So the poor oppressed white middle class Christians are feeling oppressed again...and I'm getting these stupid emails about how horrible it is to call it a Holiday Tree.

Okay, is this about the least important thing we should be talking about this season or what? Do I really give a rat's ass if Cheney wants to bend over backwards with his declaration about the White House "Christmas Tree"--in a blatant attempt to exclude Jews, Muslems, Hindus, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, et al from a national celebration?
Actually yes...I care, because once again, Christians are coming off as boorish, pushy, overbearing, humorless assholes (sort of like the United States right now in the rest of the world).

So can we all, particularly us American Christians, take a chill pill for a moment? The Christmas Tree is a stolen pagan symbol borrowed from the Druid and other naturist traditions from Germany and Scandanavia... So we are really getting our shorts in a twist over attempts to re-secularize the tree so that it's a symbol that all can use?

People, could we please instead give more of a thought to the truly sinful budget that Congress has approved, or the continued struggle of the Gulf Coast states and the decidedly unacceptable job that FEMA and other federal agencies are doing down there?

If one more well-meaning relative or fellow follower of Jesus (who I think would really NOT be getting worked up by this debate--except to condemn it in its entirety) sends me an email on this topic, I'm afraid my response will not be pastoral.

Happy Holidays....which as the Colbert Report noted last night is a derivation of "Holy Days"...