"Happy my foot," I thought, as I clutched my laptop computer under my arm having just received it back from the tech desk - stripped of all my data due to the ineptitude of whomever was supposed to back it up before it was sent off for repair. (Phew! I got that off my chest!)

I stopped in my tracks and turned to speak to the nice lady who was giving me this politically correct greeting.

"And, may I say 'Merry Christmas' to you?"

"Isn't it terrible?" she responded. "It is Christmas, you know."

"Yes," I agreed. "And this political correctness garbage needs to be confronted. It's a phony issue being controlled and energized by a few people who can't acknowledge the birth of Christ. I'm not employed by one of those pinheads so I have the freedom to shout it out. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!" My voice echoed off the walls and I didn't care.

Isn't it strange that Christians often just blithly accept the controlling influence of unbelievers and quietly walk on without a word. (Hopefully, you're not one of them. Hopefully, you do speak out.)

Christmas is a bonafide Christian holiday which has been celebrated for generations. To pretend that it is somehow suddenly offensive is ridiculous. We ought not stand for such nonsense.

I actually have a simple solution for store managers who disregard Christmas: They get none of my Christmas gift money. If I don't hear carols or see or hear some evidence of a Christmas attitude, I just walk on.

Recently, in the city of Medina a local school decided (with parental approval) to have a "giving tree". Various items were listed on tags and hung on the tree. The students were to select a tag, purchase and donate the item which would then be given to a needy child. You want to know what happened? One parent complained and said the tree was a religious symbol and he/she was offended. They removed the tree and decided to have a "giving counter". The tags now hang on the counter.

I think it's time for Christians to take a stand. You can do it verbally by simply saying "Merry Christmas" to anyone who greets you with a politically correct holiday greeting. You can do it by refusing to shop at stores which deny the acknowledgment of Christmas. (I haven't shopped at Target for two years.) You can do it by humming carols as you stroll along the mall walkways.

Some people may feel that all of this hoopla over Christmas greetings is no big deal. And, perhaps in the grand scheme of things it might not be a big deal. But to me it's just another way the secular unbelieving world denegrates our Christian faith. It's another slap in the face - and frankly my jaws are getting tired of it.

Christmas is a Christian celebration of the birth of my Savior and I refuse to allow it to be diminished to a secular nothing. I hope you feel the same way.

If good people don't fight this trend it won't be long until Christmas will be eliminated from our culture. So, come on! Speak up - sing out. Say it loud, say it proud - MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

I pray you are blessed today.

In Christ's love and life,

Roland Scroggins