Merry Fucking Christmas

Growing up on Long Island in the late 1970's, this time of year in New York was always my favorite. Snow was usually falling and the hustle and bustle of the Christmas shoppers was exiting. The stores were filled with Christmas decorations. Christmas lights were strung from the street lights. We always had a great Christmas party the last day of school before letting out before Christmas break.

Port Washington, New York is a diverse American village. Of the 16,00 people who live there 17% are Italian, 15% are Irish,9% German,9% Polish and the rest are made up of many different races to numerable to mention. But you get the picture. With this diversity in race and origin also came the vast diversity in religious faith. Although Catholicism is predominant, Port has an enormous selection of religious institutions of almost all faiths. Port Washington is not all that different from the rest of America in that aspect. If a town like Port Washington can be home to 16,00 people of so many different religions but yet accommodate Christmas why are we now in the middle of a nationwide war on Christmas?

• Kmart forbids calling Christmas Trees Christmas Trees they are to be referred to as "Holiday Trees" so as to not offend anyone


• Hanukkah and the Islamic holy day Eid al-Adha are mentioned in the school calendar of the Spokane Public Schools, but Christmas is not.


• Hanukkah is celebrated at Harvard, but not Christmas. A giant menorah sits in Harvard Yard but there is not a nativity scene in sight.


• The Dickens Christmas Festival in Saginaw, Michigan was renamed the Dickens Holiday Festival so the city could advertise in local schools. The schools ban the words “Santa,” “Christmas” and “Nativity.”

Sometime around 2004 wishing someone a Merry Christmas became offensive. Retailers started changing the word Christmas to more generic terms like Holiday. After much public outcry the war began. While browsing various websites of several retail giants I took notice of where the lines were drawn in this "holy war". Pet Smart for example used the words Christmas and Holiday in their advertising avoiding picking a side. Best Buy avoided both words altogether on their website also sidestepping the problem. On Sears' site I noticed that their traditional Christmas catalogue has been renamed the "Wish Book". Chalk one up for the bad guys. Circuit City has a holiday gift guide. Scrooge scores again. Kmart was promoting holiday offers. Never liked Kmart anyway. On Target's website however I came across the term "Christmas Shopping". Score one for Santa. Over at Macy's site the word Christmas appears three times on their homepage. This war is pretty equally divided among large retailers who are at odds about who they should avoid pissing off.

Who I think suffer the most are the children. Some of my fondest childhood memories are from Christmas time. Making these memories so vivid are the things that this so called war is taking away from us. To all those offended by being wished a Merry Christmas I will alter my greeting for you, Merry Fucking Christmas. Bitch!