I asked three people a few questions about Christ-related religion and Christmas. Their short answer? Yes. And companies and government need to stay out of our holidays.

To preface, I'm one of those people who thinks that the holidays were dominated by a Christian and Christmas-celebrating world, everything revolved around Christmas and I think that taking the steps to make sure other people and their religions feel included are important. As an activist, I've noticed that race and religion coincide a lot so it became something very important to me. Religious freedom means Christmas isn't shoved in your face if you don't celebrate it. I wanted to know what other people thought, too. I wanted to know: who really cares about whether the holidays are politically correct or not? I derailed a lot and so did they, but out of the main questions I asked, they all had surprisingly similar answers. I called them, sat down with them, recorded them, and these were their answers:

1. Give me a brief history of religion and you.

Kenneth Louder: "Well, I was brought up in a home that honored God in the Christian sense but when I was a kid, we weren't deeply involved in the Christian faith. When I was involved in junior high school, I got involved in a youth group with a Baptist church and started going. And my folks, they were what you'd call "born-again Christians," they became very active and involved, too." He said he read scriptures about what it meant to be saved, to be promised a home in heaven, and given God's spirit. It sounded really nice and he always had a way of making the bible sound like an easier read than it really is. I thought about asking him if he'd call me every night and read me passages to fall asleep to. He continued, "I met my wife there, got married when I was nineteen, had kids, then when I started working six days a week, I kinda --- didn't show much interest." He explained when he was working in a grocery store, he met "a strong, Christian young man" and he would "sit on a milk crate and read the bible during his lunch hour." He said the holy spirit spoke to him and he started hanging out with this strong, Christian young man. Faith restored. And it's been that way since.

Shannon Siaca: "Okay, so... Well, I'm Puerto Rican so I was raised super Catholic. It was a really big deal, I still have my communion dress and stuff like that. And that was it --- I was just happy and fine with that. I branched out a little when I was an adolescent. [I was] curious, I guess? I did bible study... at a Baptist church when I was like fourteen. That's where my friends were and we had weirdly religious clique-y stuff. ...It was just because that was the only place we could hang out without our parents. We went to the youth thing where the pastors didn't pay attention to us." She laughed, then I laughed. "But this part is really unimportant as far as my journey goes. But the bible study was important, because I really did learn a lot then." And then there was a silence, a beat before she rushed out, "I don't know --- then I got to college and I got really scared. Things weren't really making sense to me because I never really gave a shit about religion, but I never questioned my relationship with God. That was when I got really into science... It was just like, 'This narrative doesn't make sense anymore.' I had a really hard time. I talked to the pastor who lived next door. It was really hard telling my mom that, she was worried about my afterlife. But she said, 'If it doesn't feel real, I can't force you into believing that it is.' " She said, "I was making deals, going, 'Okay. Please get me through this. I will accept an average life. I will get a nine to five job at a desk. I will stop trying these crazy dreams.' And that was it." Now, her and God have a relationship, even if she doesn't know exactly what it is. She explained, "I think my culture has really helped. I feel God in my life. But I just don't think he's what we think he is."

Kaylin Young: She laughed, immediately. "Like, apparently, my mom believes in God, but... the only time I ever went to church as a kid was when my mom used it bas a babysitter, like a free babysitter. That's really the only time---- Oh! And one time, I got kicked out of church because I refused to sit in the front and that was the happiest day of my life because I didn't have to go back there anymore. I mean, my mom's always been pretty encouraging of us doing whatever we want. I'm very agnostic. I'm very 'live and let live' ...as long as you're not a bad person. I don't know that there's not [a God], but I don't know that there is. Clearly there's some sort of, like, spiritualness to a lot of people, but I don't necessarily think there's some angry step-dad in the sky waiting to punish people."

2. The U.S. Has become more politically correct lately with Christmas? What do you think of this? (i.e. Christmas tree becoming the holiday tree, the ever-long Starbucks cup fiasco.)

Louder: "I feel that, especially in a society like ours, that is pluralistic, that people should be able to express theirselves in any way they want to. Now, most of this comes, I think --- the political correctness --- with corporate entities. In their trying not to offend anyone, they often offend a larger circle thank they think. People are really pretty much sick and tired of political correctness, I kinda think. I think it's the same backlash... that kind let Trump come in under the radar. ... I understand it, but you can't be all-inclusive with everybody about everything and keep any distinction that has real meaning. I think political correctness... dilutes the mind, the intelligence, the integrity of everybody." He then came back, softer, "Let everybody do their own thing. If it's important to them, celebrate it that way." That didn't last, however, because immediately, he went straight to consumerism. He said it's "silly" that stores try to "impose theirselves politically." Louder continued, "I just don't think that's their place."

Young: "I don't care. Stuff like that literally has no effect on me or my life. It has no bearing on me --- what a company decides to do or not to do. [People that get mad about this] are people who have nothing better to do with their lives than sit around and complain. They gotta feel important somehow." She continues with a few examples of the point and it's the first time she uses the phrase "Giftmas" and said that's what she celebrates.

Siaca: "I... don't fucking care. I--- Who fucking cares?! Name the tree whatever you wanna name your tree! Do whatever you want, argue about that, because there are real things going on in the world. There are bigger issues within that ideology that I care about. And by that, I mean actual religious persecution." I asked her if she thought that our current system wasn't working. She said she didn't know, but that "I don't think what you said is necessarily correct." She tied it together with, "Basically what we're talking about right here is a consumer/media perspective. I mean, what other realms does this exist other than consumerist institutions? ...It's very corporate. In real life, people are thinking about what matters to them and how they celebrate the holidays."

3. How do you think we can improve this system?

Louder: "Agree to disagree," he said. There was no real solution offered.

Young: "It's not possible to have every store everywhere have every religion's decorations." She said, "How about you just enjoy spending time with your family?" I asked her for her solution and she said, "Everyone mind their own goddamn business."

Siaca: "That's----" I asked her if it comes down to it needing to not be a corporate issue and without skipping a second, she said, "Well, it always will be." We got off track and I re-asked the question and she said, "Who fucking knows?"

These interviews were a lot of talking, a lot of listening, and a lot of conversation. But the absolutely glaring observations throughout the different political, social, and economic viewpoints of these three were this: keep businesses out of it, everyone should practice the holidays they feel free to, and enjoy their time with their family or with themselves. And, if asked how we fix the hole we've gotten ourselves into, "Who fucking knows?"