Lauren Mayer: What War on Christmas?

Just like the swallows returning to Capistrano, or the first lilacs of spring, once a year you can count on a few pundits at Fox to resuscitate their complaints about the “war on Christmas.”  Once again, they claim their beloved holiday is under attack because a group of atheists lobby to remove a nativity scene from a city hall, or a school changes its Christmas concert to a Holiday concert.  Come on, O’Reilly – for several weeks, starting on Thanksgiving and often before, this entire country is covered in an avalanche of candy canes, Christmas tree decorations, and holiday muzak.  You can’t go anywhere without being bombarded by Christmas – if it’s under attack, it’s doing pretty darn well. (As Jon Stewart pointed out, since this year ‘Black Friday’ started on Thanksgiving, Christmas is now eating other holidays!)

Of course there are a few loonies out there, fighting the fact that a vast majority of this country celebrate Christmas.  But for most of us non-Christians, we have nothing against the holiday and even accept that there will be tinsel, Christmas lights, and dogs barking Jingle Bells everywhere we go.  We simply would prefer not to be bombarded with the more religious aspects of the holiday – sparkling lights and metallic ornaments are a lot more inclusive than crosses or baby Jesuses.  And wishing people “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” makes us feel less left out, without taking anything away from Christmas.  In fact, we hope you have a lovely holiday (while we eat Chinese food and go to the movies).

This week’s video tries to explain why your non-Christian friends might be getting a little cranky this time of year – so I hope you will please cut them (and me) a little slack!