# To my fellow soilder in the "War On Chrismas", please desert to the other side. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 19, 2005, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-fellow-soilder-in-the-war-on-chrismas-please-desert-to-the-other-side/336258 "2005-12-19T05:16:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-fellow-soilder-in-the-war-on-chrismas-please-desert-to-the-other-side/336258/1 "2005-12-19T05:16:03Z")
I’ve been telling people there is no war on Christmas. I’ve been saying it’s mostly certain Christians who’ve got their panties in a bunch over “Happy Holidays”. I’ve been saying while some people may be angling for more inclusiveness for the folks who don’t celebrate Christmas, and some are concerned about a bias in the govenment, no one is trying to interfere with Christians celebrating their hoilday as they see fit. Of course not. That would be silly. And then you go and do this : [http://www.wral.com/news/5532271/detail.html](http://www.wral.com/news/5532271/detail.html) For god sake woman. However vital not to say ubiquitous a part of American culture Mcdonalds is, it ain’t the government. Moreove I don’t know how their franchise system works, but judging by the response you got from the corporate office, this is not even a question of corporate policy. It’s one local owner putting what he wanted to on HIS sign. I find those signs irritating. I get enough glurge no the computer, I don’t need it on every other store I pass. Jesus is not the reason for MY season, thank you. But goodness, it’s their sign and they can put up whatever opinion they want. If I’m that irritated I’ll go eat at Subway instead. The idea that a private business is somehow obligated to acknowledge _your_ bekiefs 😕 . And actually getting upset when they don’t 😕😕 ??? On the Christian message board where I got this link they already have 4 pages on you, all about how this proves their point that there’s a conspicicy against Christmas and everyone is out to get them. Which, given you’re one lone nutter, makes about as much sense as your own “offended” and "upset"ness, but WHY ARE YOU GIVING THEM FODDER?? Thanks a lot. And Happy Chanukah. Feel better now? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-fellow-soilder-in-the-war-on-chrismas-please-desert-to-the-other-side/336258/2 "2005-12-19T05:26:41Z")
The whole mess pisses me off royal! For my entire life, I’ve always used Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Season’s Greetings interchangeably, with nary a care in the world. Now, no matter _WHAT_ I say, it’s taken as some fuckin’ social/political/religious statement, and people assume I’ve chosen one _SIDE_ or the other in this silly matter. I’ll just be scrooge. Fuck Everybody this time of year. Y’all happy now? ---
**Author:** ![Bag\_of\_Mostly\_Water](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bag_of_mostly_water/32/1029_2.png) [@Bag\_of\_Mostly\_Water](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bag_of_Mostly_Water)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-fellow-soilder-in-the-war-on-chrismas-please-desert-to-the-other-side/336258/3 "2005-12-19T05:35:34Z")
Non-Christian here. I have one wish for Christmas: Please turn Christmas back into a religious holiday so I can ignore it. It is not my holiday and I don’t want to celebrate it. Put up all the signs, decorations, etc. you want on private property. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-fellow-soilder-in-the-war-on-chrismas-please-desert-to-the-other-side/336258/4 "2005-12-19T05:41:20Z")
> [@](#): > > McDonald’s managers say the sign has been good for business. They say church groups have stopped by to eat, and some people who usually don’t eat food from McDonald’s have stopped by because of the sign. Wow. It must be awful to be so needy of reinforcement of your beliefs that you’d go out of your way to eat at McDonald’s just because they put the word “Jesus” on their sign. I notice that the woman who complained is Jewish. And here I thought that we had a “Judeo-Christian” heritage. Isn’t that what the politicians who want to shove their tongues up the collective ass of the radical Jesus freak righties say so they can all pretend together like they don’t disapprove of the heathen Hebrews? ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-fellow-soilder-in-the-war-on-chrismas-please-desert-to-the-other-side/336258/5 "2005-12-19T05:53:53Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Wow. It must be awful to be so needy of reinforcement of your beliefs that you’d go out of your way to eat at McDonald’s just because they put the word “Jesus” on their sign. > > I notice that the woman who complained is Jewish. And here I thought that we had a “Judeo-Christian” heritage. Isn’t that what the politicians who want to shove their tongues up the collective ass of the radical Jesus freak righties say so they can all pretend together like they don’t disapprove of the heathen Hebrews? IME, the term “Judeo-Christian” is meaningful only to Christians. The Jews I know - myself included - overwhelmingly regard it as silly or even offensive. Judaism doesn’t teach that Jesus was a special person (let alone a divine being), and Christmas isn’t a Jewish holiday. So, I’m not sure why anyone would expect a Jewish person to be any more tolerant (or any less put off) by the sign. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-fellow-soilder-in-the-war-on-chrismas-please-desert-to-the-other-side/336258/6 "2005-12-19T08:15:43Z")
I’m kind of surprised that McDonald’s doesn’t have rules about this. What if a francisee put a political message on a sign? How about “God doesn’t exist?” I’d be a bit nervous about letting franchisee’s associate the McDonald’s name with any damn crap they want to display. Seems asking for corporate image trouble.] However, if it is true, I’ll buy a franchise if I ever win the lottery and see what kind of trouble I can stir up. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-fellow-soilder-in-the-war-on-chrismas-please-desert-to-the-other-side/336258/7 "2005-12-19T08:31:09Z")
> [@Ex\_Chemist](#): > > Non-Christian here. I have one wish for Christmas: Please turn Christmas back into a religious holiday so I can ignore it. It is not my holiday and I don’t want to celebrate it. Put up all the signs, decorations, etc. you want on private property. WORD! ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-fellow-soilder-in-the-war-on-chrismas-please-desert-to-the-other-side/336258/8 "2005-12-19T08:32:00Z")
What a stupid cunt. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-fellow-soilder-in-the-war-on-chrismas-please-desert-to-the-other-side/336258/9 "2005-12-19T08:45:31Z")
I could do without the customers who make a huge show out of saying, “Merry Christma—OOPS, can’t say that any more!” Even when I tell them that that’s an urban legend, and no retail employee has ever been forbidden to say “Merry Christmas,” they keep bleating, just so people will know that they’re not afraid of the big bad PC police. Why don’t they just yell “Help help, I’m being repressed!”? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-fellow-soilder-in-the-war-on-chrismas-please-desert-to-the-other-side/336258/10 "2005-12-19T09:19:04Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > Why don’t they just yell “Help help, I’m being repressed!”? “Come see the injustice inherent in the elderly Wal-Mart greeter!” ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-fellow-soilder-in-the-war-on-chrismas-please-desert-to-the-other-side/336258/11 "2005-12-19T11:13:38Z")
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. “Happy Holidays” would not be controversial now if certain idiots hadn’t gone way too far in one direction - like calling Christmas trees holiday trees. The backlash was inevitable, and now it is here big time. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-fellow-soilder-in-the-war-on-chrismas-please-desert-to-the-other-side/336258/12 "2005-12-19T11:17:07Z")
I usually wish people “A savage Christmas and a violent New Year.” No-one ever complains. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-fellow-soilder-in-the-war-on-chrismas-please-desert-to-the-other-side/336258/13 "2005-12-19T11:39:47Z")
That’s funny, because I too always wish a [Savage](http://www.skippingtowardsgomorrah.com/) Christmas to people who insist on calling my Yule Fir a Christmas Tree. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-fellow-soilder-in-the-war-on-chrismas-please-desert-to-the-other-side/336258/14 "2005-12-19T11:46:14Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. “Happy Holidays” would not be controversial now if certain idiots hadn’t gone way too far in one direction - like calling Christmas trees holiday trees. Erunh? What should it matter? You can call it whatever you want when it’s in your home, and if your church calls it something you don’t like, then go to another church. And if a public business calls it something you don’t like then perhaps the best advice is to do what the woman in the OP’s story should’ve done; get on with your life and don’t sweat the small stuff. > [@Mr. Moto](#): > > The backlash was inevitable, and now it is here big time. Backlash? Pr’aps you mean persecution complex? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-fellow-soilder-in-the-war-on-chrismas-please-desert-to-the-other-side/336258/15 "2005-12-19T13:20:15Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > The backlash was inevitable, and now it is here big time. Nah, it’s just this season’s version of Holiday Soul-Searching Controversy. There’s got to be a theme every year now. Awhile back it was “Christmas Commercialization and the Purity of Kwanzaa”, then “The Awful Dilemma of Jewish-Christian Couples And What To Do With the Chil-druhn” and now the “Happy Holidays” flap. Any nominations for 2006? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-fellow-soilder-in-the-war-on-chrismas-please-desert-to-the-other-side/336258/16 "2005-12-19T13:25:54Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > Backlash? Pr’aps you mean persecution complex? I think what he means is that the idiots in the White House with their Happy Holidays message have stirred up the idiots on the right. I’m not sure where he thinks the left becomes involved in this, except as very isolated incidents. The best part about this story, IMO, is unwritten: it’s that this woman almost certainly contacted the media herself with the idea for the article. Who else in the story is gonna call WRAL? I’ve got no problem with McDonald’s putting up the sign. I’ve actually got no problem with the woman deciding not to eat at McDonald’s based on the sign: that’s the free market at work right there. For the woman to think that it’s a bad enough move on McDonald’s part that a media story will serve her well, though? That’s just foolishness. Right now, I guarantee that that McDonald’s has lines out the door, and I’m pretty sure that this woman is going to be getting an unlisted phone number in the next few days in order to avoid all the insane crank calls she’s getting. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-fellow-soilder-in-the-war-on-chrismas-please-desert-to-the-other-side/336258/17 "2005-12-19T14:35:43Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > I think what he means is that the idiots in the White House with their Happy Holidays message have stirred up the idiots on the right. I’m not sure where he thinks the left becomes involved in this, except as very isolated incidents. It’s found fertile ground among a good many of my friends and family, who run the gamut from hardcore atheist to very religious, but most of whom are quite far to the left. I have a hard time believing that the controversy runs strictly long political or religious lines. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-fellow-soilder-in-the-war-on-chrismas-please-desert-to-the-other-side/336258/18 "2005-12-19T14:41:00Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > It’s found fertile ground among a good many of my friends and family, who run the gamut from hardcore atheist to very religious, but most of whom are quite far to the left. I have a hard time believing that the controversy runs strictly long political or religious lines. Really? Your atheist friends are getting freaked about Merry Christmas? I believe you, but I’ve not yet heard it, and I hang out with some pretty blasphemous atheists. (if I misunderstand what you’re saying, my apologies) Daniel ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-fellow-soilder-in-the-war-on-chrismas-please-desert-to-the-other-side/336258/19 "2005-12-19T14:49:13Z")
Re: the OP Yeah, I’m exceedingly liberal (on social issues), but that’ ridiculous. It reminds me that a couple of years ago fire fighters decorated the living area inside the firehouse _with their own money_ - putting up a tree and other stuff. Did I mention it was _inside_ the firehouse? The living quarters part? But someone, who had to work pretty hard to see the tree through the window, worked that hard, got offended, and made the village government make them take it down. Stuff like that makes it worse for the people who really are defending the separation of church and state. People like that make Bill O’Reilly look reasonable, which is never a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-fellow-soilder-in-the-war-on-chrismas-please-desert-to-the-other-side/336258/20 "2005-12-19T15:00:49Z")
Festivus. It’s for the rest of us. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-my-fellow-soilder-in-the-war-on-chrismas-please-desert-to-the-other-side/336258.md?page=2)