Open to ignorance

I heard from my mother that the ACLU is now on a rampage against using the phrase "Merry Christmas" to express "wishes of happiness this holiday season". Of course, Christians feel offended by being told their ideology is offensive & that they should act accordingly, but since when does the ACLU control society? It doesn't. Never has. If someone says "Merry Christmas" to me, I don't even think of their religious beliefs. It doesn't bother me. Christmas is a nationally recognized holiday, even amongst people who have no interest in The Bible or spirituality. Of course, this also represents apathy, which is equal to ignorance in its danger, but I really don't see why the ACLU feels the need to push these things. If they wish to make the world more loving and true, why don't they begin a publishing company to promote books that represent their ideas? Those who refuse to read them or can't read them will at least hear about it/them, unless they are of the utmost close minded, which can't be changed...
Personaly, I think society is making its transition towards a universal religion without the ACLU coming up with new ideas like this. The transition has been subtle for the most part, and very slow moving. I think the ACLU's move in this instance could even be a step back.
Andy Rooney (sp?), or whatever that guy-who-rants-on-60MINUTES' name is, back shortly after the 9/11 attacks, indicated in one of his rants that on Sunday we act like there is only one God, then we go to work and deal with people whose beliefs differ from ours and have to get along with these people, so we adopt the idea that they may be right about their religious beliefs and we may be wrong about ours. To me, although not as true in smaller towns, reflects where society is at as of now in that regard. However, I'd rather have a world where people do the right thing because of their reverence or fear of God than have a world of anarchy. Ideally though, as I myself am proof of (or so I'd like to think...), it is possible to have a world where people do the right thing because it is the right thing to do. What worries me is the lack of discipline that a lot of people are being raised with; the expectations of children is increasingly low, even though their brain capacity is incredibly large and they soak up knowledge like a wet foot absorbs dirt; people are too short sighted to see a bad habit before it forms and prevent it, and worst of all, our main artistic outlets (movies, music, etc.) are suffering. 99.9% of movies are junk, more or less, and most of the other 0.1% would have benefited greatly from having more time to work on them to get all the kinks out. And the whole world is stuck with a 3/4 baked film that can't be fixed due to copyrights laws and greed.
Basically, the ACLU has a good idea in that people should choose their words carefully, and respect others' beliefs without forcing them to ponder "a better way", but to push that on people is a bit wrong, IMO. It's one thing where you have TV ads that prompt everybody to unite in reading The Bible and believing all of it and just disregard all other religious avenues, regardless of how central they may be to one's heritage or family practices, or put a ad on TV that says "Got Jesus? Just a question", as if the person saying "just a question" really wants an ANSWER TO that question, as opposed to some emotional or physical response, which would more likely than not be either a nodding of the head and "Yes sir, A men!" or a swirling of anger as they ponder why they are being asked that question when it is nothing more than a fork in the road - go North, or go South; either way you've made the wrong choice.