Someone who just signs themselves as "Jimi" wrote the following to me…
I have to disagree with your tweet. This is the Christmas season. Most of us celebrate Christmas and think it's the most wonderful time of the year and we don't like this war that's being waged on our faith. Why should anyone be made to feel bad for saying "Merry Christmas?" Why should anyone be discouraged from wishing someone a Merry Christmas?
I don't think anyone really is. But imagine for a moment that you were giving a speech, addressing an audience that was mainly males but contained a few females. Would you say, "Men, I'm here to speak to you today"? No, you'd say "ladies and gentlemen" or something else that would acknowledge the women's presence. It's just being polite.
When stores ask their employees to wish customers "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings" or anything like that, that's all they're doing…trying to be inclusive and to not make an issue of who celebrates Christmas and who doesn't because (a) why even take the time to guess? and (b) you'll often be wrong. They're also extending the good wishes to include New Year's Day at the same time. That's all it is…a positive sentiment that skirts the issue of whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Something Else or None of the Above.
You ask why anyone should be made to feel bad for saying "Merry Christmas." Why should anyone be made to feel like they have a devious agenda for wishing you a happy holiday season? Maybe it's just the year-end way of saying, "Have a nice day" or "Good luck" — with no strings or even ribbons attached.