I’m not particularly fond of political correctness. I think it’s stupid when people get upset over trifling, petty, insignificant little things. But sometimes the anti-PC brigade is just as annoying. One of the most notable examples is the people who throw hissy fits every time they hear “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings” or whatever. Get over it. Is Christmas the predominant holiday of the season for the vast majority of Americans? Yes, it certainly is. But where’s the harm in “Happy Holidays”? No one is trying to offend Christians by that. Should non-Christians be offended by “Merry Christmas”? No, they should shut up and get over it. But I can’t remember the last time I heard a Jew or Muslim or atheist or anyone else complain about hearing “Merry Christmas.” So they’re obviously doing okay. It’s the annoyingly thin-skinned, easily offended douchebags among the Christians who bitch and moan every time anyone slips into generic holiday greetings.
Special interest groups are always calling for boycotts of companies that use any sort of holiday phrase other than “Merry Christmas.” They complain about a “War on Christmas.” Come on, people. Has Christmas been hijacked into an overly commercialized shopping spectacle bearing little relationship to its Christian background?* Of course it has! Will saying “Merry Christmas” instead of “Season’s Greetings” change that? Not a chance. I have a certain amount of bemused respect for the wackjobs like the Jehovah’s Witnesses who refuse to celebrate Christmas (something to do with the pagan origins), but if you’re going to bitch about the overcommercialization of Christmas, don’t bitch about stores that choose to say “Happy Holidays.”
I googled “Happy Holidays” and one of the results I got was this. The original article is good common sense, then the nutcases come out in the comments. Not a single comment comes from anyone who’s offended by hearing “Merry Christmas.” It’s all from the “YOU JUST SAID ‘HAPPY HOLIDAYS’ I HATE YOU YOU EVIL DISCRIMINATORY PERSON!” freaks. Get over it, people. It’s just so damn hypocritical to be offended by something so minor while complaining about people who are offended over something so minor. Especially when the non-Christians don’t even get upset when they hear “Merry Christmas.”
* Of course, said Christian background was superimposed onto a mishmash of pagan customs and rituals, but that point notwithstanding, a reasonable Christian could certainly lament that the birth of Christ is nowhere near as prominent as it should be in modern celebrations of Christmas in this overwhelmingly Christian (at least nominally) nation of ours.
My only problem with this is that there ARE people who are offended by Merry Christmas. My prime example? In Florida at Universal Studios there is a thing called “Grinchmas”. This was stopped one year because of complaints about it being “offensive” and not PC. My mom and several others filed complaints immediately and within a year it was back and better than ever. So I am sorry, but I will continue to be offended by the terms because there is a PC undercurrent with it a lot of the time.
I’m not going to say there aren’t people out there who get offended by “Merry Christmas,” but the vast majority of uses of “Happy Holidays” and the like are from companies who are trying to play it safe. I tried searching for Grinchmas, but I couldn’t tell if it was canceled due to complaints or budget cutbacks. And the number of people who are offended by “Merry Christmas” is miniscule compared to the number of people who get offended by “Happy Holidays.” Is there a “PC undercurrent”? Yeah, you’re probably right about that. But there are so many better things in the world to worry about than that.
My mother spent a lot of time trying to figure it out by contacting them and asking. She was told that it was because of complaints from people who were offended.
But you see that is my problem. Companies “trying to play it safe.” If what you say is accurate and there are more people offended by saying “Happy Holidays” wouldn’t the companies go with the majority and say Merry Christmas to play it safe? I am sorry but common sense tells me that there is definitely a battle against Christmas going on. Grinchmas being a perfect example and all of the stores sticking with Happy Holidays being another.
A “battle against Christmas”? By whom? For what purpose? Relax, man, relax.
Ian,
It is as simple as this: there are many holidays being celebrated this time of year, and saying “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” is a simple, yet efficient, way to recognize the validity of ALL of them – including Christmas. It is also a simple, yet efficient, way to recognize that we are a country made up of many different religious points of view.
This is not a Christian nation. Let me say that again for you. This is NOT a Christian nation. It is a nation that celebrates(or is meant to celebrate) an individual’s religious freedom. It is safe to assume that just about all Americans will be celebrating SOMETHING between the last Thursday in November and the 1st day of January – whether that celebration is religious or secular. It is not necessarily safe to assume that that celebration will be directly related to the birth of Christ.
If you know for certain that the person you’re addressing celebrates Christmas, by all means, “merry” the bejeezes out of him. However, if you’re not certain of that person’s beliefs, why not just wish him a nice inclusive wish of holiday cheer without assuming that they celebrate the same observances that you do?
Nothing is lost to you by being told, “Happy Holidays”. Really. It’s not. I promise. I promise that your Christmas will be just as bright if the chick at the Gap wishes you a happy holiday instead of a merry Christmas. Mass will be just as meaningful. Your dinner will be just as delicious. Your tree will be just as lovely. And, yet, through that, there will still be a simple, yet powerful, message that each person’s beliefs and traditions are respected – yours, mine, the pagan down the street’s….
As for the “battle against Christmas”, nope. I’m pretty sure Christmas is alive and well. As for the MEANING of Christmas – that may be another story. But what can you expect when everyone who suggests that, perhaps, the constant sensory bombardment of Christmas song, sale, and decoration from Oct to January contributes to the fact that Christmas has basically become a commercialized, secular, free-for-all, gets accused of trying to lead the brigade against Christmas. Ironic, isn’t it, that maybe if Christmas was a little more “battled” against – and a little less in our face – it may actually be MORE special? Maybe if it were a little more “battled” against, it would end up being a little less commercial. In fact, maybe the sentiment of “Merry Christmas” would actually be more meaningful if it was exclusively a greeting between people who shared the belief, rather than two words that are essentially meaningless to many of the people whose throats it’s being shoved down.
But, then what do I know? I’m just a PC liberal out to make sure that Christmas gets what it has coming. Happy holidays!!!
But there ARE several holidays toward the end of the year and I think saying Happy Holidays or Season’s Greetings covers them all — whichever religious holiday you may or may not be celebrating AND of course new year’s which everyone celebrates. I am an atheist and pretty anti religion so I don’t want to promote any of these religions, but the pagans celebrated the winter solstice to cheer themselves from the threatening gloom of winter and I want to celebrate that too. I am certainly not offended when someone wishes me a merry christmas, but I’m not going to say it and lead people to believe I support it! Face it: if it were not for the divisiveness of the various religions, all this fuss wouldn’t even occur! Peace on earth and good will toward all people!