Actually, TC, since I am a non-Christian, that means that you are the "other"...an outsider, someone different. And as you argued oh-so-elegantly in
another post, humans have an instinctive, primeval fear of the "other". It is -- and here I quote you directly -- "about as deep-seated and archetypal a fear as you can identify."
So I guess that any non-Christian's use of "X" to replace "Christ" must be put down to our unreasoning, instinctive, primeval fear of you, the "other"; and since you are not one of those raving lunatic "lefties" who shriek about unreasoning bigotry, obviously you will understand this, and approach us as the genetic brothers that we are.
After all, if it is so unreasonable for "lefties" to accuse "righties" of racism just because they happen to yield to their primeval fear of the "other" and react negatively to those who look different, or talk different (or whatever); certainly it must be all the more unreasonable to be whining and crying about bigotry simply because I find it a convenient short-hand to write X-mas instead of Christmas.