“Warm wishes.” “Season’s greetings.” “Happy Holidays.”

As I opened most of my Christmas cards this year, these are the greetings I beheld. I may not have given such polite greetings much thought if I hadn’t been at the store the other day and overheard a woman selecting a box of Christmas cards as she told her companions, “It can’t say Christmas on it, or I might get fired.”

“Fired?” That word echoed in my mind. Would someone really get fired over a friendly gesture of Christmas tradition? Is this really where we are at?

I certainly don’t like to purposefully offend anyone. I thought of my own apprehensions about saying “Merry Christmas” to someone if I don’t know what their religious beliefs are.

Why do I feel this way? I know I wouldn’t feel offended if someone of a different faith told me “Happy Chanukah” or “Happy Kwanza." I would actually appreciate their kind words.

Why are the Christian holiday traditions being targeted and reinvented? Children are told during Easter, “Call them spring spheres, not Easter eggs.” The background of the Easter tradition can’t be discussed at all.

During Christmas they tell us: “Don’t call it a Christmas tree. Don’t say Merry Christmas.”

What about Halloween? Personally, I find blood, horror, violence, and similar negative messages quite offensive. How do I respond? I just choose not to celebrate it. It is, after all, a free country. I don’t go around trying to take down public displays of Halloween just because I don’t agree with it. I also don’t try to rename it or change it so I can feel comfortable celebrating it. I wouldn’t impose my beliefs on others by saying, “No, no, say Happy Costume Day, not Happy Halloween.”

Yet, there are those who want to celebrate Christmas, but want to take out Christ. They want the sales, the gifts, the cards, the vacations, the trees, the lights, the snow, but not a baby in a manger. They want the blessings of the holiday, but not the reason it’s celebrated in the first place.

In essence, they hijack the Christian holiday by telling us the “politically correct” way to celebrate it. Christians are intimidated to discuss our beliefs only with our church friends. We can speak freely about Christmas, as long as it happens within church walls. But by no means can we tell anyone (especially not a new generation) about the foundation of this holy day: the birth of a Savior.

Why this vendetta to change a holiday that has been part of this nation’s heritage since America’s birth? America has always been a Christian nation as well as a melting pot, welcoming people from all parts of the globe to live and worship freely. Now Christians cannot speak freely? Has Christmas suddenly become offensive now?

We have become a nation that likes to talk about God, but hates to hear the word Christ. What is the consequence as we “evolve” into an anti-Christian society?

As we frown upon and silence our Christian history and Christian traditions, the results are evident. Look around. Compare our present with our past. Is our nation better off as we slowly throw out our Christian beliefs?

Merry Christmas. A simple message.

Sarah E. Oliver

Hathaway Street, Wareham