Ben Witherington has a great post on C.S. Lewis’s views on Christmas. Here’s part of a quote from Lewis’ “God In The Dock.” Lewis has said that he approves of a) the religious observance of Christ’s birth, and b) Christmas as an occasion for joy and merrymaking, including simple gifts like Scrooge sending Bob Cratchit a turkey. But he’s less keen on c) giving of expensive gifts, and the commercialization of Christmas in general:

You have only to stay over Christmas with a family who seriously try to ‘keep’ it (in its third, or commercial, aspect) in order to see that the thing is a nightmare. Long before December 25th everyone is worn out — physically worn out by weeks of daily struggle in overcrowded shops, mentally worn out by the effort to remember all the right recipients and to think out suitable gifts for them. They are in no trim for merry-making; much less (if they should want to) to take part in a religious act. They look far more as if there had been a long illness in the house.