I normally say this to one and all this time of year. Christmas is, of course, the Holiday (Holy Day) when we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is, as the cliche goes, the reason for the season. I say it to those who don't believe, as well as believers. I don't say it to be provocative, but because I believe He came to save the whole world. Your acceptance of this Gift of Grace is up to you, and only you. I also believe that I am responsible only for my actions and reactions. How you take it is on you. You can choose to be offended, or you can take it in the spirit of love in which it is uttered, but it is all on you.
Our Constitution, which was written by men, many of whom were Christians themselves, others were profoundly influenced by Christiantiy, does protects your right to religious expression, as it protects mine. It does not protect you, or me, from religion. You may hear religious teaching and preaching, and you can agree with it or not, but you have no right to have it shut down because you are "offended." Your sense of being offended is entirely on you. Own your emotions, grow up, and become of functioning member of society.
Interestingly, as I was contemplating writing this post today, I checked into the always thought provoking American Thinker, and found there a piece by Peter Heck entitled Atheist, Just Calm Down. Heck writes:
I have to confess to being somewhat amused by all the anti-Christian evangelical atheists at this time of year. Now admittedly, I’m not one who worries much at all about any supposed “War on Christmas” in our culture. I find people who say “Happy Holidays” to be polite, and the most offensive thing to me about the cups at Starbucks is the fact that they are so tiny in proportion to the bank loan you have to take out to pay for them.
That being said, I can’t help wanting to point and laugh at the overenthusiastic swarm of “nones” (the hip new term for God-deniers) that consider it their solemn duty to sniff out any public acknowledgement of Jesus this time of year and sue its pants off. They aren’t content just not believing. They need to make sure no one else does either. That’s why they should properly be classified as evangelical atheists because proselytizing their dogmatic unbelief is apparently how they find self-worth....snip...
Yet there are the American Atheists, Freedom From Religion Foundation and all their subsidiaries, be-clowning themselves in front of God and country as they proudly bask in their role as holiday Grinches. Seizing on a pathetic victimhood culture run amuck in this country, they find some like-minded goof to claim they feel coerced into Christianity by being publicly exposed to the singing of “Away in a Manger.” And despite the idiotic premise of their argument (one wonders how many radio stations have been successfully sued by those who felt coerced into the belief in a magical dragon named Puff who lives by the sea), it’s game over in our common sense-deprived courts.Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/12/atheists_just_calm_down_.html#ixzz3vEu215vv Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook
If you are one who says Happy Holidays, who looks on Christmas as merely a welcome day off in the bleak midwinter, I pray for you to discover the Truth, I was like you, wandering in the wilderness for literally 40 years, but have come to believe in my heart. I have been saved, not in the next life, but in this life. Indeed, Jesus' teachings, rightly understood, deal with how to live in this life. Merry Christmas, and may the Peace of God, which passes all understanding, be with you this season.
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