Rowan Hawthorn
Potential
This time of the season has been celebrated for a lot more years than it's been Christmas. And well before it ever was Christmas. Somebody changed it then, and using a lot more force to do so than anyone is trying now. Note: I like Christmas, myself; I like the images, the themes, and the messages. I'll fight by whatever means necessary to prevent any religious group from infringing on people's right to worship as they see fit. But people who want to freak out over a few loony extremists need to step back and take a look at how the season was taken away from the original celebrants. Even though I totally disagree with the "No Christmas" bunch (including various Christian sects who have historically opposed the Christmas holiday - you all might do a little research before you blame everything on secularists, atheists, or pagans,) these things do go in cycles. Maybe if Christians had been a little less with the "convert'em or kill'em" method of supplanting other religious groups, they wouldn't have to worry about a backlash.