The War on the War on Christmas!

Steve:

This week, 19 House Republicans unveiled a resolution (H. RES. 951) to make it clear that Congress likes Christmas.

Whereas Christmas is a national holiday celebrated on December 25; and

Whereas the Framers intended that the First Amendment of the Constitution, in prohibiting the establishment of religion, would not prohibit any mention of religion or reference to God in civic dialog: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

(1) recognizes the importance of the symbols and traditions of Christmas;

(2) strongly disapproves of attempts to ban references to Christmas; and

(3) expresses support for the use of these symbols and traditions by those who celebrate Christmas.

That'll show the anti-Christmas crusaders.

I don't know how many times or how many different ways I can say this, but THERE IS NO WAR ON CHRISTMAS!!!

Which means there's no need for this kind of time-wasting fuckery.

And, you know, it was one thing when they used to just assume (or pretend) that everyone celebrates Christmas. But here they concede that's not the case: "(3) expresses support for the use of these symbols and traditions by those who celebrate Christmas." It's a short walk from there to the understanding that using phrases like "Happy Holidays" is just basic politeness, a way of acknowledging there are those who don't celebrate Christmas, and you don't always know to whom you're speaking. That's not the same thing as "banning references to Christmas."

Sometimes, basic politeness means being less specific to be more inclusive.

It would be great if the Waronchristmateers could stop seeing that as a demotion of Christmas and instead view it as an elevation of non-Christian holidays and non-Christian people. Not something being taken away from them, but a gift to others.

That's the holiday spirit, after all. They can start "recognizing the importance of the symbols and traditions of Christmas" by giving us all the precious gift of not acting like whiny-ass binky babies for a bloody change.