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But then, what to say of the culture war? This is hardly a Manichaean struggle, but speaking to a very spirited maternal parental unit who is Christian, but is also fairly secular, I understood there was a little more to the simplicity of earlier times.

The Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, for example, concludes with Santa Claus. Yet if you go into Macy's, they will wish you a Happy Holiday. Yet I'm sure if a survey was taken, Macy's would find a majority of its sales were specifically for Christmas shopping.

One thing you said in your article was that businesses don't have to observe those holidays for which they are being patronized, but is that really a wise strategy? Interestingly, things appear inverse. Veteran's Day or Memorial Day, for example, have regular sales where the holiday is only barely observed, but plastered all over. There's no shame in advertising that a grill is at its lowest price ever for Memorial Day, but there's hesitation in advertising the same for Christmas because of the looming threat of some PC Brigade.

Is it because of all the holidays that enter the season, making it difficult to single one out? On the other hand, wasn't Christmas the holiday that inspired such an excess of gift-giving? And wouldn't the active decision to change your Christmas greeting to a holiday greeting be a repudiation of Christmas greetings?

Plea to all those readers out there who want something to procrastinate with: When was the last time a Jewish or Muslim group boycotted a store because they were wished a Merry Christmas? Heck, even Wiccans?

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