what's the point of Christmas?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080807130824.htm

I am more interested as to whether humans and Neanderthals ever mated.

Those Neanderthals I've met clearly were humans. (But not more than some hundred live in Neanderthal.)

You are playing with a double entendre, I assume, Holmes!

Well, I only thought because this thread is about Christmas ...

the purpose of Xmas for those who run it is profit.

I have written an ebook called "Merry Existential Christmas" that attempts to assuage your yuletide apprehensions.
This ten chapter tome chronicles Christmas from post World War Two France through the Swinging Sixties to present day at an exclusive rehab in the Malibu mountains. Every chapter is a story about seeking meaning and hope in one-s life during the Christmas season. It, at times, illuminates as well as entertains. What is out there for all the over educated cynics to read (besides The Christmas Carol) during the Yuletide season? The answer, we hope, is right here.
The book is available on Kindle, an Apple app and at the Club Lighthouse Publishing website.

Christmas has several points to it: a) it increases commerce like no other time during the year, b) it provides humans with an escape to celebrate a holiday once-a-year that's supposed to bring family and friends together, c) most countries celebrate this holiday - for whatever reason, and d) it gives consumers a good excuse to go deeper into debt.

You really ought to read this book I saw called 'The Call of Christmas on the Human Heart'. It has just about given me the Christmas spirit now, in the heat of May. I never realized just how much was being celebrated, or how much benefit came from that celebration and festivity. That guy puts significance even into snowflakes, leaving milk and cookies for the fat guy, sending cards and eating the goose or turkey. I think it would really help you see much meaning in the celebration, even as an athiest, though it is a religious holiday.

I find Christmas to be one of the great holidays celebrated by humans all over this planet. I tends to get families together at least once-a-year, and the idea of gift exchange, at least for me, is the only drawback. Some people feel obligated to buy gifts when they are in no position to be spending on gifts. I don't get into the spirit of Christmas any more, but still enjoy this season holiday from the decorations in the stores, watching old Christmas movies on tv, and the boost it gives to our economy.