Well 9/11 certainly started the current climate of fear and hatred, but this was different... this was earlier than that. Watching sitcoms from the 80's, every Christmas Episode has a nod to the other holidays and traditions being celebrated and the big message was Unity. Then at some point it became "If I'm not allowed to celebrate MINE, then YOU can't celebrate YOURS". And even beyond that, in our "enlightened age" that we currently live in, it's more about slamming The Other Guy than about celebrating the good stuff. "Hanukkah is just a bunch of crappy presents, we Christians get REAL presents!" "Oh yeah? Well December 25th isn't even when your Jesus was really born! You guys just stole the dates and traditions of a bunch of other religions to make yours look better!"

We all love to kick back and delight in how clever we are for having torn down The Other Guy... how about we get back to just enjoying the pretty bits? Ooooh, pretty candles! Here, buddy, have a Christmas cookie!