It kind of makes me wonder what you people are really doing when you rush to the malls, buying all these things and wrapping them up for your trees. I mean, are you doing it because you fear the guilt stemming from a perception of yourself as empty-handed, stingy, or poor? is it a need to conform to some ritual that would otherwise be meaningless without the external pressures? or are you doing it because you believe in some sort of magic that arises from the pretty paper you use to wrap those gifts? It seems to me that many of us are so obsessed with social appearances that we forget how important it is to really have some sort of meaning to our rituals beyond the cover story, beyond the spin. Some of you are far too intolerant to life's quirks to ask the above questions because that would force you to look beneath the surface. I think we, as Americans with our hi-tech toys and our obsession with buying things during the holidays, are far too eager to transform our teenagers into sullen, bitter young adults who are just as simplistic and shallow as the rest of the bunch--and what better way than to kill the creative spark?

As a pagan academic who was raised christian, I tend to think of the Santa Claus story as one that is pliable, a myth that can and should be altered to fit the times and the needs. If I can believe in gods/goddesses, fairies and witches, and if christians can believe in angels and demons and a god who created the planet in 7 days, well, then, what's wrong with encouraging a teenager to imagine Santa Claus as female, as suggested by one letter writer (Geneva), or as some sort of energy, as another letter writer mentioned? I would hate to think that we are so angry with life that we would want to kill hope and optimism in a child just to maintain the appearance of conformity to American cynicism.

I can't wait for the new episodes! I love this show--I wish Showtime would create a series for bisexuals too!

Let's get real, folks. "24" is yet another piece of propaganda, and should we really be surprised? This is, after all, a product of the Fox Network, home of Bill O'Reilly and company. Stop supporting propaganda--turn off the television set!