What do Islamic fanatics and the irreligious Left have in common? Both seek to ban public expressions of Christianity. The latter group's fervancy in doing so is usually on display this time of year.

"It is impossible for everybody's religious belief to be displayed and non-religious belief to be displayed," explained atheist Sidney Stock of Bellevue, Washington, so "no religious beliefs [should] be displayed." Mr. Stock and his wife are upset tht something called a "giving tree"--which, in all but name, is a Christmas tree--is showcased in Bellevue's city hall.

"Holiday celebrations where Christmas music is being sung make people feel different," opined a parent in Maplewood, New Jersey, "and because it is such a majority, it makes the minority feel uncomfortable." Maplewood bans religious music in its school programs over the holidays.

The aforementioned examples come from the columns of two Jews--Jeff Jacoby and Charles Krauthammer. Both make the case that it's non-Christians uncomfortable in their own faith, rather than Americans immersed in the traditions of, say, Judaism or Hinduism, that feel threatened by Christmas. "Far from feeling threatened when the sights and sounds of Christmas surround me each December, I find them reassuring," Jacoby writes. "They reaffirm the importance of the Judeo-Christian culture that has made America so exceptional--and such a safe and tolerant haven for a religious minority like mine."

Krauthammer observes: "It is the more deracinated members of religious minorities, brought up largely ignorant of their own traditions, whose religious identity is so tenuous that they feel the need to be constantly on guard against displays of other religions--and who think the solution to their predicament is to prevent the other guy from displaying his religion, rather than learning a bit about their own."

In one of the great expositions on religious freedom in American history, Thomas Jefferson wrote in Notes on the State of Virginia: "it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." And what injury do the worshippers of Ebenezer Scrooge suffer when their neighbors say Jesus Christ was God's son, and celebrate his birth on December 25?

We, as Americans, are guaranteed a freedom OF religion, not freedom FROM religion. I find it personally offensive that anyone would try to prevent private citizens or businesses from expressing religious beliefs.

And I just do not understand why an atheist would feel uncomfortable with any form of religious expression. I realize there is a plethora of religious expression this time of year, but can't an atheist elect to ignore?

"Holiday celebrations where Christmas music is being sung make people feel different."

I don't get it. I thought diversity was suppossed to be a good thing. Now they're fretting over people "feeling" different (whatever that means). I suspect (a la Marcuse) that diversity is only an ideal when it destroys traditional norms.

But don’t you see, if you’re not in a group claiming victim status or are not foreign to this country, or are not a person of color, and/or you speak English, or you practice a mainstream religion, you cannot take part in the utopia that is diversity.

The only flaw in the Jefferson quote is that if your neighbor is a muslim, he may break your leg, your neck, and rape your daughter because he says there is no god but Allah and mohammed is his prophet.