Happy Holidays

I'm getting a little tired of hearing how Christmas is under attack. Apparently, a small number of marketing folks have decided to replace greetings of "Merry Christmas" with more neutral seasonal sentiments, but so what? If people really want something to worry about, perhaps that should be how a solemn religious holiday has turned into a six-week-long super-sale. The greatest threat to the "true meaning of Christmas" is Christmas itself.

But this teacup tempest isn't about the meaning of Christmas. What's really at work here is the pathological need of some people to have their beliefs and values validated at every turn. Like Fox News viewers who require a continuous affirmation of their own political views regardless of the facts, these Christmas defenders have decided to take offense at anyone isn't promoting their religious views with sufficient enthusiasm. Instead of enjoying the season, they fill it with outrage against the infidels.

We've seen this kind of religious intolerance before, and it's not pretty. Is this really what we want Christmas to represent?