Taken from Jill Carroll's provocative blog. Jill directs the Center for Religious Tolerance at Rice ~ what do you think?
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Here we are again at the holiday season. This time of year we have a full slate of holidays, both religious and cultural, that testify to the pluralism of the United States. Divali, Thanksgiving, Hannukah, Kwanza, Samhain, the birth of Bahaullah, the birth of Jesus at Christmas, New Year - it's just a barnburner of celebration from November through January.

Whatever your religious or cultural persuasion, the one thing we all must do this time of year is practice tolerance. The "gorilla" of the bunch, of course, is Christmas, it being the holiday that most Americans practice in some form or another since Christianity owns the largest demographic piece of the pie of the country's faithful. Naturally, the retailers go hog wild with this and begin pushing Christmas merchandise early, say, just after Labor Day. So all of us, Christians or not, get to put up with the holiday music, the fake snow (at least here in Houston), the nativity scenes "peopled" with trolls, rabbits, mice and even extraterrestrials (I actually saw that at Big Lots), the endless holiday gift ads and sale papers jamming our mailboxes - the whole Big Show. Every year I feel bad for the Christians, in a sense, because their holiday's public face - despite its deeply religious meaning for so many people - has suffered a wholesale makeover by the shopping malls.

So, Christmas it is - whether or not you are a Christian. This, in itself, demands that the practitioners of minority faiths, including those of no faith, tolerate this "gorilla in their midst". Most of the time, this isn't hard to do. The story of Jesus's birth is touching, humbling and inspiring whether or not you believe he's divine. It shouldn't be hard for any people of good faith and intention to celebrate the standard Christmas values of peace, joy and goodwill.

We should remember, however, that this is not only a Christian nation - that is, the U.S. is not a nation made up of only Christians. The faithful of every living religion in the world reside in this country - and even here in Houston. And they have holidays, too. And many of them occur this time of year.

So, if Jews want to lash human-sized menoras to the top of their cars (I saw this last week here in Houston), or if Kwanza celebrants want to drape themselves or their businesses in the colors of the season (red, black, green), the rest of us get to let them and put up with it. We are all in this together, living our lives in the common space of our community. Either we all get to show our colors to the public, or none of us do.

So, the next time you are in the aisle looking at Christmas stuff, and see the Jewish, Wiccan, Hindu, Bahai, or Kwanza stuff sitting on the shelf right along with it under a big sign that says "Happy Holidays", don't freak out and think anyone is trying to disrespect your faith. The retailers certainly aren't trying to do this - they just want your money whatever your faith persuasion.

Instead, just take a deep breath and thank God, James Madison, or whoever you want for the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. Because of it, we all get to live here free to express our faith, and free to buy yet another gaudy holiday yard ornament