Fear My Holiday Lantern! Or Politically Correct For The Holidays

I guess the approaching holidays are making me bitter. Fresh on the heels of my tirade against churches canceling Christmas services comes another rant about the ‘Happy Holidays’ ‘Merry Christmas’ controversy.
The semantics debate reached an all time high this year. A group of Christian churches is calling on a boycott of retailers that are using the secularized ‘Happy Holidays’ term instead of Merry Christmas. Manuel Zamorano of the Committee to Save Merry Christmas says, "We believe it's political correctness gone amuck."
Meanwhile stores using the phrase like Wal-Mart with its “Home for the Holiday’s” slogan say they just want to make everyone feel welcome.
A Wal-Mart manger says they "just basically to try and cover Kwanzaa and Three Kings Day, to cover everything." Wal-Mart isn't the only retailer mixed-up in the Christmas controversy. Lowe's Home Improvement, Walgreens, Target, Sears, Best Buy, JC Penny, Office Max and Staples have all been criticized by the Christian group for taking the word "Christmas" out of their holiday campaigns.
I though Christians were out pushing the real meaning of the season, which last time I checked was the religious celebration of Jesus birth. What the birth of Jesus has to do with low low discount prices and slave labor at Wal-Mart escapes me – but I’m sure there is a connection somewhere. I feel that pushing Christmas into stores only reinforces the fact that Christmas is more focused on gifts rather then the miracle. Since some churches are going to be closed on the holiday I can see why the Christian group would want to get their message into stores, since that may be the only place the ‘faithful’ may actually see it.
Personally I don’t have a problem with Merry Christmas. During Passover I don’t want someone wishing me a happy holiday – which usually falls around the same time as Easter. Why those two holidays are able to peacefully co-exist and Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa can’t is another question I guess will just go unanswered.
The chain stores aren’t the only ones getting hassled by this war of words. There is one unfortunate and innocent victim in this battle of political correctness. The victims can be seen in front of city halls and libraries across the country. I speak of none other then the unfortunate Christmas Tree. Across this great nation firs of all shapes and sizes have been sacrificed for the tradition only to be stripped of their title and re-named Holiday. I can not find any reason to call any Christmas Tree a Holiday Tree. Again I wouldn’t want some one calling my menorah a ‘Holiday Lantern,’ or dredle a ‘Festive Top’ or my Latkes hash browns. The Christmas tree is part of the Christmas holiday; it has no place in the Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa or New Year’s. If there was no Christmas there would be no tree. We can all appreciate Christmas Trees all lit up they are an impressive sight. I remember seeing the massive tree all lit up at Rockefeller center before stopping at F.A.O. Schwarz as a kid. I didn’t need someone to politically correct its name for me to enjoy it.