Ah, Christmas. The season of mulled wine, presents, good will to all men and… politics?
It should be according to Theos, who have published a new report on the politics of the festive season.
The religion think tank's director Elizabeth Hunter said the season for "family and generosity" should also be the season where "when we hear and attend to a message of justice and freedom for all".
“The gospel writers repeatedly emphasise the political implications of the birth of Jesus, but we fail to hear them through the clamour of jingle bells.
“However, in this year above all, in which we have seen the Arab Spring and the Occupy protests, we should turn from a sentimentalised vision of the season and listen carefully to the true political message of the Christmas story.”
And in Theos' report, The Politics Of Chrstimas, theology lecturer Dr Stephen Holmes argues it's wrong for politics to stop on 25 December,
"The birth of Jesus was a political event, through and through. Our celebration of Christmas should therefore be political also".
What do you think - should the festive period be politics free, or is the advent season a time to reflect on where we are in the world?