Today's pathetically misinformed offended person story comes from Pagosa Springs in Colorado, where a homeowners' association tried to force a local resident to take down a Christmas wreath shaped like a peace symbol (link).

The owner of the wreath was told that it was "divisive" and that "3 or 4" residents had complained that the wreath was an anti-Iraq war protest or a symbol of Satan. The association stated it would impose a $25 fine every day until the wreath was taken down.

Forgetting the outrageously ridiculous premise that anyone should be able to tell you whether or not you can hang a wreath on your door... "symbol of Satan"???

Dear clueless religious wingnut in Colorado: the peace symbol was developed in Britian in 1958 as a symbol of nuclear disarmament and was adopted by peace movements everywhere. It has nothing to do with devil worship. The design of the symbol comes from the semaphore code -- a system of communication involving one person holding two flags in different positions to signify different letters and numbers. Before radio, it was often used by the military to communicate visually over long distances. The diagonal lines in the peace symbol match the semaphore for N, and the vertical line matches the semaphore for D. ND = Nuclear Disarmament.

The owner of the wreath says that it is a "spiritual thing" and not a war protest. That's not so hard to believe. For religious folks Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Christ who is sometimes referred to as "The Prince of..." Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? "The Prince of Peace".

Even if it was an anti-war statement, what difference does that make? People who want to live in a place where they will never have to see something that offends them should encase themselves in concrete and shoot themselves into space, for the benefit of us all. So someone is against the war, get over it.

You know what's really offensive? Homeowners' Associations.

At least in this case there is a happy ending. The association in question has changed its mind (link). One of those rare stories where reason prevails.