I was reading Jack’s piece over at Atheist Revolution about the impending cry from Christians that there’s a War on Christmas, and as usual when I read these posts, or see stories proving that there is an actual war declared, I have to have a chuckle. It’s become a yearly outrage for some, and even some in the media, to declare that the evil atheists are out to destroy their holiday and the holiday spirit, implied in the same.

It’s not that some people aren’t aggrieved with anything that seems to interfere in what they consider to be something sacred, it’s that in attempting to be inclusive, many retail and other businesses have come under fire from those that are always claiming persecution themselves. These are the people, Christians, who always cite the 1st Amendment as to not only their freedom to worship but also freedom of speech. Doesn’t this apply to everyone? It seems not.

What’s so offensive about saying Happy Holidays to someone, especially if you’re unaware whether they are a believer or not? Well, there isn’t and even believers speak of the Holiday Season, so what is the problem with recognizing that there might be people with different beliefs, or none at all? Why must anyone be forced to to say Merry Christmas under threat that there may be a call for their business to be boycotted simply for wanting to recognize the holiday without it being a specific call to worship a particular god?

We’ve long been past the time where Christmas is about the celebration of the birth of some savior, to where it’s become just another commercial enterprise. I can’t recall when it wasn’t just that and therefore I have no idea what the outrage is al about. If anything, it should be about the commercialization of it, instead of how a person is greeted.

I don’t know a Christian today that actually believes that Jesus was born on December 25th.  History confirms for us that Christians, in the late 3rd or early  4th century. No one is exactly certain beyond that and I didn’t link any articles here because of that. It’s an appropriated day though, having, in the pagan world being the Solstice celebration so does it really make much of a difference exactly when it was stolen? Probably not.

I don’t become animated over the faux outrage over the use or non-use of the word Christmas when referring to the holiday.  It is what we have evolved it to be: nothing really to do with a celebration of the birth of a mythological savior, and everything to do with making money during the last month of the calendar year.