Yeah, THAT'LL Work...

I haven't blogged about the Utah Legislature in a long time, more for lack of time than lack of material. But this one just begs to be blogged:

Sen. Chris Buttars wants Utah's Legislature to declare its opposition to the "war on Christmas."

The West Jordan Republican is sponsoring a resolution encouraging retailers to embrace Christmas in their promotions rather than the generic "holidays."

"It would encourage the use of 'Merry Christmas,'" Buttars said of the non-binding statement that is still being drafted. "I'm sick of the Christmas wars -- we're a Christian nation and ought to use the word."

All together now: You. Can't. Fight. A. Culture. War. With. Legislation... You. Fight. A. Culture War. With. CULTURE.

Go right ahead and say "Merry Christmas." It's a free country. Nobody's stopping you. If you happen to say it to the one person in 1000 who finds it offensive and says so to your face, gently and kindly reply "I'm sorry you're offended that I would like you to have a great day on the 25th of December." What are they going to do, sue you? I mean, I can see how you might be cautious if this were Canada, but this is still America and last time I checked the Bill of Rights, we still had freedom of speech.

Don't be a wuss and then complain that you're oppressed by your wussiness. You're not being frickin' Sir Thomas More by going around saying "Merry Christmas" to all those irascible infidels you imagine are out there. If there are any out there, you empower them by your fear; and if there aren't any, you're fecklessly throwing away control over your words.

Full disclosure: I say "Happy Holidays" because it's shorter than "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year" and around this time of year I'm liable to forget which of those holidays are upcoming and which are past.