Sometimes casualties in the “war on Christmas” are the result of friendly fire.

All the stories of outcry over greetings, Christmas decorations, or even the use of traditional holiday colors has made many people afraid to be who they are. Fear of being protested, sued, or otherwise hassled for doing something completely innocent may drive more ridiculous decisions than a sincere belief in being politically correct.

In Northern Italy a priest has cancelled his parish’s traditional Nativity Scene because it would be visible from a corner of the cemetery reserved for Muslim graves.

Father Sante Braggie, chaplain of the Municipal Cemetery of Cremona and curate of the local parish in Northern Italy, said the display was typically set up within eyesight of a “small corner of the cemetery” that was “reserved for Muslim graves.”

“A crib positioned within sight of them could be seen as a lack of respect for followers of other faiths, hurt the sensibilities of Muslims, as well as Indians and even atheists,” Braggie said, according to a translation published in Express. “In short, it would be a mess.”

Like many of the instances here in America this doesn’t look like an action taken by someone who is a true advocate of stringent political correctness. It looks like a decision made by an administrator who just doesn’t want to deal with controversy that might arise—an act of weakness and submission. Father Braggie’s predecessor would agree.

Braggie’s predecessor, Father Oreste Mori, was incredulous.

“Seriously? I can’t believe it,” Mori said. “We cannot renounce our culture and traditions. That would be an unpardonable weakness.”

That is the perfect description. It applies in this case and in many others. There are certainly many cases when decisions like this are made out of a totalitarian impulse. For every one of those there are many made out of fear of the would-be totalitarians.  When an administrator preemptively cancels or forbids something because people who have no reason to be offended might be offended, it is an act of weakness. When schools carry out ridiculous zero tolerance policies because not doing so might anger very silly people, it is an act of submission.