The Spirit of Christmas OR Why Fox News Is Ruining Christmas

War on Christmas People? Please stop. Seriously. Just be quiet. Nobody is warring on Christmas but you. And you're making the Baby Jesus cry.

I was just skimming through facebook, having gotten home from my new church's Christmas Eve Service. Since lots of my FB friends are also clergy, there were a lot of posts about church. And they made me happy.

There were also posts about Christmas Eve pizza, or Chinese food, or traditional soups.

There was a post about a Bollywood marathon.

They all made me happy. I "liked" a bunch of them in fact, which is not something I take lightly. Each one just filled me with joy, especially the quirky ones.

All of these folks are good people, enjoying the fact that for just a little while most of us try to keep ourselves in a place of good will to all people.

So why, War on Christmas People, are you insisting on RUINING it? Because that's what you're doing.

Christmas is the most expansive, inclusive, almost-everyone-has-some-relation-to holiday that Christianity enjoys. It's like the biggest open door of evangelism we have. And you're slamming it in people's faces. Please stop.

It's pretty much always been that kind of open door, by the way. Consider this essay from superstar Rita Nakashima Brock about how it's a truly and originally an interfaith holiday.

Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!