Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays and the Myth of the war on Christmas

I'm really tired of hearing people complain about saying "Happy Holidays" as opposed to "Merry Christmas".

John Stewart had a great piece last week on the Daily Show last week. Watch it here.

Anyway, here's my problem with this argument:

Only Christians who are weak of character and who aren't secure in their own beliefs would be threatened by the use of "Happy Holidays". We purport to want to be a more inclusive culture, we promote diversity and tolerance of others beliefs (hell, our Constitution is founded on that principle), and yet now there's a war on Christmas.

The argument goes the other way too. As a non-Christian, I'm not offended if someone wishes me a Merry Christmas, or if I see a Nativity outside a public building. (I'll get to my nativity question later.)

But the point is that there are other holidays in December that are celebrated by millions of people, and "Happy Holidays" is all incusive, whether the person is secular, Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Pagan, Muslim, or Hindu. Or whether they celebrate a cultural festival like Kwanza, or St. Nicholas Day - which are not religious observances, but celebrations of culture and history.

Trees are another story, because the use of the evergreen as a symbol of the winter holiday season did not originate with Christmas. It actually dates back to Germany, where it was part of the wheel of the year celebrations of agrarian pagan societies. The tree would be cut down and brought into the home and decorated with ornaments representing wishes for the coming year, and with lights. The reason for this is that Winter is a very dark and dangerous time. Food shortages, illnesses, and bad weather claimed many lives. Evergreens were a symbol that the life would return to the earth, and the candles (now electric light) were a celebration of the gradual return of the light after the Winter Solstice. During Solstice (or Yule) celebrations, a log from the previous years' Maypole, made from the Yule tree was brought into the home and decorated with candles, Mistletoe and Holly (also plants that survive the Winter) - this is the Yule Log. The previous years Yule Log is used to start the celebratory fire. After Yule is over, the decorations were removed from the tree and the branches were stripped. This would be the maypole for the Beltane celebrations the following may. The maypole would be cut into the Yule Log, and the cycle begins again.

Now, on to Nativity. We were at our friends' house the other day, and they had a nativity out, with everybody except Jesus. I asked "where's Jesus?" I never knew that some people didn't put him out until Christmas day because he wasn't born yet. But then, what's everyone else standing around staring at? Technically the Nativity should be a week long process where you put out characters one at a time AFTER Christmas day - because before then, there's nothing to look at. The wise men hadn't shown up yet, neither had the Angel. So what's the deal?

I know, I got off topic. But to all those on either side who are either offended by "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays" - grow up and get over it. Celebrate the holidays your own way. If you're secure enough in your own beliefs, whatever they may be, then whatever anyone else does shouldn't matter.