The thing that irks me the most during the Christmas season is how everybody has gotten into the habit of saying "Happy Holidays", even here in America, the most non-secular officially secular nation in the world. I prefer Merry Christmas instead because if it weren't for Christmas, December would just be another month with a Jewish holiday. If it weren't for Christmas, you wouldn't see snowflakes, trees and lights everywhere around town. If it weren't for Christmas, we wouldn't be saying "Happy Holidays" at all.
People say "Merry Christmas" is offensive to non-Christians. But Christmas is not just a Christian holiday anymore. It has grown into much more than the celebration of the Birth of Christ, in-fact the only place he's mentioned on Christmas is in Churches. Now its more about gift giving, kindness and togetherness (and mass consumerism of course). Completely secular celebrations.
Is saying "Happy Thanksgiving" offensive to Native American's? Probably, but that doesn't stop it from being mentioned everywhere in ads and on TV. Is saying "Happy Halloween" offensive to non-Pagans? No, because Halloween has secular celebrations as well that are widely practiced.
So say Merry Christmas this season. And if they say they're offended, remind them of the giving spirit of Christmas and not just the birth of Jesus.
Economic rules are behind the use of "Happy Holidays" in stores. According to pew research, 78% of Americans are Christians, 16% are unaffiliated with any religion (atheists, agnostics and the like), and 4% have some other religion. So when you use the phrase "Merry Christmas" in your store, you've just excluded 20% of the population, which has been known to shop elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteAs a non-Christian myself, I wouldn't say that saying "Merry Christmas" is offensive, but I don't think it'd kill people to acknowledge that it's not the only holiday celebrated in late December.
The reason Christmas is celebrated when it is is because of the winter solstice which was associated with the old Roman Saturnalia festivities. The solstice was important in other old religions that were based in nature. It was depaganized by substituting it with Christmas. The 25th of December is significant because that's when you could actually verify that the solstice is past, the days are getting logner, the sun (son) is returning.
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ReplyDeleteThe only place a war on Christmas exists is in the hearts and minds of Christians themselves. No one is barring anyone from, saying it or celebrating it. Please don't propogate it. I grew up in the Bible belt and am totally sick of the hissy fit my fellow Chistians throw about it. It is embarracing.
ReplyDeleteI guess the title is misleading. The holiday itself is by no means under attack. Im only annoyed at how people avoid mentioning it by name.
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