Would There be a Better "Christmas Spirit" if Department Stores Stay Open, Staffed by Non-Christians?

I don't celebrate Jesus' birthday on Christmas so I completely agree with you on that point. I can't wait for December 26 for all this madness to be over.

I believe within ten years we WILL see malls or at least more stores open on Christmas. Right now, movie theaters, movie rental places, and "never-close" stores like Walgreen's are open on Christmas and do a thriving business. Money talks quite loudly to store owners, and once they see they can make more money staying open than closing they will. That's the reason there are only a handful of stores closed on Sunday: when I was little there was a "Sunday closing law" that mandated stores had to be closed. Eventually stores got the law overturned (or not enforced) and now people don't even know there was such a thing. That's what'll happen to Christmas soon. It already happened this year with Thanksgiving -- stores stayed open and started their "black Friday" sales early.

And look at all the atheists on this site who'd be thrilled to not be "forced" to celebrate a religious holiday!

Probably because too many people are at home with families and not shopping. If there was a demand to be open then stores could do it. We have a couple of diners in town that are open on Christmas and they do pretty well. But I don't know too many people that want to go shopping on that day.

The internet stays open. That's good enough for me.

Do something else that's fun on Christmas, like smoke some crack.