Four years ago, Christmas was cancelled by the Coronavirus pandemic, as borders closed and many countries announced lockdowns, in the face of a second wave of infections. Now there’s a new viral agent threatening to disrupt Christmas festivities: a dangerous meme.

It started out as a simple story, debunking the myth of Santa, and the legend of good old Saint Nick, a jolly fat fellow with a white beard who only gave gifts to good little kids. Then pagans got in on the act, claiming Yuletide had nothing to do with modern religious beliefs.

Opportunistic extremists, thought to be linked to shadowy conspiracy group Q-Anon, hijacked the meme, and spread its ugly message far and wide: It’s time to #killchristmas.

Pointing out that Christmas was divisive and a mishmash of legend, myth and false belief, meme warriors attacked the commercialization of the holidays, blaming credit companies and ecommerce giants for the financial blight of ‘Januworry’, when ordinary people are forced deeper into debt and despair. All for the transient pleasure of giving ‘worthless junk’ to family members, something a strident ecowarrior called “the gift of death.”

Now the meme has mutated again, forcing good-hearted people everywhere to question whether the traditional festival has any value at all in this modern, hyper-digital, global society.

Except that it does. Human value. Things that matter. Little things. Like family, friendship, freedom and fun. Security, peace and goodwill to all humans. And animals. Even cats.

It’s not too late, there’s still time. Time to support the counter-meme. Let’s live and let live, be friendly and kind. It’s time to #lovechristmas all over again. Happy holidays!