Crankin, FWIW it raised my eyebrows too. They had mandatory religion classes in one of my high schools, your choice Roman Catholic or Congregationalist, but that was 40 years ago. Same school where girls had to take Home Ec and boys had to take Vo Ag. Even though neither of the shows referenced has any religious content that I can remember, they do refer to Christmas, and it doesn't really seem appropriate.



That said, the money question seems easy, doesn't it? Whether it's friends, family or charity, I wouldn't be giving the money away to anyone I wouldn't have been gifting anyway - just giving larger gifts?