Is it the beginning of the real Christmas?

Christmas is fast approaching and the panic is slowly starting to creep in at the north west's best PR agency. The very thought that you have four weeks to buy Aunty Sheila's and Uncle Bob's present sends a shiver down your spine.

My main fear (as well as time) is cash. Will I have enough cash to see me through the festive period? Well, apparently a saviour has arrived in the form of a reduction in VAT.

Chancellor Alistair Darling has slashed VAT rates to 15% in a £20bn cash boost aimed at reviving the ailing economy.

Sounds great in theory but the reality of it is very disappointing. [Well said. Ed.]

However, all this focus on spending and Christmas gifts got me thinking that maybe it's a good thing that people are going to take a step back from commercialism this year. Maybe this will make more people focus on the real message of Christmas and why we really celebrate it.

This may sound philosophical and people may argue that they do not celebrate Christmas for religious reasons, which is fair enough. However pushing religious beliefs a-side Christmas is about spending quality time with loved ones and it's also seen as a chance to make a new start on January 1st.

This also seems to be the view of two highly regarded religious figures. It may be the season to be merry.

The Bishop of Reading, the Rev Dr Stephen Cottrell, has launched a rather grumpy attack on the Christmas traditions that are ingrained into the psyche of most Brits.
In his book, Do Nothing: Christmas Is Coming, Cottrell mentions the "great orgy of present opening" and cards is "a million miles from whatever it is that Christmas was supposed to be about".

This is a common issue that is debated every year and this year is no exception. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, in a video which splices footage of people worshipping, with film of shoppers said "The fact is that advent for most people is associated primarily with the word 'calendar' and 'daily sweets and chocolates.' It's a slightly thin and inadequate account of what has been for a long time one of the most important and significant times in the Church's year."

While the government hopes festive spending will help deliver us out of economic gloom, the church is hoping the credit crunch will deliver us from the commercialisation into the arms of God. Who's your money on?

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