Merry Christmas???

Is it just me, or is the anti-Christmas thing way overblown this year?

I appreciate that many people do not celebrate this holiday, but the venomous attacks on Christmas just stun me. I am rather pleased, not insulted, when someone says "Merry Christmas" to me. This phrase is akin to someone saying "God Bless You" after a sneeze. It isn't ramming their religion down my throat. It is just a pleasantry, a polite social utterance. "Merry Christmas" is a pleasantry, too. If you don't want to celebrate Christmas, no big deal. Don't. But at the same time, realize there are millions that do, and it is a very special time of year for them.

That reminds me, to all the stores who rake in the big bucks during Christmas but don't believe it is appropriate to say "Merry Christmas" because after all, Christmas is a Christian holiday, and "we don't want to promote a religion": please stop using this time of year to cash in on Chistianity. A store employee saying "Merry Christmas" doesn't offend me. A store making oodles of money off a holiday it refuses to acknowledge for cheap anti-religious reasons - that offends.