Offensiphobia

I had the pleasure last night of meeting George Ott, regular editorial contributor to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. His most recent article, Freedom of religion, not from, explores the misinterpretation of the First Amendment particularly exemplified at this time of year. In it he states...

How ironic that over the past few decades there has been a move by a minority of
Americans to remove any reference to religion from public view and discourse.
Not all religion, just Christianity.

The critical line in this paragraph is "minority of Americans." It must be a minority because I've yet to meet any of them! I'm a fairly social person. I know a lot of people from a lot of different walks of life. Add to that the fact that I live in a particularly liberal part of town, willingly discuss any range topics with anyone I meet and approach such subjects with a relatively open mind, and it would seem likely that at some point I would come across someone so blatantly offended by Christianity and outspoken on the topic. But that's yet to happen! So, who are these people?

Do these people really exist? And if they do, are their numbers so great--albeit a minority--that they're able to adversely distort generations-old traditions for a majority of Americans? I'm honestly beginning to believe that calling a Christmas tree a holiday tree, removing Christmas songs from school programs and keeping the Christ out of Christmas is all the result of people simply covering their asses for fear of offending a group that exists only as a concept. This notion that some powerful special interest minority exists, that politicians, school administrators and businesses alike must pacify at every turn, seems less and less likely the more someone examines the people they interact with on a daily basis.

Now, I won't deny there are certain people out there willing to cry "foul" at the slightest thing they may find offensive. But for us, as a society, to act upon every single one these incidents is simply foolish. It's no different than the person who won't shop at the mall because her cousin's co-worker's sister's boyfriend's dog-walker's aunt once heard of someone being injected with an unknown substance at Wal-Mart. It's an irrational fear to be treated, not nurtured.

Or are we all just that phobic?