Taking Religion out of Christmas!

Hi, there

Every year my friends and I debate this issue - taking religion out of Christmas. AS a Christian, I celebrate Christmas from a Christian perspective, i.e. the birth of Christ and the salvation of mankind. BUT, it seems to me, that it is rather unfair that the vast majority of our public holidays are Christian based and do not reflect the wider spectrum of our population. I personally feel that each person should be allocated five or six religious days that they can take at significant religious festivals pertinent to their own beliefs. So, in other words, as a Christian, I will use my religious days to celebrate Easter, Christmas, Day of Resurrection, etc. If I was Jewish, I'd use my religious days to celebrate Yom Kippur, etc and if I was a Muslim, I'd use my religious days to celebrate accordingly.
However, I think that Christmas has become so much more than just a Christian holiday, but a day of national celebrations for everyone at a time of year when it is holidays, relaxation and end-of-year shut-down.

After chatting to a few folk of other faiths, they said that if the above system had to be instituted, they'd probably take Christmas off anyway, because they don't see it as a purely Christian celebration.

What are your thoughts? I'd be very interested to hear (and help me win the debate with my friends...;)

Regards,
M.