Poor Choice of Words

Jon Stewart stole my thunder.

Here I was planning on writing about the so-called "War on Christmas," and there he was last night talking about it as well.

I shouldn't be surprised, since it has become a clarion call on Fox News for years now. It's a lot of noise meant to distract you from the real problems facing this country and into action to save Christmas.

But action against what? Someone greeting you with a smile and pleasant phrase? Someone trying to put away their troubles and trying to enjoy the season?

The phrase "Happy Holidays" is all encompassing. It takes nothing away from your beliefs or your preferred holiday of choice. It's being nice, something there is far too little of in our world these days.

Which brings me back around to Fox's choice of words in this story. A war? Really? Don't we have enough wars to worry about? And isn't war the direct antitheses to the spirit of Christmas? The spirit of Christianity as a whole?

I'll agree, some of it goes a little too far. But that's the world we've made -- in part thanks the neo-Puritanical beliefs that America would just be better if we were back in the days of our forefathers. You know, a land of segregation, an unbroken glass ceiling and no 24-hour cable news channels telling you what you should believe (if only we could get rid of that last one ...).

But the bottom line for the Fox zealots, you have to take the good and bad together. You can't have your Christmas without another person's Hanukkah or another's Kwanzaa or another's Festivus.

And let's face the facts, your two major holidays (Easter and Christmas) are still considered major points on the calendar for millions of Americans ... to hand out eggs delivered by a bunny and gifts brought by an elf on a sleigh.

The religious significance of both has been so far buried underneath the commercial aspect of the holidays, that you should be happy that they're still even considered religious observances.

So, let's all make a deal. You stop being angry and bitter when people greet you with a cheery "Happy Holidays" or "Seasons Greetings" instead of "Merry Christmas."

And for the folks who don't celebrate Christmas, this works both ways. If someone greets you with a "Merry Christmas," there's no need to snark back that you're not Christian and don't believe in Christmas.

Because, at this point in America, if you've bought a gift (even for yourself) this holiday season ... you are.