Subject: Re: Harris’ VP pick is…
How are you on the wrong side of the 'war on Christmas'? Are you out there trying to cancel Santa Claus or denigrate the holiday?

The reason that many retailers and employers and governments shifted away from "Merry Christmas" messages and towards "Happy Holidays" messages is recognition that not everyone is Christian. Not everyone celebrates Christmas.

So the "War on Christmas" is a nice little metaphor for the tension between two different ways that a majority can treat a minority.

On the one hand, you have the "Christmas Warriors" side. The overwhelming majority of people celebrate Christmas, and it's not fair or right to tell the overwhelming majority that they can't incorporate their celebration into nearly every setting, simply because there are a few people who might not celebrate. It's incumbent on the minority to adapt or tolerate, rather than the majority giving up something that they want to do because of the minority.

On the other hand, you have the religious minorities and the people who want to be considerate of them. It's polite and inclusive for the majority to recognize that not everyone shares their religion. They don't think it's right to default to the assumption that everyone celebrates Christmas without any effort to adjust the community approach to the holiday.

It's an snapshot of how people think the society should value the beliefs of the majority vs. the beliefs of the minorities. Fervent insistence that no one should accommodate minority viewpoints (ie. criticizing companies for saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas") signals that they think everyone should have to participate in the majority culture, even if they're a minority; insistence on the opposite signals they think that the majority should restrain itself so that they minorities have "space" for their own beliefs.

There are valid points for both positions. But as a religious minority, it's pretty clear which of those two perspectives is the safer one for us.