How do I celebrate a Messianic Hanukkah, while my family celebrates Xmas?
-I’m also very anti-consumerist/materialism, etc. Xmas, even as a purely secular holiday, with all the religion removed, is just a disgusting thought to me, and I personally believe that such materialism/greed/waste is a disgrace to G-d/Allah/The Great Spirit/Mother Earth/whatever. So celebrating it as a secular occasion doesn’t do much, either. This is the part that I may be most qualified to help with. I may have some insight into your parents’ mindset when it comes to giving. Some people just like being generous towards others — I am definitely that way. This doesn’t mean I’m consumerist, however — I’m just as happy giving you something I made as I am giving you something I bought. It is the giving itself that is the point — if you are someone I care about, and I know such and such a thing will make you happy, or you’ll get a kick out of it or it’s something fun you’ll like, I’ll give it to you. This is one of the ways I express affection, I think. Not that I don’t also do so in
