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Every year, around the end of November, it starts up again - the War on Christmas, the so-called evil atheists versus the so-called religious fundamentalists going tooth and nail over what to call the decorated evergreen in the Capitol Building and various other related trivialities. And every year everyone seems to get it wrong. Because despite what is claimed by everyone from journalists to presidential candidates, it's not about taking religion out of the public sphere. It's not about anybody being "offended." It's about not letting one religion shout down everyone else.

As a Pagan, I know that a lot of people don't much care for my religion (and some people hate it a lot) but that's okay because I live in a country where my freedom of religion is a constitutionally protected right. If my right to practice my religion is challenged, if I'm fired from my job because of it, if I'm evicted from my apartment because of it, I can take it to court and have at least a fighting chance of protecting myself. Except - well, every time Pagans find themselves fighting for custody of their children, when it takes years of fighting the system to put the symbol of his faith on a Pagan soldier's grave, when the current president says (as he did in 1999) that Wicca, a branch of Paganism, is not a real religion, I am reminded that my chances of winning that legal battle might be a little bit worse than might be expected in a country that claims freedom of religion as one of its founding principles.

I suppose you could say that none of these particular incidents prevents me from practicing my religion as I see fit, and that's true. But neither does asking the Christians to tone it down a little infringe on their right to practice their religion as they see fit. "Happy Holidays?" Yep, Christmas is still a holiday. Public Christmas trees? Give me a public display of other religions, too, and we'll see. (Last Christmas season, the mayor of Green Bay, Wisconsin put a nativity scene on the roof of City Hall. When people objected, he offered to put any other holiday symbols up that people offered. Circle Sanctuary, a Pagan/Wiccan organization in central Wisconsin, sent a wreath in the shape of a pentacle. Someone vandalized it after only a couple of days. The mayor had it removed and said the nativity would stay up the rest of the season, and maybe he'd look into a better policy for next year. Thanks, but no points for effort.)

The question has never been about asking Christians not

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