Christmas in Black & White

The deliberate lack of Christmas lights and decorations here has been positively eerie. Last year was the first time I noticed the bleakness, but it's even worse now.  It's like going from color to black & white, and I remembered how drab and grey China was under Mao.  I thought maybe I was imagining things until I saw this Dennis Prager column today.  It's called Where Have All the Christmas Decorations Gone?  He blames it on secularism and writes, "When I compare blocks of homes without Christmas decorations with blocks filled with homes that have Christmas decorations, I think of my trips to the Soviet Union and other Communist countries. One of the first things that struck any visitor from the West was how gray everything looked. There was essentially no color – just as today’s decoration-free homes appear in comparison with those with decorations."

Sad -- they've not only taken the Christ out of Christmas, they've also taken the delight out of it. Our Hanukah candles will be the only light on the block.