Oh, get over yourselves.

I know that title is a bit snippy, but seriously, I'm so sick of it.

It's the same thing every year, and has been for my entire life. "Americans are taking Christ out of Christmas! Boycott stores, snottily correct clerks and other customer service personnel who dare to say 'Happy Holidays', and write angry letters!" About the only thing different from my childhood and now is that now people have teh intarwebz to spread their message of woe, doom, and destruction of the Christian faith by godless Commienazis.

Look, here's the thing...s:

1) No one is stopping you from focussing on Christ on Christmas.
2) Like it or not, you live in a country with freedom of religion.
2a) Therefore, not everyone is Christian, and not everyone feels the same way about Christmas.
2b) Also, some people celebrate other holidays in the same time period.
2c) It's easier for clerks, stores, and whoever else to acknowledge this and accomodate the varying beliefs by making a generic greeting/sign/whatever.
3) Incidentally, if you're so worried about putting Christ back into Christmas, why are you out there getting the Big Holiday Deals?
3a) I mean, sure, the spirit of giving is Christlike, but seriously, you were out shopping on the day after Thanksgiving and complaining that night.
3b) Nobody goes out shopping on that day if they aren't looking for some serious deals, and focussing on sales doesn't seem like focussing on Christ.
4) Hey, remember that part in the Bible where Jesus talks about leaving to God what's God's and leaving to Caesar what's Caesar's?
4b) No, really. It's in the Bible.
4c) What do you mean where? It's... oh, just go read it.
4d) See, the point is... What's with this numbering system I made up? Should I go to #5 now or keep going with 4?
4e) No, that wasn't the point. The point is... oh, heck with it, I'll use #5.
5) The point is, the shopping world is sorta more Caesar than God, y'know?
5a) Actually, now that I think about it, this should probably still be #4. Oh, well.
5b) Also, this list is getting very long, and I think the joke's about over.
6) Stop expecting the entire country to conform to your personal beliefs.

#6 there is good advice for everyone, regardless of subtopic.

The point that I want to reiterate is this: Christmas is still being celebrated as a religious holiday by the sufficiently religious, and in 30+ years of my experience seeing complaining that somehow Christmas is disappearing, that hasn't stopped. Most of those people just keep the religious part to their home (or family's homes, or church), and don't worry about what the rest of the world is doing. So why does it matter that some person you don't know and may never see again says "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas"? Smile, say "Thank you", go home, and do your own thing.