Merry Christmas! Really!

by

Gerald Plessner

December 19, 2006 - It is sad that a season which brings pleasure to so many people should be debased and manipulated by operatives whose primary goals are notoriety and audience rating points.

There is no war on Christmas, except the one fabricated by right-wing radio corporations, their opportunistic on-air hosts, religious zealots and others who profit from public anxiety.

Americans who are not Christians have less concern about how they are greeted by a store clerk than they are by this assault from religious and media agitators.

For those who might think me anti-Christian, a bit of personal history: I am Jewish and I shared my baby crib with an Italian-American Catholic boy. I grew up in a Southern Baptist neighborhood and lived on the same block with a Catholic church. I went to a Presbyterian college where I sat through required weekly religious services, and two of the groomsmen at our wedding were Christians. Forgive the cliche, but most of my life-long friends are Christian.

I have wished people "Merry Christmas" all my life and I enjoy doing so. I have also been pleased that American businesses --- pushed a bit by consumerism that makes it good business not to make non-Christian customers feel excluded --- have begun to acknowledge that non-Christians and their feelings are also important to their bottom line.

Sad though it may be, America is much more a consumer nation than a religious nation. In America, each of us is free to consume the religion of our choice or no religion at all, and to be free from coercion and assault if we do either.

It is also true that consideration and tolerance are just as important to American life as religiosity and patriotism. Every country has patriotism but only in America are acceptance and tolerance, even for unpopular but legal ideas, hallmarks of our culture.

The war on Christmas and the idea that Christianity is under attack in the United States are shams concocted by power-hungry religious entrepreneurs and ratings-hungry radio talk show agitators. Americans all should shun their words, their advice and their motives.

In this joyous time of year, as we pause to give thanks to our men and women in harm's way in far-off lands, I wish all a Merry Christmas!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Gerald Plessner is a Southern California businessman who writes regularly on issues of politics and culture. He would be pleased to hear from you and may be contacted at gerald@geraldplessner.com.