Merry Christmas

The so-called war on Christmas is raging once again. Call it a quagmire with no exit strategy. As they were last year, the opening salvos this year were launched by cable news partisans, while most of the skirmishes have taken place in the trenches of the blogosphere. The pro-"Christmas" coalition scored an early win last month when cable pundits seized upon the news that Wal-Mart now favored the term "Merry Christmas" over "Happy Holidays" among its employees. "We, quite frankly, have learned a lesson from last year" and all of the threats of protest and bad publicity that arose from shunning "Merry Christmas" in the stores, Wal-Mart spokeswoman Linda Blakley told USA Today.

Clay Aiken You can admit it: You're a Claymate, a Clay fanatic, a Clay addict. You love Clay Aiken, his voice, his personality, his various 'do's, everything about the 28-year-old American Idol runner-up. And nope, there's no place you'd rather be Wednesday than the Lyric Opera House, where the singing sensation brings his holiday songs for a festive Christmas show. Aiken will perform tunes from his Christmas album, Merry Christmas With Love, as well as other holiday favorites. The show begins at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Lyric Opera House, 140 W. Mount Royal Ave. Tickets are $50 and $65. Call 410-547-SEAT or go to ticketmaster.

Christmas is back at Wal-Mart - not that it really ever left. After testing out a generic, yet all-inclusive, "happy holidays" theme last year, the nation's largest retailer announced this month that Christmas will dominate its seasonal marketing in the U.S. "We've learned our lesson," said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Marisa Bluestone. "This year, we're not afraid to say, `Merry Christmas.'" Neither are Walgreens, Target, Macy's, Kmart and Kohl's, among others. In interviews this week, spokesmen from those major retailers said that their stores acknowledge the Christmas holiday, hoping to avoid a repeat of last year's backlash led by conservative Christian groups.

ISSUE: -- A debate has arisen about what some call the troubling secularization of Christmas with the use of terms such as "holiday tree" instead of "Christmas tree," and the greeting "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." Others say such concerns are an overreaction and that Christmas is alive and well no matter what phraseology comes into vogue. Do you favor "Happy Holidays" or "Merry Christmas" and why? Celebrate it -- or just eliminate it It doesn't have to say "Merry" but it definitely should include "Christmas."

At Christmas 1944, World War II Sunpapers correspondent Lee McCardell found himself reporting the largest land battle of World War II, when 25 German divisions attacked six U.S. divisions. The furious battle for the Ardennes, the last great German thrust against Allied forces, exploded along the Belgian border early in December and was fought during one of the worst European winters in memory. On Dec. 23, McCardell's thoughts traveled some 3,000 miles across the Atlantic to his family on Wilmslow Road in Roland Park, warm and safe from the horrors of war. It had been three years since he had left Baltimore, and as the war ground on, he was assigned to cover Gen. George S. Patton's 3rd Army.

By one measure, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. leads the nation in holiday cheer. This season, he sent 40,000 holiday cards to friends and supporters, more than any other governor in the nation, according to stateline.org, a news Web site funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts. Despite Maryland's small size, Ehrlich beats his nearest competitor - Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell - by about 12,500, the Web site reported. "The governor has a lot of friends and supporters, a fact that will become more evident in the next year," Ehrlich spokeswoman Shareese N. DeLeaver said.

The fog of the culture war has descended over Christmas this year. Every blogger seems to be firing salvos, though it's hard to believe that it's come to this - a bitter fight over whether uttering "happy holidays" instead of "merry Christmas" is an insult to Christians or an inclusive gesture to those of other faiths. Here's a quick look at the forces entrenched on the battlefield: True believers: "Many of the anti-Christmas Scrooges are the same people who have problems with any notion that this is the greatest nation God ever created on this earth.

ARLINGTON, VA. -- The effort by some cable TV hosts and ministers to force commercial establishments into wishing everyone a "Merry Christmas" might be more objectionable to the one who is the reason for the season than the "Happy Holidays" mantra required by some store managers. I have never understood why so many Christians feel the need to see and hear "Merry Christmas" proclaimed to them at stores by people who might not believe its central message. While TV personalities, junk mail letters and some of the ordained bemoan the increasing secularization of culture, perhaps some teaching might be helpful from the one in whose behalf they claim to speak.

Holiday adapts to meet the needs of diverse society I feel sorry for Cal Thomas, and anyone who sees himself as among the "us" mentioned in his column "Let's take back Christmas" (Opinion * Commentary, Dec. 15). During my childhood in a small community where I never met a non-Christian, it did not seem strange that the Christmas program at school shared many of the elements of the one at church. But now that I live in a more diverse community, where my children's schoolmates come from several different religious backgrounds, I would be surprised to see Jesus override Santa Claus at a school's Christmas presentation.

It's as ubiquitous every holiday season as the inedible fruitcake - and it's almost as inexplicable. It just isn't Christmas until someone has worn one to a holiday party, or given one as a gift ... the dreaded Yuletide sweater. You know the one. It's got appliqued reindeer or strategically placed snowmen in festive vests. Maybe it has been overtaken by a smiling Santa Claus, or ambushed by angel-topped trees. It's green or red or cream with snowflakes. It's got choo-choo train borders, three-dimensional snowballs or gaily wrapped presents for buttons.