only Christians anymore, it should be respected and valued for the sense of harmony and peace that it can bring people.

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