I try to always take 2nd hand stories with a grain of salt, because many times there are other unmentioned circumstances that "forget" to get included in the story. I guess it stirs the pot though.

However, it does seem there's always one yahoo in the crowd that wants attention for himself, so he makes trouble and brings the courts and the ACLU into it. I've seen it before. All it takes is one person not liking something the majority of others see as benign, to get the ball rolling. To ban an instrumental version of a Christmas song would be moronic. Please tell me someone didn't waste good time pursuing that. A person could not be legally bannned from saying "Merry Christmas" either (free speech). If that were true, we'd all be in danger of losing freedom no matter what we believe in.

I don't get offended by the use of "Happy Holidays". People have been saying it for years. There's even a traditional Christmas song with that line in it. I see it as a general salutation since there are several holidays that fall in and close to December (12 Days of Christmas, Hannakuh and New Year's Day).

What does irk me however, is the use of "Xmas" in the place of "Christmas".

I think if anything is waging war on Christmas, it's ourselves. Remember the Friday after Thanksgiving, when people at Walmart were trampling over each other to save a buck or two on something they didn't really need? That kind of thing makes me sad. We should be focusing on others more and not on ourselves, by giving our time and money to worthy causes, and contemplating on what the season means to us. What it means me is the gift of the Savior born to set us free.