Letters to the Editor
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What about the war on an open mind?
I don't think there is a war on Christmas but I do think there is a war on an open mind. Ramakrishna the famous Hindu Saint celebrated Christmas as well as Ramadan and Hannukah. He believed the same God was the goal of all religions and that in some way every religion was trying to speak about this same God.
But that can't be heard amidst this right wing furor over America's Christian Heritage. And I think that's really why we're sitting here arguing about saying Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays. The Puritans escaped religious persecution in England in coming to America. They helped form our nation in its earliest stages, but that doesn't mean their values are the values that have made America great. Take a second look and you'll see it was an open mind that makes you proud of America. That you might set aside your own ego and pride and listen to the argument of another, like Ramakrishna's, that makes you believe in this democratic culture which expresses itself as America.