Christmas is approaching; people are giving themselves over to wild excess, while misanthropes moan. They wail that Christmas has become a festival of excess, an orgy of licentiousness, a celebration of gluttony.
Since these are exactly the aspects of Christmas that I most enjoy, I bridle when told by misguided joyless folk that I am betraying the true spirit of Christmas. Particularly because anyone with a passing knowledge of the history of the midwinter festival now known as Christmas will know that ever since humans became capable of sharing a common culture, they have let their hair down and partied at the time of year when the days are shortest.
via Christmas has long been a time for gluttony | BBC History Magazine.