A young library supervisor of student workers at Rockford University insisted that Christmas is only a private holiday because it is exclusively religious after I, an early-retired yet still productive scholar visiting my hometown of Rockford, Illinois and using the college's library to read an academic book (by Kierkegaard, a theologian), said I wanted to finish the book by Christmas. When I pointed out that in this country (the USA) Christmas is recognized as a national holiday, the library employee said that it is only a holiday for the federal government (not the rest of us) and demanded that I define "country."
The full essay is at Rockford University