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If you want to stir the ant hill of Facebook, just ask people what they think about Christmas. I did and the results were both fun and disturbing… I guess that’s Funturbing.

As soon as I typed in the question, the conversation took off. We jumped from Christmas to historical debates about Christianity to the origin of Halloween to Donald Trump to the troll to Spiderman and then back to Christmas again.

Gotta love Facebook pingpong. I even have a name for the phenomenon: the Social Media Discussion Disintegration Effect (SoMe DuDE for short).

Christmas is for Troll Blocking and Black Friday

Justin the troll appeared about half way into the conversation, which is typical. Trolls like Justin make it personal and they attack people’s weaknesses rather than contributing to a conversation. He attacked someone for mistyping a few words. Most people ignored him, except me. I blocked the bastard. Merry Christmas Justin.

For some people, Christmas should be renamed Black Friday and the Best Deal Ever. People wake up at two am to go shopping but then we cannot spare a few dollars for the Salvation Army Christmas buckets? Seems weird.

Does Christmas Matter to You?

I love that few people are indifferent about Christmas. People have strong opinions about the whole event. It is one topic that will catch the interest of the Atheists, the Christians, the Undecided and the Onlookers.

1. Christmas is for meaning

What impressed me is that almost every person connects with the meaning behind the gift cards and the historical story. No matter what we believe, the season is about giving and kindness. The real meaning of Christmas for most people is sacrifice, thoughtfulness and kindness.

The story of a rejected, frightened immigrant family will never get old.

2. Christmas is for unexpected kindness

For many of us, the meaning of Christmas is experienced through the eyes of children or through the eyes of strangers as we give gifts of unexpected kindness.

I was the recipient of some Christmas joy the other day. I went to the post office with a 29 pound package. In front of me was a senior lady with a one pounder. She took one look at me and insisted that I go ahead of her. My old-people-go-first guilt had a hard time accepting her offer. But I did anyway.

If there ever is a vote to change the name of the season, I choose The Season of Unexpected Kindness. For me, that pretty much sums up the historical story, our religious or non-religious meanings, and our various kindnesses. Unexpected Kindnessis what Christmas should be about.

For the rest of the article, click here: The Other 5 Reasons Why Christmas Should Still Matter to You.

Keep it Real and Merry Christmas!

I am an Editor at The Good Men Project. You can find all of my GMP content by clicking here.

Originally published by SMSwaby at The Good Men Project.

Photos by Pedro Ribeiro Simões and The People Speak!