JG, I would indeed defend anyones right to believe/not believe/worship or whatever they choose as these amount to personal freedoms which I certainly hold dear and my support of such things extend to the point where persecution of others begins as that's when infringement upon others freedoms starts.

However, the problem with city,state or federal support/embracement of the Christian faith in allowing displays specifically iconic to that faith, or for any faith for that matter, violates the intent of our governments policies regarding separation of church and state.

If any faith receives support by being allowed to display religious scenes, artifacts, etc. on publicly held lands this violates such a separation unless EVERY faith is also given equal area and allowed to display their chosen scenes, artifacts, etc. . If you think about this for just a minute it should quickly become apparent how publicly held lands could become totally over run with religious materials if this were allowed, so the most reasonable approach is to simply deny all faiths access to displaying their things on publicly held lands as this then is fair to all and keeps the separation of church and state intent totally intact in the simplist way possible.

Regarding privately held lands, as in personal property, stores, businesses, etc., the freedom to display whatever the owner of the property chooses takes over and then the pressures of political correctness come into play, most specifically to businesses, as embracing one faith may offend members of other faiths, but the real choice and rights about this is still in the hands of the property owner(s). Anyone is still free to dissent with their choices and protest such displays within the confines of the local/state/federal laws regarding such actions.

Now then, I think you personally embrace the concepts of Christianity, right? And, the complaint you seem to be making is that public displays of iconic scenes and such relevent to Christmas ( a celebration of the birth of Christ) are being effected by pressures regarding political correctness, right?

Ok then, take a look at this from another viewpoint and then see if you still want to complain?

Would you be OK with taxpayer funds and public employees time and efforts being used to purchase and construct birth scenes of Budda, Krishna or Mohammed's birth on publicly held lands? See, here's the rub buddy, if you want to say that Christianity should be publicly embraced then you must also allow EVERY OTHER religion the same governmental support, and if you are unwilling to do so, your thoughts or actions then become discriminatory in nature, and .... since I doubt you apppreciate people discriminating against YOUR faith, YOU in turn have to acquiesce and be fair and not discriminate against theirs either.

Lastly, the old saw about "weve always done it this way in the past" means nothing at all, or what it seems to beg if one supports such an ideology is that we, as the race of man, have reached the highest level of understanding possible, therefore no further change, understanding or development is possible or necessary by us, which is a far cry from anything I would call the truth