THEOPHOBIA. That's today's new word, O Theophilus, which comes by way of Sissy at Sisu, and it describes the latest fear of administrators at the University of Minnesota: too much red and green at semester-end parties. (No, this has nothing to do with the Wisconsin Badgers or the North Dakota Fighting Sioux. These administrators probably don't do college hockey.) I am not making this up. From Swan Blog:

The title of the webpage is December Holiday Tips, while the article title is Reevaluating Seasonal Office Parties: How About January? Apparently, the best “tip” for a December office party is to have it in January. Never mind that both the calendar year and the Fall semester end in December. The article switches from being hypersensitive about failing to celebrate every possible December holiday to being hypersensitive about including too many holidays, thus trivializing the religious aspects. Similarly, Santa Claus is either too religious or too secular.

Lighten up, Francis! I bet parties at the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action are a real barrel of laughs.

Ho! Ho! Ho! I wouldn't go. Let's consider the missive from Minnesota administrators.

Be aware of unintended messages. Celebrations held in December tend to make people think of Christmas, whatever the theme. Decorating public spaces with red and green or playing Christmas songs for telephone clients on hold can enhance the problem. Adding references to Hanukkah and Kwanzaa on an invitation won't change the underlying message and can be seen as insensitive to the true meaning of those events.

There are people who earn a living fretting about such things.

"There is no other month like December, when good intentions fueled by the Christmas season can negatively impact or even offend employees and customers who practice or observe other faiths and holiday traditions," says Karen Stinson, Founder and CEO of the nationally respected Minneapolis-based diversity consultancy ProGroup.

"It's what we call the 'December Dilemma'_and with the American workforce and marketplace more global and religiously diverse than ever, the problem and challenges are becoming more pronounced," notes ProGroup President Myrna Marofsky, co-author of Religion in the Workplace: A Guide to Navigating the Complex Landscape.

While about 82% of Americans are Christian, the presence of other groups is being felt, including Jews, followers of traditional Native American religions, Muslims, Buddhists, and Sikhs, among others. In fact, today there are more American Muslims than there are American Episcopalians or American Jews. At the same time, only two percent of companies "officially" recognize any religious holidays other than Christian ones, according to Marofsky.

Has it ever occurred to any of these people that if somebody wishes you a "Merry Christmas" he's simply being polite? For the 18%, let me summarize in one sentence what it is all about.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

(That 3:16 you see in the end zone is not a comment on the weakness of the Packer secondary.)

Yes, that is a statement of belief. You have the right not to believe it. You have the right to question the evidence for the Resurrection, let alone the Annunciation, or the Western Star, or the Ascension. My Puritan ancestors would concur in part and dissent in part, and no, they did not celebrate Christmas as we understand it today. But you do not have the right to be offended. And you do not have the right to tell the majority to put away their red and green. Work the room. Enjoy the egg-nog.

And you theophobes certainly ought to be more careful about what you would put in place of Christmas. I have already rounded on the solstice-fetishists. Let me go further. You might take the Teutonic edges off of Erda (don't you love Anna Russell's description of the "green-faced torso that pops out of the ground" from Rheingold) and speak of Gaia, and you might address the melting of the polar ice caps on Mars by making burnt offerings of McMansions in Maryland rather than sacrificing virgins, and by defiling Land Cruisers, but sun-worship preceded Son worship. There was even a Star Trek episode making that point.

RUNNING EXTRA: John Leo makes a point I struggled with but chose not to address.

Accommodating all traditions is a worthy goal. But a broad movement to erase the word Christmas is an extraordinary development in a culture that is more than 80 percent Christian. How much more of this is the public willing to tolerate?

There is a fine line between responsible elitism and irresponsible tyranny by a vocal minority.