Please let the passion of the Christmas end

What happened to Christmas this year? I never thought it would become a battleground.

I'm not referring to the media hysteria over a single unruly mob at a Wal-Mart. Nor am I referring to American initiated wars in Iraq and Afghanistan or the latest rounds of The People versus the Bush Administration.

I'm writing about the smoldering claims about what it means to wish a person either a "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays." Don't we have better things to talk about?

A majority of newspapers and other forms of media have spent too much time carrying stories about groups fighting over the real meaning of Christmas.

Our paper tried addressing it. We tried to ask everyone to display tolerance for people of different opinions. We asked people to think of all holiday greetings as inclusive terms for everyone, a pleasant way to address strangers and an option to seek goodwill from others.

Christmas has come and gone. Yet people still argue about it. Some accuse people of using the term Happy Holidays as an insidious method to remove Christ from Christmas, to turn our backs on the Son of God or at least insult their church-going ways. This passion of the Christmas seems completely out of place.

The latest round came on Christmas Eve when more than 100 Russian immigrants gathered at the Seattle Center and sang carols. They claimed their religious freedom is being infringed upon by political correctness. Yes, they were referring to the argument of wishing people Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas.

Would Jesus really care about how we addressed a single day of the year? Does he want us to be judgmental and divisive for him? Are there any of Christ's teachings supporting the demonstrations of paranoia and anger over this issue?

I don't think so. It seems contrary to every thing I learned about Christ.

If I were to be so bold as to hazard a guess about what Jesus would think, I believe he would give a message of peace, acceptance and understanding. I would go so far out on a limb to believe he would be more worried about our behavior in his name and our everyday actions rather than be upset over what we call Dec. 25.

Pope John Paul II summed the entire issue itself up best. He once said, "Stupidity is also a gift of God, but one mustn't misuse it."

How this disagreement came about is probably best blamed on the media. Yes, we found it circulating about the country and wished to address it when echoes of the argument reached the Basin. Local people began commenting how upset they were when stores used Happy Holidays as a greeting, rather than Merry Christmas. I think these people were being a bit too sensitive.

Greeting a person with the term Happy Holidays is inclusive of everyone. I continue to agree with the editorial board. The term covers Christ's birth, Santa Claus' Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and even New Year's. How is this bad? It provides goodwill to everyone without being selective. By wishing a person a Merry Christmas, could it be argued we are only wishing goodwill to Christians and atheists celebrating the secular Santa? Would Jesus approve?

My belief is Jesus would prefer any holiday bearing his name be about peace on Earth, meaning no silly holiday name arguments, and goodwill to men and women, regardless of their religious backgrounds.

Take a look at the news in this paper. I am sure we can find better topics to argue about.

Happy holidays.

Bill Stevenson is the assistant editor at the Columbia Basin Herald and believes freedom requires tolerance.