From a thoughtful netfriend:

I know what I *really* don’t like about the way we do Christmas in the West – the total perversion of the gospel. Instead of a baby who comes because God loved us so much he sent us a saviour while we were still sinners to give us a gift that we don’t have to earn, we get Santa, who makes a list and checks it to make sure that he only gives gifts to those who have earned them by being good.