The silly wars over Christmas are not just happening in America. But let me make my point-of-view clear: I myself don't see anything wrong with creches in public square. And, as you know, I am not exactly cowed when I think Jewish interests and sensibilities are being trampled. Still, I felt that the Chabad rabbi in Seattle had gone slightly mad, maybe more than slightly, when he tried to have some Christmas trees taken down at the local airport. Then there was the tale I posted a few days ago about 10 Chinese students criticizing the rage for Christmas in China. Now, another Christmas dispatch from Europe by Francis X. Rocca in Sunday's Globe reports about the attack on Christian symbols in Catholic Spain and Catholic Italy. I suppose that the question that is being raised is this: Are Italy and Spain any longer Catholic countries? Some say that the movement to remove Christian imagery and Christian events from the public sphere is a response to the ever-greater Muslim presence and ever-greater Muslim demands in both countries. That may be. And, if it's not now the case, it soon will be. Be sure of that. What Rocca's article tells us is that this is a struggle between freethinkers (this is not his word, it's mine, and an old-fashioned word it is) and the religious. Spain and Italy, despite the burkas, still seem to me to be Catholic countries. But, after all, gay marriage is now permitted in the Spain that was governed by Francisco Franco and his rules maybe a quarter-century ago. France is a different story. But there's no report in the papers about any fight against Christian religious symbols in France. Maybe the laic tradition is so strong that this combat would be superfluous.