People and their "rights" have been so totally blown out of proportion.  I have never seen so many whiners in all my life.  Sometimes I think people need to be stripped of everything they have and own and then maybe they will realize they finally have something to whine about.  There is nothing wrong with "Merry Christmas".  People need to mind their own business, learn to change the channel, look the other way and use some freaking common sense. If people find "Merry Christmas" offensive, they should come over to my house and piss me off....I think they'd probably find a lot of what I had to say them pretty darned offensive.

Thanks Olivia...I think you're absolutely right.  I wonder if these people have anything better to do than think up stuff
to complain about.  I agree, I can think of a variety of things that would be extremely offensive!

"I wonder if these people have anything better to do than think up stuff to complain about." I think this exact statement everytime I visit this site. 

I'm pretty sure this is just a symptom of the "me first" generation.  It has nothing to do with religion, or  politics or even anything relevant anymore.   People just bitch just to bitch to put it in blunt terms.  Our whole society has become so politically correct that if you question anyone's opinion on anything you are automatically labeled a trouble maker at the least, or at worst you are a racist , a loon, a crack pot or *gasp* a conservative. ;)  Or maybe I just have lost faith in humanity.  I've certainly lost any faith that average Americans are intelligent and I almost wish I was born 40 or 50 years ago when people at least seemed to value education and learning about something other than who the best football player is, or regurgitating what they see the talking heads say on TV, or spreading around all the inane junk that people spread as chain letters through e-mail.  Its the rare person that has any ability for rational thought anymore in my experience and certainly anyone who argues against a popular opinion is a crack pot.  And I'm still under 40.  It makes me afraid for the future.  Or maybe I'm just jaded.  But it certainly seems to me that in this day and age, the only thing anyone considers valuable is what they can get for themselves.  Where are the people with open minds anymore?  Excluding a lot of people on this site, which is obviously by far a minority in the world, there aren't very many of them any more.  And these are the people voting and lobbying.  Its a scary time and I don't see anything good coming in the future for our country when people can sue (and win) because the coffee is too hot or because someone showed a nipple on TV.

Christmas is Christmas for the majority of America.  We should be able to say it publicly if we want to and not be criticized.  We've been doing it for years.  We have our annual Christmas Party coming up.  Everyone knows its a Christmas Party.  But we have to call it a Holiday Party or something.  But I guarantee that those who don't believe in Christmas, will be there collecting their gifts, enjoying the meal and all the pretty Christmas decorations. 

And you are right scottso, people don't believe in "accidents" anymore.  Accidents are just an opportunity for a law suit.  I thought it used to be negligence.  Do you know how many times I have tripped and fell because a curb was not even.  I never thought about getting up and measuring the height of the uneven curb, taking pictures and calling an attorney.  Damn I could be rich for not looking where I was going!

One listener made a very good point, and it's along the lines of your comment  Olivia.  The listener said, " If these people are so against the celebration of Christmas, they should have to work while every one else has the day off."

Scottso, I don't think you're jaded, I think you are right.  Our country (our world) is changing, and it scares the hell out of me.
What quality of life are my children's generation  going to have when values and respect for others is a distant memory? I have tried to instill good values into my children, and hope that no matter what happens in their lives they will stand for what is right.  It seems to me that "what is right or moral" is Now up to any body's interpretation.  No doubt, Jaded is a very good description.
I hear my elders talk about the day when.....bread was a dime, and kids actually walked to school without ever having
the "don't talk to strangers" discussion.
When I was a kid, I walked to school and I played outside until the sun went down.  Those days are over, and unless
you live on a deserted island those days are never coming back. 
I notice that many of the people who have been brought up with good values let themselves become part of this selfish
jaded society.  I'm assuming it's due to self preservation which is different that being born and raised that way.
I call them, "people in a bubble".  They don't come out and they don't let anyone in.  How sad.

The other day on my Yahoo homepage there was a news story that made me laugh. It said that some women want Santa Clause to stop saying HO HO HO because it offended them.

Those who do not believe in Christmas or any other religous holiday need to learn to just shut up!!! Everyone has the right to believe the way they want and just because atheists don't believe does not make it right for them to try to take it away from those of us that do.

Why do we Listen to these whiners, They are the minority and i thought that in America it was majority rules. A Democratic society.I am not a big fan of Martin Luther King day but i don't complain about it. The day cost me money.Its a Union Holiday and we get the day off and don't get paid for it. But you wont hear me bitch about it. When traditions are threatened by people that are offended by them it is time to say LEAVE, go back to where ever you came from. Don't force your whacked out thinking on me.

So, someone got offended over Merry Christmas, and another group of people got offended that the first group was offended. And, in the meantime, everyone invests time and energy in being offended instead of being focused on positive solutions for real problems in the world.

Yep, sounds like corporate America won again in distracting people away from real offenses by once again creating fake ones that people jump on to like hungry fish on a baited hook.

And what is being focused on positive solutions going to accomplish ? We can all sit here all day long and talk positive and at the end of the day nothing would have changed. Wake up and get with reality.

I agree completely justcurious. People are so blind to the real issues in the world that they should be focused on and are so easily baited.

 

justcurious and smokey if you can see so well then why are you also posting on this site.shouldn't you be out doing something more POSITIVE? Maybe i was the bait and you just got caught yourself. lol

I can't imagine how you know what we are, or are not, doing. Being on this site, even for an hour, doesn't take into account what one does for the other 23 hours of the day. Just as I would never suppose that what you do here is the sum total of who you are.

Some of us don't just talk about positive solutions, we actively work toward them. Through charity giving, volunteering and better living.

hook,line and sinker.  lol

I'm an Atheist and I don't mind people saying Merry Christmas at all.  I think we should embrace all people and all beliefs.   I don't celebrate Christmas and I did work on Christmas (before I became retired) to give those who did believe in Christ the day off.  I enjoy the holidays a very lot and will celebrate many different religious ceremonies with other people during this time of year.   People should be able to believe and say whatever they want...that is what freedom is all about.  I do want to mention that I do not think it is fair for me to HAVE to say I believe in God when I don't.  I shouldn't have to say In God I Trust or mention God in the pledge of allegiance.  What's fair is fair.  Bottom line.... Believe in what you want, and say what you believe. To heck with everyone who thinks they have a right to control others.  I will live the way I want and say what I want always...I will also fight for my right to do so.  These people who get mad simply because other people have different beliefs than they do are morons. lol  PERIOD

That being said...

Merry Christmas EVERYONE!!!