"Merry Christmas" --Did you say it this year?

I've got a question for everybody in Michigan and outside.

Jack Lessenberry in his blog of Essays and Interviews seems puzzled that some people think that Christmas is under attack.  In his podcast, he talks to two differing state senators about whether the season tree in front of the State Capitol Building is a Christmas Tree or a Holiday Tree.

My question: 

• How many times this past December did you tell somebody, "Merry Christmas" rather than "Happy Holidays?"
• Going to one of the many Meijers Stores in Michigan, how many found real Christmas cards versus Holiday Cards?  How many of those mentioned the birth of Jesus as opposed to having a snowman or snow flake or something like that?

Growing up in Bay City, MI and growing up at Immanuel Lutheran in that town, I remember that you couldn't leave church without saying "Merry Christmas" multiple times and people said it back to you.

We could go on down through a checklist of cultural markers and find the same.  Jesus is hard to find in our community celebrations.  Mention it in a public school and a kid would probably be sent to the principal's office.  Too harsh?

Lessenberry is doing us a favor by raising this discussion.  Easter's coming and what are we going to do for that?  How will we greet people?

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