Don't say "Chr*stm*s" - it might offend!

A satirist named Godfrey Elfwick posted the following on Twitter:

"All I can see on my timeline this morning is the word 'Chr*stm*s'. Please be aware of how triggering this can be for certain minorities."

Now, while I don't believe this is what he believes - he is noted for his outrageous and seemingly extreme pronouncements that point out, as satire is wont to do, views that are plausible - I actually suspect there are people who would agree with this view.

Yes, I know there are allegations of a war on Christmas that really don't hold up - but there has been an effort to downplay Christmas in order not to offend non-Christians. Thus we've had a trend toward saying "Happy Holidays" rather than "Merry Christmas," and efforts to de-Christianize the season. People have sought the removal of chreches, for example, and most recently, a cross was removed from a public "holiday tree." I remember when my daughters were attending urban public school the "holiday concert' had Jewish and Gospel songs, but no Christmas carols.

Some folks, sadly, have taken the opposite tack and turned "Merry Christmas" into a kind of political statement.

I don't like that either.

But as for me, if someone says "Happy Holidays" to me I always respond "Merry Christmas," and as Santa I always say "Merry Christmas." I'm not trying to be political, I'm just stating what the day is.

Pax et bonum