How the Right makes the Left look stupid -- Holiday Tree anyone?

This just in:
Christmas has been cancelled for 2006 because of recent brawling and unsportsman like conduct between retailers and Christians. Technical fouls on the part of all participants has resulted in the holiday being called off next year. The whole concept of the annual event is being taken before the Holiday Review Board where further sanctions are being considered. Retailers are expected to appeal the decision. The elves union is planning a protest and worried parents dread having to tell their children about this sad turn of events.

Well, yeah it's a Christmas Tree. Whoever said different? Was it us progressives? Was it some hyper-legalist folks in some state office? Was it conservatives who ran scared a few years back? Was it misguided entrepreneurs? Really, can someone tell me the history on this? Yep, holiday tree is a dumb name. As my preacher this morning said, let's build a bridge and get over it; everyone take a deep breath and let it out slowly...
Merry Christmas

I see and understand the point. To me, though I think it sounds silly, if people want to call it a "Holiday Tree", let them.  I'm still going to call it a "Christmas Tree". I'm coming from the point of view that the meaning of this season to Christians far outweighs the importance of a small group of people who want to rename the Christmas tree. But like it was written in a recent article in Sojourner's Magazine, I want to respect the beliefs others but I also don't want to look over my shoulder every time I sing "Silent Night". There's got to be a happy medium. After re-reading all the posts on this blog, I think Jo and Jenn might be a little closer to that perfect balance than I am on this issue.   

"Political correctness" has been one of the most powerful weapons the Right has used against Liberals and Progressives in the last ten years. It comes down to their highlighting the most idiotic details and worthless redundancies of political correctness in order to, once again, make liberals come off as weak-minded sentimentalists with no real ideals.
I'm willing to fight for "Happy Holidays" but not for a "Holiday Tree." We *do* have a tradition of understanding pluralism and civil society, which is why we, of all people, ought to be aware of how big the stakes are. Pluralism isn't about constantly acknowledging he pagan roots of Christmas festivities in order to appease the .005% of America that proclaims itself pagan. Pluralism is about allowing kids to learn about Chanukah so that they're not under the false impression that to be a full America citizen you have to participate in Christian rituals. We fight for "Happy Holidays" because it implies that we realize that the entire time of year belongs to all people, and we celebrate as a nation of many faiths. We do not have "holiday trees." My Jewish friend who plays Handel's Messiah and brings out the lights every winter still puts them on a Christmas Tree; in listening to the Messiah's proclamation of Jesus and ornamenting a tree, he is self-consciously participating in a Christian ritual for the sake of participation in the quaint customs of his friends; in neither case does he reject the fact that the rituals are continuous with Christian traditions. The same friend would never send "Merry Christmas" cards, and he would be rightly offended if his employers demanded him to participate in a concert of the Messiah. Pluralism makes room for all these important variations in liberty: the freedom to participate or not, the freedom to believe or not, the freedom from economic or social coercion. "Holiday tree" is not about liberty. "Holiday tree," at best, is a self-conscious tweaking at the idea that anybody somewhere might be offended by mention of the tree's several centuries of Christian symbolism; it's about rewriting modern history and ignoring very easy to understand realities.
I think Jenn brings up something that could be turned into a valuable litmus test for what we actually want to stand up for as Progressives. She calls it the "smell test;" in fact, it's an extremely important mandate to discern whether our words and actions are actually advancing the cause of pluralism -- in which people's beliefs are free from coercion -- or whether we have bought into some adulterated version of hippie tolerance, far too easy for the Right to paint as a version of Stalinism; which sees no room for real human differences or the maintenance of cultural traditions.

Jennifer, I understand your point.  I believe that we have the duty in this country of diversity to respect and honor other people's beliefs and points of view.  In turn, I believe they should do the same for my beliefs and point of view.  In regards to the name of the "Christmas Tree", if you want to call it by its true name you might call it something like a "Solstice Tree".  If my history of Christianity and other religions serves me correct, the tree was originally a ritual used by those who celebrated the winter solstice.  When the Roman Christians (this is after the Roman capitol was moved to Constantinople) decided to convert these people they incorporated the tree and turned winter solstice into a holiday to celebrate Christ's birth (when actually scholars believe Christ was born around March or April).  The Roman Christians also did this with their celebration of Easter.  That's why we have the Easter bunny.  The rabbit was a sign of fertility and the easter celebration was a holiday for their god of fertility. We can get aggravated about the little things of Christmas that in the long run don't matter that much or we can celebrate the season for what it means to us as Christians:  The birth of the Savior.  Let's not just celebrate this joyful occasion on Christmas; let's live it throughout the whole year.