This continuing battle by the right wing over whether one should promote Christianity by saying Merry Christmas or honor diversity by saying Happy Holidays has had the unintended effect of undermining everything that Christmas used to represent to me.
I used to celebrate the message of Jesus at Christmastime. He is a man whom I admire but do not deify. I used to be able to share with my Christian friends the awesome hope for peace and the promotion of a tradition of giving, from the heart as well as from the pocket.
But this Christmas the message of inclusion preached by Jesus seems to have been abandoned, and his message of peace has been sacrificed to the promotion of division and disunity. The tradition of giving has been undermined by intolerance, the opposite of the inclusion that he preached.
I am deeply saddened. The purpose of the season has been taken away by those who have undermined the message of Christ. I am having a very hard time celebrating.