Winter Solstice Is Here - Hatred for the Holidays?

Well, as the title says, the winter solstice is upon us. While I, an atheist, enjoy the culture presented during this time I also find it odd. Christians have christmas, and they come out and a charitable and donate and do all those good things, then, once the season is over, the hype of doing good, for the most part, seems to fade away. Pagans have the solstice upon them, and I truely hope that if Cthulhu exists, they appease him so that I may continue living. However, this is not the focus of this post. In general, everyone this time of year becomes a bit kinder, in my observations, to those they don't know. However, as always there are fundamentalist nutters that make generalities useless. Below, is a link to a certain website that is this. They are hateful for the holidays.

Hatred for the Holidays

This links to a absolutely horrid church, Westboro Baptist Church. They have made some Christmas Carols, so to speak. This one is Santa Clause will take you to Hell. An absolutely horrid work.

This is the general question I propose. Why do people need a certain time of year to remind them to be loving to others and those they don't know? As an atheist I strive to be kind to those I don't know and at least attempt to understand them. I know many religious people who do the same. However, the general population, and perhaps even those that I know, need some event or holiday to remind them. Why do people choose to cause hatred and fear, to fuel persecution and violence any time of the year?

I apologize for the poor rambling that is fairly unintelligible halfway through this post. I happened to be listening to that like above while writing. Time to go listen to some Cthulhu Carols. They can be found here.

Enjoy the holidays!