It’s not just conservatives sensing an elite war on the the words “Christmas” and “Christian.”

As part of a panel discussion on local Washington D.C. program Inside Washington, NPR’s liberal Nina Totenberg apologized for using the apparently-controversial phrase “Christmas party” while recounting a discussion she had with a government officials about the budget. One can only hope that the station aired the proper language warning before the broadcast.

And, appearing at the Y(MCA) on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show, mockumentarian Michael Moore (also hardly a right-wing Christian conservative) had this to say regarding what some people would do to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange: “When you’ve got a vice president of the United States on Sunday calling him a high-tech terrorist, you’ve got people in Congress calling for, you know, him to be arrested, Sarah Palin, people, other pundits saying that it would be okay to assassinate him, it’s just like, you know, I don’t know, I was raised a certain way and I was raised to be a good Christian, if I can say that here.”

Moore’s shocking language was followed by (nervous?) laughter from the audience and Maddow assuring him that “It’s the Y-M-C-A. You want to know what the ‘C’ stands for? Don’t worry.”

The YMCA, of course, stands for (or has stood for) Young Men’s Christian Association but last July the organization announced that it is rebranding itself as simply The Y. The new logo, we were told in a press release, “reflects the vibrancy and diversity of the organization.”

Now, it’s true the new logo still include the full initials (YMCA) in much smaller type but that’s probably transitional. Check back in a few of years and they’ll probably be gone.

The Y joins the Christian’s Fund which changed its name in 2009 to ChildFund International — to reflect the religious diversity of its supporters, donors and staffers — in moving toward erasing its, specifically, Christian roots.

I wonder if other organizations, like the Gay Men’s Health Crisis or the NAACP, will be changing their names to reflect the diversity of their supporters as they, respectively, battle against AIDS and for civil rights (two issues of concern to all Americans). Probably not — and they shouldn’t. It’s important to remember your roots.

Somewhere along the line (fairly recently) the word “Christian” has become singled out as being “non-inclusive” while other group designations are held up as symbols of America’s diversity. And, of course, to those doing the singling out, mentioning “Christmas” is way out of line in mixed company.

Also sliding deeper into the controversial category over the past few years is the Pledge of Allegiance — with one Massachusetts school now actually requiring permission slips from parents before allowing their children to participate in its recitation.

Saying “Christian” and “Christmas” in public forums and kids reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, controversial things in modern-day America.