The Christmas Virtues ─ A Treasury of Conservative Tales for the Holidays

From the all-star cast that brought you The Seven Deadly Virtues and The Dadly Virtues comes the ultimate Christmas survival guide: The Christmas Virtues.

The Christmas season is a minefield of terrors: The family get-togethers with weird uncles, the sloppy office parties, the annoying 10-page Look-at-Us holiday letters—and we haven’t even mentioned the Black Friday mobs and that wretched Alvin and the Chipmunks song that plays every 90 minutes on Pandora, whether you like it or not. Rum-pah-pah-pum.

And don’t forget the PC police lurking around every corner looking to beat the last bits of joy and comradery out of our society. Merry Christmas? Really?

But it doesn’t have to be this way. 'Tis the season to recapture the wonder of Christmas, in our hearts and in our homes and even out in the public square. The Christmas Virtues is a humorous companion for, and guide to, navigating the trials and tribulations of the holiday season. It’s a reminder of how we can embrace the joy, hope, and love of Christmas—of the real Christmas.

And a call for us to stand up for Christmas because America needs it now, more than ever.

So sit back and enjoy the following tales by your favorite authors:

• Rob Long’s "The Christmas Spirit: In Defense of Ebenezer Scrooge.”
• P. J. O’Rourke’s “The Commercialization of Christmas: God Moves (The Merchandise) in a Mysterious Way.”
• Andrew Ferguson’s “Jingle Bell Rock: Taking the Christ Out of Christmas Songs”
• Matt Labash’s “Home for the Holidays: The Trials and Tribulations of Family.”
• Stephen F. Hayes’ "here Comes Santa Claus: The Wonder of Christmas Morning."
• Toby Young’s “The ghosts of Christmas: Holidays Past and Present”
• Jonah Goldberg’s “The War on Christmas: It’s Real, and It’s Spectacular.”
• Christopher Buckley’s “Saint Joseph: The Forgotten ‘Father Christmas.’”
• Kirsten Powers’ “The first Noel: Christmas with Jesus.”
• James Lileks' "Boxing Day and the Christmas Hangover."
• And More

Jonathan V. Last is a senior writer at the Weekly Standard, ?a Washington-based political magazine, author of What to Expect When No One’s Expecting: America’s Coming Demographic Disaster (Encounter Books, 2013) and editor of The Seven Deadly Virtues, and The Dadly Virtues (Templeton Press, 2014, 2015). His writings have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the New York Post, the Claremont Review of Books, First Things, and elsewhere.