Religious Accomodation or Societal Nihilism?

I read an article today that just crawled right under my skin--and I usually have no problems reading opinion pieces and acknowledging them for their viewpoint. But for me, when a system is working and seems to be doing it right it just burns my biscuits to see media bashing when there's no call for it. Here's a link to the article:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/02/14/university-missouri-guide-asks-professors-to-accommodate-wiccan-pagan-holidays/?test=latestnews#ixzz2KzEguAVS

First let me explain why this is so frustrating for me. Toward the bottom of the article you'll notice these words:

"University officials said no complaints had been received in connection to the guide, which many have found "useful and informational," according to a statement to FoxNews.com. "The information about the Wiccan and Pagan holidays has been in the guide since last fall," the statement read. "Please keep in mind that this is not intended just for faculty. This is an informational guide for anyone across campus (and beyond)."
Of Mizzou’s 34,748 students enrolled in fall 2012, more than 14 percent were listed as minorities and 6.1 percent were international students, with China, Korea and India accounting for the most pupils from overseas."

AND THEN you see this:

"Tammy Edwards, radio host of the nationally syndicated “Tammy Bruce Show” and Fox News contributor, said she found the guide to be indicative of an unbecoming societal shift. “It almost seems as though we’re looking for excuses for people to not have to take their commitments seriously,” Edwards told FoxNews.com. “It’s beyond political correctness; it’s almost like an excuse to do nothing. It’s like societal nihilism, where nothing matters.”

Nihilism? Really?! For those who need clarification on nihilism:

Merriam Webster defines nihilism as

1. Total rejection of established laws and institutions.

2. Anarchy, terrorism, or other revolutionary activity.

3. Total and absolute destructiveness, especially toward the world at large and including oneself: the power-mad nihilism that marked Hitler's last years.

4. Philosophy:

a. An extreme form of skepticism: the denial of all real existence or the possibility of an objective basis for truth.

b. Nothingness or nonexistence.

5. The principles of a Russian revolutionary group, active in the latter half of the 19th century, holding that existing social and political institutions must be destroyed in order to clear the way for a new state of society and employing extreme measures, including terrorism and assassination.

For me, an educational institution going the extra mile to be inclusive for both students and faculty is WAY off target from "societal nihilism." We aren't talking about stopping business entirely and closing the walls of the institution. We aren't advocating whole weeks being dedicated to pot smoking and kumbaya singing. We aren't even talking about institutionalized recognition of these holidays. What the whole article was trying to say is "Hey, we know there are more holidays out there than Christmas and Hanukkah, and maybe we should be more open to working around those and educating people on the fact that these holidays exist and matter to people."

Kudos to University of Missouri for actually being proactive and working to foster a better work environment. I'm not frustrated that this article clearly was working an edge toward Paganism in particular, but I am frustrated at the effort to belittle efforts working in the RIGHT direction--that of openness to communicate, educate, and work together. Celebrating differences has nothing to do with societal nihilism, in fact the opposite of it (i.e. only recognizing one or possibly two belief systems and institutionalizing functions around those beliefs) constitutes a form of "moral nihilism."

Thoughts?

--Denora