(Newser)
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A Washington state man's personal protest against the commercialism of Christmas is upsetting his new neighbors, and it's not too hard to understand why. A headless Santa Claus sings Christmas carols on Art Conrad's front porch, and another life-size Santa hangs crucified on a 15-foot cross in his yard.
"Santa has been co-opted by our corporations as a symbol of consumerism. Every year Christmas comes earlier and earlier," said Conrad, 52. His neighbors in Bremerton, a 60-minute ferry ride from Seattle, don't seem to get it. "It's horrible and gruesome," said one woman. "It's perhaps a little controversial," Conrad told the Seattle Times. "My intent is no religious connotation."
