I guess I'm a bit naive. I tend to think that people are good until I see them do something bad. I give people the benefit of the doubt. I trust people until they give me a reason not to. I don't force my thoughts or beliefs on others. All I want from people to to give me the same respect.
You would think that in the United States, (a country where freedom is very precious, a country where freedom of religion was one of the main reasons for breaking away and forming a new country) there would be a more open attitude, more of an acceptance of different people's beliefs. And if you think that you would be wrong. I'm speaking in general here so before you go off stop and think.
Once again the holiday season is upon us (gasp! I said "holiday" not "christmas"). Did you know that some people are "offended" if you say "Happy Holidays" and not "Merry christmas?" Some people plan to stop shopping at stores that put "Happy Holidays" in their advertisement. If you stop and think about the FACT that not everyone celebrates christmas doesn't it make sense for a business to adopt a generic greeting and let people interpret that for their own beliefs. Someone who wants to punish a business for not saying what they want to hear are the same people who want to ban books and censor music. What the hell happened to FREEDOM OF SPEECH?
Who hasn't heard stories of holiday decorations being damaged or stolen? If you want to put up whatever in your own yard, have at it. Put up a million lights, all the inflatable things they sell, nativity scenes, menorahs, moving reindeer, santas, snowmen, do whatever makes you happy, it is your yard after all. It is appalling to think that someone would go onto another person's property and damage things that don't belong to them.
Now if a public, state, county, or national area is going to have any sort of display things get a little tricky. The problems seem to arise when a religion other than christianity wants to have their beliefs represented. I hope I live to see the day when there is truely freedom of religion in the United States.
When I was a kid back in the 1950's, my parents were friends with one Jewish family, so they always bought cards that said Happy Holidays or Seasons Greetings so as not to offend that one set of friends. My parents were SUPER religious so no one could accuse them of not being Christian enough. No one ever said a word about disrespecting Christmas ---for nearly 50 years. Why, suddenly, has it become such a big deal? With all the atheists publicly coming out of the woodwork and writing best sellers, are the Christians running scared? afraid that their religion can't stand the criticism? Just a thought.
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