Should Companies Follow the Lead of Wal-Mart and Tell Customers "Merry Christmas?"

Wal-Mart and many other retailers have learned a very valuable lesson.  Listen to your customers.  When Wal-Mart replaced Merry Christmas with Happy Holidays last year the criticism was swift and unrelenting.  This year, its Merry Christmas again at Wal-Mart.  We've listened to our customers and associates and they wanted Christmas back at Wal-Mart, said Marisa Bluestone, spokeswoman for the nations largest retailer.  We've learned our lesson. This year, we're not afraid to say, Merry Christmas.

And most Americans prefer the greeting Merry Christmas to Happy Holidays.  A survey by Rasmussen Reports found that 69% of us prefer the traditional greeting prompting the survey to state: The growing trend of political correctness runs against the tide of popular opinion. 

Even so, some retailers and others have chosen to remove Merry Christmas from the holiday vocabulary.  And that is a shame.  Simply mentioning Merry Christmas shouldnt offend anyone.  It shouldnt trigger a constitutional crisis.  After all, Christmas is Christmas a celebration marking the birth of Jesus Christ.  Even the secular definition of Christmas is clear:  Christmas, the dictionary states, is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Christ and is usually observed as a legal holiday.

Lets not forget that the First Amendment of the Constitution protects religious speech and expression.  The Supreme Court has consistently held that the Constitution is not to be interpreted in a manner that would purge religion or religious references from society.  As early as 1892, the Supreme Court noted that this is a religious nation.  And, in 1992, the high court noted that [a] relentless and all-pervasive attempt to exclude religion from public life could itself become inconsistent with the Constitution.  And, the Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the Establishment Clause neither requires nor allows government hostility toward religion.  In 1984, the high court held that the Constitution affirmatively mandates accommodation, not merely tolerance, of all religions, and forbids hostility toward any.

Still, that doesnt stop the rising tide of political correctness especially at this time of year. 

In Chicago, city officials and event organizers amazingly concluded that a movie about the birth of Jesus Christ had no place in a Christmas festival.  City and festival organizers booted the very popular movie The Nativity Story as a sponsor of the German Christkindlmarket a Christmas festival in downtown Chicago.  The city said it was concerned the movie might be offensive to non-Christians.  The fact is that by removing The Nativity Story as a festival sponsor, it is many Christians who were offended. 

And, in a one school district in Tennessee, the ACLU has gone to court and is challenging what it calls unconstitutional religious activities at a school.  That unconstitutional activity includes students singing Away In A Manger and Joy To The World at a Christmas event.

Yes, there is both a religious and secular meaning to Christmas.  But to target a traditional greeting that simply reflects the reality of the Christian holiday is not only wrong, but runs afoul of the First Amendment.  Its time to reject political correctness for common sense.  To strike the word Christmas from our greetings is just one more step in the ongoing quest to sanitize America to strip away every religious reference or meaning from our culture. 

Most Americans are tolerant and understand that it is unnecessary to call Christmas something else.  Retailers and others should follow Wal-Marts lead this Christmas season dont shy away from proclaiming Merry Christmas.