Tis the season… it’s the most wonderful time of the year… oh the weather outside is frightful… it’s beginning to look a lot like… (cue the dramatic ominous music)… THE WAR ON CHRISTMAS!!!
Is there anything more ridiculous?
Our country has seen a lot of war. Real honest-to-goodness wars against real enemies who want to do real harm – wars that cost real lives, and spend real money, and inspire real protests.
But at the end of every year, real people spend real time and real energy protesting a war that isn’t real.
I will say this as clearly as I can:
When I say “Happy Holidays” I am NOT trying to destroy your way of life.
Some of you may not know me – so for the record, I am a Christian. I celebrate Christmas. I love Christmas. I recognize that Jesus wasn’t born in December, and I don’t care – I’m just glad he was born, and the fact that we celebrate his birth during my favorite season (winter!!) is just a bonus.
I am a Christian, but I understand grammar. You see, I’ve looked at a calendar before, so I know that there is more than one holiday in December. There are other religious holidays – along with Christmas, there’s Ashura and Hanukkah and the Soltice. There are more modern made-up holidays – like Boxing Day and Kwanzaa and Festivus (for the rest of us!). And there are many more special days – some silly, some serious – that are celebrated in December, leading up to New Year’s Eve (another of my favorites!).
So when I say “Happy Holidays”, I’m not trying to yank your Jesus away – I’m just being accurate. Note the ‘s’ on the end of “Happy Holidays”. The plural denotes that there are multiple holidays in the season. Remember, there are two types of people in the world: those who are bad at math…
I am a Christian, but I am not a bully. I have friends who celebrate Christmas. But I also have friends who are Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, athiest, and a couple of wiccans and neo-pagans. They know I’m Christian. They don’t sit around waiting to pounce on me if I don’t mention Christmas in every conversation. “Ooooh, Mikey said ‘Happy Holidays’ – c’mon, let’s go convert him!”
So, am I really going to freak out and write a letter and boycott a store or restaurant because an employee said “Happy Holidays” when I walked in, or put up a sign that says “Seasons Greetings”? Am I so weak in my faith that I insist that they respect MY faith above anyone else’s faith? Am I so insecure in my beliefs that I require preferential treatment in order to feel good about myself?
Most religious traditions have some version of the Golden Rule, but Christianity is the source of the commonly quoted “official” version of it. It seems to me that we should act as though we believe it. If I want others to take me and my beliefs seriously – or at least respectfully – then shouldn’t I do the same?
“Seasons Greetings” and “Happy Holidays” aren’t an intentional affront to your sensibilities. They aren’t a subtle attack by a vast left-wing cabal working behind the scenes to undermine the basic tenets of your worldview.
I know this because I rarely miss a cabal meeting.
They’re simply a recognition that Christians aren’t alone in the world. And if that is enough to undermine the basic tenets of your worldview, maybe there are larger issues for us to discuss…
So – to those of you who participate, I’d like to say “Merry Christmas.” And to everyone, “Happy Holidays”… and may we all have a Happy New Year!
It is funny with all the really important things to get upset about, people choose to focus on such a trivial matter, but I’ll throw in anyway…
I think the “Happy Holidays” hullabaloo is a reaction to what many see not only as increasing secularization, but outright anti-Christian tilt in popular culture. Increasing, people are shrilly voicing offense at expressions of faith that used to be mainstream practice. Christians scratch their collective heads while those with other faiths and politics practice odious and antisocial behavior that gets a pass from the self-appointed defenders of all that is politically correct. Internationally, Christians are murdered by the score and the mainstream media ignores it to concentrate on other attrocties like a high school Valetictorian who has the nerve to offer a prayer in his or her graduation speech.
It’s hard to blame Christians for feeling put-upon. No other faith gets so much guff for simply practicing their beliefs. They see a great deal of hand-wringing on behalf of Islam from the same people who tell Christians they have no right to impose their beliefs on others. Their faith is being marginalized, and they are being told they don’t deserve a place in the arena of ideas.
As each Christmas comes and goes, we see less of what is beautiful and holy about the HOLYdays and more that is basely commercial and materialistic. The solemn nativity at City Hall offends someone, so is replaced by Frosty or Santa. I think it’s natural and understandable for Christians to be upset as they watch the life getting sucked out of the second most important celebration on the Christian calendar, to be replaced by empty banalities.
I understand the merchants have a choice to make, and with margins as thin as they are in the retail world, and with diverse clientele and stockholders they feel they can ill-afford to place a religious tag on their marketing. They have the right to make that decision, and consumers have the right to complain if it bothers them.
As for boycotts, they simply do not work in this big a market, so they are pointless, and even counterproductive. Better to let the love of Christ shine forth in all your words and actions, every day of the year, than to get up-in-arms and self-righteous because of some corporate decision.
In the meantime I say, “Merry Christmas, everyone!”