It's hard to think of a year in which the meaning of Christmas has been clearer. Forget about the usual fights about creches in public places or, in Beverly Hills, the huge Chabad menorah in the park. If only that were all we had to worry about. I remember when those were our "big" religious tolerance issues: symbols; days off (if we take Christmas off, why not the Jewish high holy days?); and the choice of songs in school concerts (why so few about Kwanzaa or Hanukkah?). These are what I have come to call "luxury" issues, issues that we should only be so lucky to have the luxury to debate about. Remember when we spent months — more like years — on the rug under the president's desk? Oh, to be so carefree that you can care about that.

We are not. The tolerance issues these days are far starker. Donald Trump can say what no "legitimate" politician would dare to — that we should simply exclude Muslims altogether, why take any chances — because that is what many people are thinking. I don't believe we have become a nation of haters, nor do I think that 40 percent of Republican Party voters have.

But I know, we all do, that we are, as a nation, afraid. That is why you are hearing the new line, "It's not the economy, stupid." To be fair, the economy still matters, matters a great deal, but not if we are a terrorized nation. A terrorized nation full of decent people imprisoned Americans of Japanese descent during World War II. We did that, or our parents and grandparents did, because Japan was at war with us. Here, what do we say? Are Muslims at war with us? Is Islam? The answer has to be no. The answer has to be, as we remind ourselves, even (and especially) when most afraid, that every man and every woman must be judged as an individual, as one of God's children. But it's hard to remember that when you're afraid, when every instinct says to heck with them, they have no "right" to come into our country.

Donald Trump did not invent that reaction, far from it. He only seems authentic because he is shrewd enough to know where the parade is heading and plants himself at its front. That makes him a follower, not a leader.

It is, of course, politically incorrect in many circles to be pro-Trump. The chattering class is mostly still saying he can't be the Republican nominee. I think they may be confusing what can be with what should be. Of course, Trump should not be the Republican nominee. He is utterly inexperienced in the very matters of state security Americans are most concerned about, and shoots from the hip in a way that can only be described as the opposite of diplomacy.

Indeed, it is so politically incorrect to be pro-Trump that I suspect those pollsters who are concerned that we may be underestimating his strength are probably right. Trump may do better than his numbers; his political incorrectness is itself enormously attractive to many, a reason to be for him and not tell anyone. If a vote for Trump is a vote against political correctness, then he will (as my son keeps telling me) win that nomination.

I was watching "Spotlight" last night, the new movie about the Boston Globe's efforts to prove that the church higher-ups, including the cardinal, knew about and condoned the secret shuffling and reassignment of abusive priests. But the moment that stayed with me is the team watching Cardinal Bernard Law on television on 9/11, as he preached a message of peace and tolerance that included as its foundation the teachings of Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

A real leader starts a parade; he doesn't look for one and position himself in front. This is a time when we need every presidential candidate to appeal to the better angels of our nature, to remind us that we are a nation of immigrants, that the sins of the few should not be visited on the many, and that we should lend a hand to the stranger in need. Isn't that what Christmas is about?

Merry Christmas. Happy New Year. And God bless.

To find out more about Susan Estrich and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: Susanne Nilsson