Tis The Season To Be Outraged About Silly Stuff

With Christmas only weeks away, brace yourselves for plenty of ranting and ravings about nativity scenes, religious displays in public places, and the usual nonsense that gets so many people wound up every year. It's as if some people just wait to be offended by something. It's too bad these folks don't find a hobby to bide their time.

It gets tiring when city councils and county courthouses across our country are threatened with lawsuits over nativity scenes or any other Christmas holiday message. We have men and women dying in Iraq and Afghanistan, children molested and abused, millions of people without health care, and some people go ballistic over religious symbols.

We agree with the basic tenet that no one religion should be shoved down anyone's throat in this country. We're a nation of many religions and beliefs, and we should revel in that and not melt down every time someone displays a religious message.

Christmas is a Christian holiday, so what in the world is wrong with a nativity scene in a public place? Nothing. There's also nothing wrong with a message about Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or any other religion. Is our faith, or lack thereof, so weak that seeing a display by another religion might rock our beliefs? Of course not.

The real problem is that it's apparently become a pastime to find things to be offended about. It might be about some innocent comment, or a phrase taken out of context, or just a simple mistake that blows up into a big religious or racial incident.

There's plenty to be outraged against in this sometimes cruel world, but coming unhinged over a nativity scene or the like is impossible to comprehend. Let's hope this holiday season that kind of nonsense stays away. Unfortunately, that's a tall order.