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I'm guessing you're not Christian? Many Christians feel offended that their holiday has been hijacked, homogenized, secularized, and commercialized without our consent.
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Well, then by your own definition, it's their fault that they haven't gotten with the program, jumped on the bandwagon and helped in the commercialization process. Period.
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And in response to what Anticrombie posted, getting offended when I give you the finger and getting offended when I wish you "Merry Christmas" are two very different, almost anathetical ideas.
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Watch how much it doesn't matter. What if you tried to baptize me? That wouldn't offend you, either- if you were a baptist. But to a hardcore Islamic extremist, saying 'Merry Christmas' might be as bad as flipping the bird, partly for reasons you stated yourself.
Freedom of speech is such a giant issue in America, that all newspapers have to do when the lawsuits start creeping up is scream it and be instantly cleared (Fox, anyone?). But that extends to religion and everything else. If I make a new religion that involves flipping people off when I see them, I have every right to do so. Would the Christians scream? Probably. But they are, like Qreepy said, a MINORITY. Why they govern our country is completely beyond me, since we're supposed to seperate church and state, but that's a different issue.
The issue isn't about whether I'm offended at the title, because you know as well as I do that I could care less. My whole point is that I can get offended at whatever I damn well please, and so can everyone else- that's why we have lawyers. But on the forums, all we have is common sense and the mods- you guys. And while you generally do a great job, "Do as I say, not as I do" is not a great policy to preach, regardless of whether you're technically 'allowed' to (and yes, I know this isn't a democracy, don't bother throwing that in my face). So it's one or the other, Chard- Democracy and free speech for all, or hypocrisy.