How to Be an Atheist, Agnostic, or a Non-Christian on Christmas?

Even in the advanced democratic and less subjective to the religious right, society of the 21^st century, the influence of Christianity in the western world is still a dominant force. Of all the influences that Christianity has upon the people, nothing is slightly comparable to what Christmas is. Ironically it is not the spiritual meaning of a forged fake holyday that would be a religious experience to the followers of Christian dogma but the commercialization of it that has such a strong effect on the people. If I tell a child why Christmas shouldn't be celebrated he would not worry about my claims as a blasphemy or insult to the Nativity but that if his parents did not celebrate Christmas he will not get the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, or the Nintendo Wii he's been waiting for.

Atheist/agnostic or non-Christian parents have it the worst, because if they want to raise their kids objectively while remaining detached from the nuances of religious influence, there seems to be no right option. If they abide to social influence and give presents to their kids during the Christmas epoch then they will be subjecting themselves to the control of Christianity, if on the other hand they prefer to remain idealistic and explain why they can't hand out presents to their children during this epoch, their kids will grow to resent atheism as an oppressive regime rather than the intellectual scientific approach it should stand for.

For non-Christian adults it is very easy to deal with Christmas, we consciously ignore this epoch is happening and we have no trouble with avoiding gift exchange of all kinds. We know we live in a dominant Christian society and a capitalistic one that exploits the winter season until it becomes an extravaganza of consumerism, so the way that we fight it is not by trying to change society, but ignoring and refraining from contributing to it.