[msnimje]

Photo from http://www.indcjournal.com/archives/002204.php

[Safrguns]

I was in Lowes a couple of days ago, and was checking out as the cashier (nice little older lady) thanked me for my purchase and said "Merry Christmas!"

I was so impressed... I smiled inside thinking... gee... you must have not got the memo. But then again, maybe she did, and just ignored it. My response was an extremely genuine "Thank You!"... because this season made her casual wish so much more important to me.

[conservatrice]

"This is not an issue of Buddhists and Jews against nominal Christians. This is an issue of reasonable and moderate people against fundamentalists."

There, fixed it. Because to him, a "fundamentalist" is someone that takes the birth of Christ seriously.

[OmegaMan]

I have to say I really doubt this guys 'survey'. If you ask people at small businesses or on the street what they're celebrating, they'll almost all say Christmas. I have to wonder if he even took a survey.

I think its just big businesses or stores that use "Happy Holidays" or "Seasons Greetings" because they think its best for business, but also, and I think this is something people don't consider, they have to worry about pressure groups complaining about Hanukkah and Kwanzaa not getting 'equal time' if they used "Merry Christmas". And I think the last thing they would want is "Happy Kwanzaa" in big letters somewhere in their store heh, that would turn everybody off of shopping. They also probably have to be concerned about seeming to be 'discriminatory' and how even something small like that could impact lawsuits.

[Little_shoe]

But even in Utah, where two-thirds of the population are members of a Christ-based faith,

I didnt realize mormons believed in JESUS... I though they held John Smith and Brigham Young in higher esteeme....

[Ma3lst0rm]

I'm glad to see the push back against Xmas. I remember my mother getting upset about the school using and X to represent Christ. I didn't think anything of it because we sang Christmas songs but I don't understand why anyone has thought there is a need for a change in Christmas to something more culturally neutral. Does saying Merry Christmas have a negative effect on anyone? It certainly doesn't exclude anyone and if anything includes them in a greeting. I certainly would not be offended by someone wishing me a Happy Hanukkah or any other perceived greeting. What the sensitivity folks are accomplishing is making everyone feel uncomfortable for the sake of a few who don't know how to be gracious and except a pleasant greeting from someone of a different faith. Christmas is nothing to be ashamed of and those who are should ask themselves why they have such a need to control how other people celebrate what is a wonderful holiday.

A friend of mine told me that the Leesburg VA public school she works at they were not allowed to put up any references to Christmas on the school holiday bulletin boards. I emailed the school district last week to get an answer and they have yet to respond. If anyone else would like to inquire here is the email address.

schools@loudoun.k12.va.us

[Wolfhound777]

"If there's a war on anything, there may be a blowback against religious fundamentalism," said Rabbi Joshua Aaronson of the Temple Har Shalom in Park City. "This is not an issue of Buddhists and Jews against Christians. This is an issue of reasonable and moderate people against fundamentalists."

Ah yes, "religous fundamentalists". What a scary bunch these Christians are also. The horror of having to hear the phrase "Merry Christmas" from a fellow citizen, hear it in a song, or see it in a print ad. The evil of celebrating the birth of Christ and the hope for "Peace on Earth and Goodwill toward man".

The fear of the "Right Wing Christian fundamentalists" these detractors have would lead one to think that Christian "fundamentalists" fly airplanes into buildings, blow up embassies, blow up US military barracks, ram explosive laden boats into US warships, partake in suicide bombings, plant roadside IEDs, or behead kidnapped civilians for the cause and will soon be declaring that they are not subject to the laws of the land but only sharia law.

Oh wait, that's the other religous fundamentalists that we are supposed to pretend are not prevalent in America. The fundamentalists of which we can't speak of, expose, arrest, deport, or disagree with. This "blowback" against religous fundamentalists would be intolerant.

The hypocrisy of the anti-Christmas crowd is astounding.

[Terri]

Terri Christmas!

          "It's OK to say it."   Oh-okay.   It was murder.

(& the next post..)