You can tell Christmas is on the way when the catalogs start arriving in the mail. Long before the first snowflake falls, there is an avalanche of slick paper flyers. They come as gifts from merchants with toll-free phone numbers, all in the hope that we will buy what they have to offer.

Last year the first catalog came from a company that specializes in Christian home decorations. Like other catalogs, there were smiling snowman doormats and weatherproof gift-wrap for covering the mailbox. On page three, the religious emphasis was revealed in a variety of porcelain créche scenes. Following that, there was an eight-page section of angels, some of which looked a bit pudgy. The catalog showed advent wreathes and hundred-watt stars. And to nobody’s surprise, there was absolutely no John the B…