Should Advent start on November 1st?

A few hours ago, I posted this on Twitter and Facebook:
"Since the retail industry starts the "holiday season" at the beginning of October, should the American Church celebrate advent that early?"

I meant to write November, so that's why the title of this blog doesn't match the original question. :)

People are already thinking about Christmas, or at least the holidays, so should those of us who are Christians talk about Christmas so early as well?

I think so.

The concept of Christmas is near opposite to what the retail industry celebrates. Commercialism and Materialism emphasize spending, things, wealth, and even debt.

Here's what Christmas is about: God in flesh--the incarnation. What are the major concepts in the incarnation?

Sacrifice, people, choosing to become poor, and grace are the key concepts of the incarnation. Those are near opposite to the concepts of spending, things, wealth, and debt.

So, as Christians, we should begin to emphasize the concepts of Jesus' incarnation as much as possible, and especially to counteract society's obsession with acquiring stuff.

As my friend Juan wrote in response to my original post, "Most of the Christian holidays, if not all, were established to counteract the pagan celebrations."

We need to establish a holiday to counteract our materialistic celebration of money. Bring on the Advent Conspiracy!