Interesting. A former head of the American Humanist Association wrote in a letter to the editor criticizing those ads. [link]

Isn't the whole point of the Grinch story that the Grinch is irrelevant? He can steal the stuff, but he can't steal Christmas, because Christmas isn't something that can be stolen. This seems like not the analogy he meant.

Yeah, he TOTALLY did not get the Grinch.

I'm amused by the "stores are trying to DECHRISTMAS CHRISTMAS!!!!!" battle-cry. When I was a kid it seemed like half of Lent was spent with my Church telling me "Christmas isn't about stuff..." Honestly, to me the public use of "holiday" rather than "Christmas" is, you know, good news.

Happy Two Decades, Beth and Matt! Wishing you many more.

OMG, y'all. I am feeling cranky and ragetastic. I think it's partly PMS and partly that I'm not feeling good about myself right now, which always makes me pissy towards others. I'm listening to a dharma talk, partially to drown out office noise and partially to try and calm down, but it's not as effective as I'd like it to be.

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRR!!!

*ahem* Pardon me. (BTW, not really looking for hairpats, just needed to get it out)

I'm amused by the "stores are trying to DECHRISTMAS CHRISTMAS!!!!!" battle-cry. When I was a kid it seemed like half of Lent was spent with my Church telling me "Christmas isn't about stuff..." Honestly, to me the public use of "holiday" rather than "Christmas" is, you know, good news.

My friend Chris and I got into it pretty bad one year over "Have a good holiday" vs "Have a good Christmas." He really didn't get it AT ALL. It ended up with him yelling at me, "That's BULLSHIT!" and me yelling back, "WELL YOU'RE BULLSHIT!"

And then we put that on the list of Do Not Discuss and went back to inappropriate flirting over the phone.

Honestly, to me the public use of "holiday" rather than "Christmas" is, you know, good news.

I've read several places that stores started using "Happy Holidays" or "Seasons Greetings" rather than "Merry Christmas" during the twenties or thirties because churches were complaining that it wasn't right to use Christmas as part of an advertisement.

I've read several places that stores started using "Happy Holidays" or "Seasons Greetings" rather than "Merry Christmas" during the twenties or thirties because churches were complaining that it wasn't right to use Christmas as part of an advertisement.

To me that makes sense. Next time you see one could you let me know where?

The bits of mainstream atheism that are about being pissed off at Christianity go right over my head

Some people get exposed to the message "you are an inferior person because you don't believe" a lot. That can make one resentful.

Of course, every group has their belligerent folks as well.

“It is insensitive and mean.”

Oh, fer Chrissakes. Call the wah-mbulance.

My mom is actually among those who is pro-Merry Christmas, which I find odd since she's married to a JEW and has celebrated Chanukkah for the past 40 years. ::shrugs::

Honestly, I don't care whether a store clerk says "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays" to me. Either way, it really is about Christmas -- it's not like anybody bothers acknowledging any Jewish holidays that don't come right near big Christian ones. And insisting that a "Happy Holidays" given several weeks after Chanukah is over actually includes Chanukah is just silly.

Kind of reminds me of elementary school attempts at "inclusion." Which generally meant sticking one or two Chanukah songs into the winter concert and having a cultural learning experience where the class learned about Chanukah and all the Christian kids stared and asked questions of all the Jewish kids as if we were cultural artifacts, rather than, y'know, kids. If anyone had actually asked any of the Jewish kids or parents what we wanted from the school in terms of acknowledgment of holidays, nearly all of us would have said that having a day or two off from school for Passover would be at the top of the list. But "Let's learn about the interesting traditions of these Jewish kids! They celebrate and get presents just like we do!" was usually what we got.

Signs similar to those in Washington are being placed on buses and billboards in New York, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, and near the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho, as well as in London; Barcelona, Spain; Genoa, Italy; and Toronto, Montreal and Calgary, Canada, Mr. Speckhardt confirmed.

How did Moscow, Idaho make that selection?