Have Yourself An Intentional Merry Christmas

Who would have believed just a few short years ago that college sports teams would come under an NCAA ban if they refuse to give up their Native American mascots? Who would have believed that people would actually be upset when someone uses a masculine pronoun to describe humanity? And does anybody really believe Western Civilization as we know it would descend into chaos if researchers use the initials B.C. and A.D. to refer to periods of history? The latest controversy is over the term "Merry Chirstmas." Even Ebenezer Scrooge would find the ACLU's position a bit over the edge. Rather than just say "Bah, humbug" and move on some on the left want every mention of Christmas banished from the light of day. Everywhere Christmas is traditionally acknowledged that acknowledgement is now being challenged from the left as being insensative to some people's religious sensitivities. That is a bit like saying we shouldn't celebrate George Washington's birthday because some people believe Abraham Lincoln was the best president. The Prince of Peace, who is the one and only Son of the God of love, has somehow become an object of hate by those who would seal up the birth cave and shoot the donkey that carried Mary to Bethlehem. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. A Christmas without Christ is not possible because Christmas centers on the fact that God became a man and walked among us. Not everyone believes this of course, but everyone doesn't have to believe something in order for it to be true. And no one is compelled either by law or by common assent to wish anyone a Merry Christmas or to embrace belief in the first coming of the Son of God. If you are an atheist and I greet you on the street by saying Merry Christmas, just ignore me and go on about your business. If you come to my daughter's Christmas program ( or Winter Festival if the ACLU has already brow beat the local school board) and you hear a traditional Christmas carol why not just shake your head and marvel at the fact some people still passionately believe in what you believe to be a myth. But please don't force your atheism on me and every other believer by demanding that you should never have to hear a religious word in public. After all, I thought the people on the left were supposed to be bastions of tolerance. Or is your tolerance nothing more than a covering for your anti-Christian bias? As a born again, evangelical Christian I am certainly offended by much of what goes on in the cultural marketplace. When certain four lette words are deleted by the television censors but God's name being taken in vain is allowed to flow into my living room, I am offended. When I drive down the interstate and find myself being greeted by a scantily clad woman smiling at me from a billboard who is supposed to entice me into visiting a certain resturant named after the sound an owl makes I am offended. When my daugher comes home from school and tells me her biology teacher thinks she is a moron because she believes she has God as her heavenly Father instead of a monkey as her uncle, I am offended. But I do not lawyer up, run to the nearest courtroom, and demand that every activity that offends me be ceased immediately. How did we become so thin skinned in America that we can't tolerate each others belief systems? America was founded in the principle of freedom of religion for all, not freedom for all from religion. So what to do about the massive assault on Christmas? As for me and my house, we intend to have an intentional merry Christmas. When I was out shopping over the weekend I was greeted by several store employees with a perky, "Happy Holidays!" My response was to immediately say, "No, Merry Christmas!" Sometimes I received a knowing smile and a quick "merry Christmas" in return. Sometimes I got nothing more than a puzzled look or a steely eyed glare. Sometimes the person would look at me with that, "Oh you are one of those," look. In each case