It does. I find it more than upsetting that Christians are restricted from singing carols in some places because it might offend someone. I travel overseas to Bali annually, to help orphanages. I am a committed Christian, but I would never be "Offended" because the Hindus were celebrating Galungan or the Muslims Lebaran. I would give presents to the children all the same-in fact I have done so. They know I am a Christian. It's no secret. They also know I care for them and respect them.

Absolutely. What I find even more pathetic are the members of the liberal left that denounce God, Christianity, the church, and the bible, yet place Christmas trees in their homes.

It sure is. People need to start to realize that if one group is denied the right to show their faith everyone is eventually going to be denied that right. After all it's only fair.

Agreed. Part of religious tolerance is being tolerant of ALL religions and customs, regardless of your beliefs. If someone wants to wish me a Happy Kwanza, Haunaka, Passover or what ever I would just smile and say 'you too'. The same should go for Christmas :-)

Your question is giving me serious pause. "Doesn't it seem unfair that people who are offended are allowed to practice their own customs?" Does that mean it would be more fair that people who are offended by Christmas shouldn't be allowed to practice their own customs? I very much disagree with this idea. People have a right to practice their own customs, and no group should be acting like they own the winter Holiday Season. I support public and business displays of "Happy Holidays" because they are inclusive. I don't think exclusive messages should be shown by the government or businesses (although if the business wishes to, that's their call). Christmas is just one word for a holiday season that pre-existed Christianity by a considerable amount. Many people celebrate the holiday under many names, and no one group, religion, or person owns the holiday season. I'm not offended by Christmas itself, and I don't know anyone who is. I've never seen any movement to restrict the Christmas customs and traditions within the private sphere of church and home. What I get offended by is when people try to pretend that the holiday season is exclusive to Christianity, that it was originally a Christian holiday, and that government and public institutions should celebrate it under the name "Christmas". If this is so, I also think that public institutions should be celebrating Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Ramadan, Yule, Samhain, Beltane, Passover, Diwali, etc, etc, ad nauseum. If we cannot or will not do that with public/government displays, then the displays should remain secular and inclusive, not exclusive to certain groups.

Hmm... Perhaps it is, but personally I think that people who are actually -offended- by Christmas are just fools with alarmingly fragile sensibilities. I'm about as far from a Christian as is possible, and I celebrate Christmas day... Not as a Christian event, but as a mutually agreed upon day of celebration and for bringing the family together to exchange gifts of love. People who are offended by people singing carols are too fragile to exist properly within a multicultural, multi-religion society (modern western society, for example). Eh, I find people who are offended by such things and actually act to have them stopped more offensive than I can even imagine the carols, etc being... *mumbles* I don't want to go into it too much, but yes it's unfair - but to be fair, those people are idiots... Maybe they aren't aware of their own stupidity?

G'day Jenna Rae, Thanks for your question. People should be able to practice their own customs within reason according to their own lights. While Government should not discriminate because of religious beliefs, I think that people who protest about schools celebrating Christmas are taking it to extremes. Often, the biggest problem is caused by militant atheists. I am an atheist but not a militant one. Regards

My only objection, without offense, to a Christmas-related display or celebration is when it's a government-funded public event that is given an explicitly religious theme devoted ONLY to Christianity. A public school event that acts out a manger scene would be inappropriate, because the kids are required to participate and attend and our tax dollars are funding it. Such an event never gives equal time to a performance of the Hahnakah story or to the pagan traditions that give us the Dec. 25 date. There are no similar school holiday events for other religions. Having a specifically Christian event annually crosses the church/state line a little too far. The same with public displays - if I'm being confronted with religious propoganda in order to mail my gifts at the post office, this is an abuse of public funds. If private citizens want to stand around outside and distribute religious stuff, that's perfectly fine. I just don't want the government doing it. A private school teaching about Jesus and doing a pageant is no problem. A private citizen decorating his home with the manger scene and all the angels he wants - great! Go for it! I really don't see what's so hard to understand about that. Nobody wants to take your Christmas away, people. Most of us LIKE Christmas. As an atheist, I celebrate the cultural celebratory season of Christmas for entirely secular reasons - as a family occasion and national holiday. I like December and the whole conglomeration of celebrations that take place at that time, with the winter setting and at the close of the year. If you want to have Christmas be a holiday ONLY for religious people, take it up with Santa. Or with whoever closes my office and all of the businesses on that day. Because the traditions of Christmas, like a Christmas tree for example, predate the Christian establishment of the holiday, and are essentially secular symbols, I have no problem decorating for Christmas and giving gifts to my family and friends. The holiday has plenty of meaning to it for me without religion. I tend to question your holiday spirit in wanting to exclude people like me from it.

Okay, this isn't holiday related at all, but I feel the need to share. I have been in institutions of higher learning for 4.5 years (I'm a year away from completing my MA). I am SICK AND TIRED of being treated like a FOOL and being a target for basically everyone's insults because I am religious. As such, I WOULD NEVER disrespect anyone else's beliefs, or be offended by them.

In my opinion, I don't really think that most of the people that claim to be "offended" are actually offended by it as much as they feel some inane need to make sure that no long-standing tradition with a religious basis should be allowed if there's an excuse to eliminate it. It's something of a mentality, and perhaps even a religion unto itself, to "swim against the stream" and attempt to change traditions for the sake of change. It's basically a clueless version of "Rebel Without A Cause," wherein there IS a cause, it's just not a particularly valid one. Having a Christmas Tree or Nativity Scene displayed in a town hall is not a violation of the Constitution or the Bill Of Rights. Telling people that they can't celebrate Yom Kippur or Kwanzaa or Ramadan would be a violation of civil rights. Like most others have said, it's just people making noise for the sake of making noise, an "anarchy of political correctness" if you will. I think it's stupid.

some people just look for reasons to get pissed off

i think the media make more of this than there is. but I have witnessed it, and it seems to be the older generations and more traditional folk who get offended. Cutural education and one rule for all is the answer.

Well, I'm a pagan. And Christmas is just fine with me. Have your nativity scenes at city hall. Put up your decorations. Have the Christmas Carol performed in schools. Dress up like Santa. It's not "happy holidays", its freakin' MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!! Get over it, people who try to ruin Christmas for others becase it "offends" you. You don't have the right not to be offended.