Fight for Christmas

I love Christmas. \nYes, there have been a couple of columns in the Indiana Daily Student about loving Christmas. But mine is unique. Want to know why?\nI am not Christian and neither I nor my family members celebrate Christmas. But I still love Christmas. \nWe've all read the stories that declare Americans some of the busiest and most stressed people in the world.\nHey, I'd believe it. \nKids have to make the honor roll and be sports champs. They have to be student council members and volunteers at the local animal shelter. Parents have to drive them there while worrying about work, the stock market, their 401(k) plans, terrorism, global warming and college funds. \nI honestly think Christmastime is the one time of the year where it doesn't really matter who you are or what else you have going on in your life. Everyone can look forward to a few days off from the daily grind, bright lights, shopping, cheery colors, decorations and Christmas specials on TV. (Sometimes they even play "Home Alone," even though it's only very remotely related to Christmas, but oh, how I love it so.) And I don't even celebrate Christmas. Isn't that ironic? Bottom line is, Christmas is a cheery time in an otherwise gloomy part of the year. It gives people who are different as night and day something to share, something to have in common. \nYet there are those who would bemoan Christmastime as some sort of evil religious conspiracy by the government to instill Christian values upon the general populace. There are those who celebrate Christmas themselves and claim to stand for the non-Christmas celebrating minorities. \nNo thank you, I'll tell you when I'm offended, OK? \nPolitical correctness is important to a degree. It's probably not right to promote a religious Christmas and Santa Claus as part of an elementary school curriculum the way schools used to. However, there is nothing wrong with having a "holiday" party with a Christmas tree and Driedel cutout cookies in a classroom decorated with lights and various Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa paraphernalia. \nThere is no need to wipe the holidays (primarily Christmas) out of the public eye just because of our society's hyper awareness of all that is politically correct. \nAccording to a recent report by Fox News, 96 percent of people in America celebrate Christmas. Who has the right to begrudge them the right to display their holiday?\nCouldn't people who celebrate Christmas just as easily be offended by displays seen on college campuses promoting Ramadan, Diwali or Kwanzaa? Did anybody ever think about that?\nPeople who celebrate Christmas don't complain about other faiths openly practicing their religions and celebrating their holidays, so how come others repay that by attempting to sweep Christmas under the rug?