I saw this image on Facebook and had to laugh—it’s a clever take on the whole Starbuck’s Red Cup / War on Christmas thing. But underlying this is a sad fact—there are people out there who are searching for a reason to be offended at this time of year.

NEWS FLASH, PEOPLE—THERE IS NO “WAR ON CHRISTMAS” !!!

If somebody wishes you “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings” rather than “Merry Christmas,” it’s almost a certainty they are NOT disrespecting you or attacking your religious beliefs. Instead, they’re (gasp) wishing you joy and happiness. The point of well-wishes is to be an expression of good will from the well-wisher, not to be an acknowledgement of the recipients beliefs. Especially as those beliefs just might not be known to the well-wisher. The polite thing to do is to accept the wishes offered gratefully, in the spirit intended.

Instead, I’m seeing a lot of people posting “Merry Christmas” messages and images, not in the spirit of the season, but as an aggressive gambit, almost daring you not to say it back. It’s a volley in the made-up “war,” and frankly, it’s irritating as all hell.

Now, I’m not going to deny that there’s a fringe out there who think that “Merry Christmas” is politically incorrect and want to see its use avoided in public. Well, that’s just stupid. (Yes, Virginia, there is liberal stupidity, too …) But to suggest there’s a liberal “War on Christmas” because of a fringe position is like claiming there’s a conservative “War on whatever” because of a Westboro Baptist Church protest. The fringe is not representative. The fringe is often the stupid that needs stamping out.

So this holiday season, help #stampoutstupid by accepting greetings of the season in the spirit intended, and by offering greetings in a spirit of good-will, and not to make a political point of things. The correct response to “Merry Christmas” is “Thank you,” with an optional “and the same to you,” regardless of your religious beliefs. The response to “Happy Hanukkah” is exactly the same. Ditto for Happy Holidays, Season’s Greetings, Happy Kwanzaa, or whatever. Being offended by a holiday greeting is a choice—and a pretty stupid one, if you ask me.

Happy Festivus.