We are getting too upset over one day out of the year.

My grandmother like most older wiser people had some very sound advice: "If you are living your life right everyday will be like Christmas and if you aren't living right one a day a year won't bail you out."

Whatever religion you believe in celebrate it with all of your heart, and practice your religion the whole year, not just one day.

If you know your neighbor celebrates Hanukkah when you see them say Happy Hanukkah, if your neighbor celebrates Christmas say, Merry Christmas. If your neighbor is atheist say Happy Holidays. We are making this a whole lot more difficult than what it really has to be.

Why rant on and on forever about a subject that a small amount of tolerance and respect for other beliefs would cure? Should folks be so offended by the mere sight or sound of a religious belief contrary to theirs be subjected to the sights and sounds of those whose task it is to defend that right, they may not be as sensitive.

I offer an article by Ben Stein:

My confession:
I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees.. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.
It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a Nativity Scene, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.
I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.
Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.
In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.
Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'
In light of recent events... Terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says "Thou Shalt not Kill, thou Shalt not Steal", and "Love your Neighbor as Yourself." And we said OK.
Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.
Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves. Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'
Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.
Are you laughing yet?
Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.
Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us. Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.
My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,
Ben Stein

Christmas is just a holiday, of religious origin, and I know many Jews who gladly give and receive Christmas gifts at Christmas. Most people, Christian or not, celebrate Christmas. You can also celebrate Halloween without believing in witches, as it is a way, for kids at least, to have fun and receive free candy.

Arguing that we should put the Mass back in Christmas is ludicrous. Arguing that we should put Christ back in Christmas is also ridiculous. People who have the least little bit of education in foreign languages know that Christmas is called Noël in French, Navidad in Spanish, Natale in Italian and Weihnachten in German. No hint of Christ or Mass in there, though the Pope is German and the Vatican is within Italy.

So to the religious zealots among us, I say, give it a rest. Let us have some peace. Like “peace on earth.”

And I hope you had a Merry Christmas!

Read Sinner by Ted Dekker. It paints a pretty picture of what forced "tolerance" will do to the world.

The whole premise of Christianity is that Jesus preached that following him was the one and only way into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Therefore, it would make sense to call it the Christmas Season. If you don't celebrate the holiday, just correct whoever says "Merry Christmas" to you.