Really mad at myself

[AllPurposeAtheist]

Hungry lions dammit! Let's have a Christian reality show with lions eating live christians.. I'm tired of them bitching about nothing.. let's give em legitimate gripes! :)

[Sleeper]

I would really love to know if my fellow atheists are offended by the words "Merry Christmas" and by songs played by radio stations that are about God... So why do they claim we are? Is there a way to ask people that without offending them? It's like a manufactured problem to lend credence to the argument that they are being persecuted.

I don't give a shit.

And I think that's the issue - millions of non-believers saying "I don't give a shit" doesn't make the news, one or two filing a lawsuit does. Then it's "they're all out to get us!" They are more inclined toward paranoid thinking, after all.

[SvZurich]

That said, I do get tired of whiney people on both sides crying because somebody said happy holidays instead of merry christmas, or somebody said merry christmas instead of happy holidays.

True. To me, they're interchangable.

Got into this with a fucking Xian who lives in the Carolinas.  She wished me a Merry Xmas, so I wished her a Happy Holidays, and she took offense.  Reminded her that I don't give a fuck about her beliefs, Xmas is just another day, Axial Tilt is the Reason for the Season, and I was being nice until she opened her mouth to show her Xian privilege and bigotry.  :)  Xmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Solstice, New Years, and more occur then, and I ain't setting any apart as special.

[Mermaid]

I would really love to know if my fellow atheists are offended by the words "Merry Christmas" and by songs played by radio stations that are about God.

Nope. I think the whole thing started not with atheists, but businesses being PC to be inclusive of Jewish and other religions who have December holidays, saying "Happy Holidays" to include Christmas, Hanakah, New Year's, et al, then butthurt idiot loudmouth pundits starting a giant butthurt clusterfuck for not giving their (target audience's) beliefs clear top billing to further their own agenda, aka to fill airtime, boost ratings, and/or publicity. From there, it's easy to just blame the whole thing on godless atheists and anyone else who might be a political rival.

This is it exactly. We are being accused of something we are not doing because of some agenda. THAT is why it bothers me so much.

[ApostateLois]

It just pisses me off that it still bothers me though, and I keep wishing I had just not spoken up.

If you hadn't spoken up, you'd probably feel even worse. Why should SHE have the right to voice her opinion, but not you?

I would really love to know if my fellow atheists are offended by the words "Merry Christmas" and by songs played by radio stations that are about God.

Not at all. I think almost all Christmas music is awful, whether religious or secular; but maybe that's just because I've heard it so much over the years that I am just plain sick of it.   :-?