Rantz: Bah Humbug to Redmond Christmas sign controversy

“It’s OK to say, Merry Christmas.”

There’s a sign with that quote posted anonymously around the city of Redmond and, in KIRO Radio’s Jason Rantz’s opinion, those words are also a statement of fact &#8212 even if you’re not Christian.

“It’s not like it’s some offensive message; (the offensiveness) just doesn’t quite compute for me,” he said. “And I say this as a Jew.”

But this is not a unanimous sentiment, at least not in the city of Redmond, where a man who identifies as Muslim told KOMO that the signs are offensive and may intimidate followers if Islam who already worry about public backlash following the Paris terrorist attacks.

The signs include a passage from Romans 1:16 and on the opposite side features a picture of a nativity scene that includes a star that looks like a cross, KOMO reports.

Besides Redmond, the green yard signs were placed outside a school in Bellevue, in front of Seattle City Hall, a U.S. postal distribution facility in Redmond and on the street next to a mosque, according to KOMO.

Mahmood Khadeer, president and co-founder of the Muslim Association of Puget Sound, told KOMO that he could not find a reason to be upset, even if the signs were intentionally placed near a Mosque.

Rantz doesn’t see it as any type of hyper-targeting because they’re placed all over the area.

Rantz said the war on Christmas narrative switches between a valid concern and nonsensical, depending on who is delivering the message and its context. Generally, when someone says Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas at a business, Rantz says, it’s an empty gesture.

“They’re just doing it so you feel welcome in their store so you will buy things,” he said.

Rantz says when someone wishes him Merry Christmas, even if they know him to be Jewish, he doesn’t feel bad about it.

“I don’t feel like you slighted me. I don’t feel intimidated. I don’t feel like you’re making some grand political point about my Judaism, even if maybe you are,” he said. “I just think like ‘Oh, that’s nice. Thank you I appreciate that. In fact, merry Christmas to you, too.’ Or if I want to be a little snide, I’ll maybe tell you, ‘Happy Hanukkah to you as well.'”