EDITORIAL - First, I'm well-aware that our traditional day of celebrating Christmas is chronologically off by several months from the birth of Christ. Nevertheless, December 25th is the day officially set aside as the most important of all federal holidays.

Throughout our history we have in essence shut down the country on this day in celebration of the birth of the Christ Child. Those who choose not to believe are certainly not left out of the celebrating, given that jolly old St. Nick is just as prominent a figure in the celebration as Jesus Christ.

For as long as anyone can remember, this time of year has been a time of singing and sharing and coming together in a spirit of love and generosity. I'll admit to having some issues with the gross over-commercialization of the season, but that doesn't take anything away from the utterly joyous nature of Christmas.

Remember when cities small and large hung Christmas decorations from every lamp post and traffic light? Remember the Nativity Scenes in front of the old county courthouse? The United States long ago adopted Christmas as her most prominent holiday. Untold millions of Americans have celebrated this day in manners both spiritual and secular. But thanks to the ACLU and other anti-American organizations, this heartfelt American tradition has been twisted into a supposed violation of church and state. Not a week goes by this time of year without one group or another making trouble over Christmas.

Corporate Christmas...
I can't count the number of US retailers who have come under fire in recent years because of their handling of Christmas promotions and decorations. While it is indeed a childish and petty thing to attack the proper celebration of Christmas, the fact remains that some people are intimidated or offended by the religious aspect of the holiday. Thus, some American companies have modified the ways in which they participate in the holiday season.

Christmas trees become "holiday trees." The "Christmas Season" becomes the "Holiday Season." These changes generally come as a result of intense lobbying or even legal action by parties who object to any display of spirituality in the storefront or at City Hall.

What inevitably follows is yet another assault, this one by traditionalists who insist that the old Christmas decorations be pulled out of the closet and used instead of the new politically correct decorations. The corporation becomes the rope in an ideological tug of war between the Secular Left and the Religious Right.

Both sides take turns congratulating themselves each time they influence corporate policy. Neither side has a clue as to just how insignificant they really are.

Let's get real for a moment. Giant corporations like Wal-Mart, Target and Sears have no conscience. They have no soul. That isn't to say they're evil. A corporation is by design a neutral entity. Anything a corporation does is done with the intent of making money. That is the sole reason for a corporation to exist. The corporation doesn't care how you celebrate Christmas. It only cares about paying dividends to its shareholders and meeting the payroll. It is in effect the most purely instinctive of animals. Its behavior is based solely upon its own survival. Darwinism is alive and well in Corporate America.

The various groups who are busy attempting to influence corporate policy in regards to Christmas generally do so by threatening to boycott that corporation unless their demands are met. This has the potential to cost the corporation money. Thus, the corporation seeks to find a compromise in which both sides are appeased, or failing that, it'll simply appease the group it believes will spend the most money at Christmas time. Once the corporation reaches a solution it finds acceptable, it moves on to whatever the next issue may be, and the self-important, protesting throngs are quickly forgotten.

Speaking of shareholders and corporate employees, most of them are everyday Americans. Your plain-vanilla savings account at the local credit union is earning interest because of those evil corporations. Think about that the next time you consider boycotting them because of how they decorate in December.

What's at the root of all this bickering over Christmas?

At the risk of sounding biased, it started with those who object to the traditional celebration. There wasn't a problem until troublemakers began creating havoc for companies and municipalities over anything and everything spiritual. Subsequent actions by the Religious Right are nothing more than an effort to defend what the vast majority of Americans see as being right and proper. Simply put, the troublemakers need to pack their tents and go home. Maybe, just maybe... they can find a real issue to pursue instead of attempting to create one where none exist.

That goes for you right-wingers, too. Does your life change if Wal-Mart celebrates the Holiday Season instead of the Christmas Season? Mine doesn't. Neither will yours.

The trouble-making and hell-raising we read about in the newspaper is for the most part the work of a handful of extremists on both sides of the fence. Everyday Americans have neither the time nor inclination to worry over the semantics used in the Christmas catalog from Sears or the window display at Target. I don't, and you shouldn't.

C'mon boys and girls. It's Christmas time. Put up the tree. Hang the lights. Send out those Christmas cards and max out your credit cards. And stop worrying over how everyone else is celebrating it. You drive your wagon, and let me drive mine.

We're at war with the deadliest enemy we've ever faced. We're in a time of political upheaval. Issues ranging from immigration to healthcare reform are pressing in from all sides.

Can't we exclude the single most cherished day of the year from our bickering and bashing?