He’s making a list and checking it twice, he’s gonna find out who’s naughty and nice. But who is he — Santa Claus, Jesus or a parent stacking gifts under a tree?

Some say the materialism surrounding the festive season has stripped Christmas of its true meaning.

“There’s a continual pulling away from the real meaning of Christmas,” said Reuben Carlson, manager of Ames Christian Supply, 213 Main St.

Carlson said it’s easy to let secular beliefs “sneak in” and tarnish the celebration.

Shelley Goecke, marketing manager of North Grand Mall, 2801 Grand Ave., said she walks by the stores every day and sees them fill up with Christmas decorations, sales and reminders.

“I know people say it seems like it gets earlier each year,” she said.

This year, some stores showed signs of Christmas before Halloween, and North Grand Mall puts up its holiday decor the first week of November — about two weeks earlier than it did in 1990, Goecke said.

She said the season is vital for retailers, who rake in 30 percent to 50 percent of their annual profits during the holiday season.

Jeff Dodge, director of The Salt Company and pastor of Cornerstone Church, 315 S. 6th St., said he is careful about how his family celebrates Christmas.

“Families seem more child-centered instead of God-centered all of the time,” Dodge said. “A lot of families are amassing gifts under the tree for their children.”

Dodge’s family only gives a few gifts and places a lot of emphasis on “preparing their hearts” for the celebration by lighting an Advent candle at their dining room table every night.

“I don’t have anything against gifts; it’s just much more contained, and we give on a lower scale, not going overboard monetarily or financially,” he said.

Hector Avalos, associate professor of religious studies, said while Christmas is important in our culture, it is not a meaningful holiday for him personally because he is an atheist.

“I believe it’s a time to express love and respect for people, but I agree that it’s much too commercial,” he said. “The day never lives up to the build-up.”

Avalos said the origins of Santa Claus stem back to a Christian bishop from Turkey, who is said to have worn red clothing.

He said Santa Claus has replaced Jesus during the Christmas celebration.

“Today Santa Claus is sort of like a deity,” he said. “He has some of the attributes of the Christian god, like knowing who’s naughty or nice.”

Avalos also said Santa Claus is treated like a deity in that children write him letters, whisper wishes in his ear and leave milk and cookies out for him.

“It’s sort of like Christians making requests to God,” he said.

Avalos said the winter solstice celebration of Sol Invictus, an ancient Mediterranean deity, occurs on the 25th of December because that is when the days begin to grow longer.

He said by medieval times, some Mediterranean traditions had replaced the celebration with the celebration of Jesus’s birth, and other cultures followed.

However, Avalos said scholars believe that Jesus’s birth actually occurred in the spring.

In some respects, the human secularism surrounding Christmas isn’t surprising, said John Donaghy, campus minister at St. Thomas Aquinas, 2210 Lincoln Way.

“The date of Christmas is actually replacing a pagan holiday,” he said. “And now it’s an excuse for rampant consumerism.

“It’s ironic because we are celebrating God becoming a poor human being, born in a manger, and now it’s associated with the selling of millions of dollars and conspicuous consumerism,” Donaghy said.

He said Santa Claus is actually a “corruption of Saint Nick,” who cared for the poor.

“But now instead of giving to others, there’s a focus on taking for oneself,” he said. “This is a season when people open their hearts to those in need.”

Dan Sailsbury, junior in geology, said he thinks gift-giving is great, but there’s a “line that needs to be drawn.”

“If you go to the store, and you need to punch someone to get your child a toy, it’s time to say, ‘This kid can wait until next year for the Tickle-Me-Elmo,'” he said.

Christine Christiansen, senior in English, agreed that Christmas shouldn’t be about gifts.

“Christmas is supposed to be a Christian celebration of new beginnings and chances and love and generosity,” she said. “But now all people care about is who can get the Beanie Babies first.”

Some international students said their impression of the Christmas holiday season has been positive so far.

“I never thought Americans could be so excited for Christmas,” said Nina Kusumo, an Indonesian student in the Intensive English and Orientation Program. “I think it’s wonderful.”

Kusumo said she recognized that there is a certain amount of commercialism associated with the holiday, however.

“A lot of American people spend a lot of money at Christmas to buy stuff,” she said.

Tamaki Ito, an IEOP student from Japan, said she also likes Christmas traditions.

“I want to put a big tree in my house in Japan [when I go home over break],” she said.