But, I believe firmly in separation of Church and state. It must take the most intolerant and mean-spirited of people to take offence to that. I still have a small nativity set (a very special Mary, Jesus and donkey made by students in an inner city special education class where I did some student teaching). I want to advocate for the God whose name is being blighted and whose glory is being shoved as far from public circles as possible. One reason is that I view the church’s teachings in many areas as just wrong. And I appreciate it. Merry Christmas! Not once mentioning that I was Jewish, or impling that I was offended, just sort of an FYI thing. It is the last that bothers me the most. This is a great place to highlight another dumb debate – Xmas. It is a traditionally Christian sentiment. I've tried to cover every aspect of the debate, but I probably haven't. "Happy Holidays" is a catch-all phrase that really just prevents the person saying it from looking stupid. Happy Hannukah. Merry Christmas and Happy Christmas are both greetings used during the last part of December, around Christmastime. Christmas is conspicuously the only time of year when the word “merry” receives heavy use. That was part of my catechism, it’s in the Bible, it just makes sense. s.src = p + "://api.content-ad.net/Scripts/widget2.aspx?" It does not inherently affect people’s lives. Whether it’s “merry Christmas” or “happy holidays,” they say the same thing: I hope you have a happy, healthy holiday season. She would jingle bells while I was “sleeping” aka staring at my ceiling waiting for Santa to come so that it sounded like Santa’s sleigh. Happy Holidays? Anyway, the point is, to keep themselves from going nuts or sinking into an inescapable pit of depression, it was important to throw a big party in the middle of the cold, frozen days of winter. And try to consider what it'd be like to be Jewish or Muslim and feel left out, being bombarded with images of Christmas everywhere, even though a lot of them have nothing to do with Christ. Well of course, it’s all down to “political correctness”. { There was no singing Silent Night in choir class for the holiday concert. I have arrived at some insights that have caused me to view the “Christmas v. Holiday” controversy in a very different light than I would have in the 1950s and early 1960s. One of the teachings is that the church is the “one, true universal church” and that only people who are Catholic in good standing (e,g, confession, weekly Mass, no mortal sins) can enter the gates of heaven. var params = This season, I want to greet people the way I want to without being afraid of criticism from others. In other words, I was brought up to believe in God, to celebrate Christmas, to worship the baby Jesus and to long to visit Bethlehem and see the special … Of all the things happening in the world, this type of disagreement should not be one that activists take a major stance on. There were 'vacation days'. Don't get me wrong, I'm right with anybody who argues that being p.c. The first word of each is only capitalized when used as a greeting. There are many holidays around this time of year because in the beginning or the middle of winter, midwinter celebrations used to be essential in the days before modern technology where winter truly meant death, lots of people died from exposure to the cold, and you truly didn't have enough food unless you'd stocked up. Nobody's trying to pass laws making them do this, they do it on their own because, generally speaking, businesses try to make as much money as they can. So I switched to happy holidays, to which I was yelled at because of the war on christmas. They are often inundated with Christian stickers, metal fish symbols on their vehicles, and sporting their Christian t-shirts, as the real world continues to pass them by. Happy Holidays vs Merry Christmas. They need to get thicker skin!" Too many Christians are so Heaven bound; they have no connection with the people they are supposed to evangelize. Nor would I expect that you would do the same to me. The holiday season in Windsor-Essex is centred around Christmas, but not everyone celebrates it. Each of us must find our own path, our own teacher, our own way to hear the messages that will take us to the promised land. Five emails later, the closest I can get to this guy understanding me is his reply wishing me a happy Hannukah and a Very Merry Christmas. What does saying 'Merry Christmas' at school really hurt anyway? Save the statement for when you mean it. Why say Merry Christmas to somebody unless it's actually on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day and unless they actually celebrate that holiday? WHY?? She was as extra as they come with Christmas. However, the debate over whether to wish “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays” seems to have resurfaced again. It appears that Wal-Mart has caved to the whiney christian movment who have the irrational belief (among many others) that there is a sincere "war against Christmas" and that the term "happy holidays" is an insult directed towards them. For example, when “it doesn’t matter” is included as an option, 63% of Republicans or those who lean Republican say they prefer “Merry Christmas,” while 5% choose “Season’s Greetings” or “Happy Holidays” and 32% say it doesn’t matter. The start of December brings with it many different holidays that are celebrated across many cultures and religions. I would not presume that you would impose your beliefs or choice of celebrations on me. He was wishing them a 'Blessed Merry Christmas'. But I don't think saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" has to do with any of that. Traditionally, the predominant greetings of the season have been "Merry Christmas", "Happy Christmas", and "Happy New Year". wid: "622858", Happy Holidays, Round 2,016. In Culture Exchange. Every year, around this time, the same debate comes to light. Why? Political Correctness is not a good replacement for Tolerance but as society runs increacingly low on the latter we are seeing massive amounts of PC rules being created to try and compensate for it. Happy Holidays versus Merry Christmas is a moot point. Bottom line: if you don't know someone well enough to know what they celebrate, either don't wish them anything or just wish them a Happy Holiday. Happy Holidays versus Merry Christmas is a moot point. I know that my God has many names and forms. The dumb debate over whether one should say “Merry Christmas” or “Happy holidays” has been going on for decades. October 31 through January 1 (if you want to include Halloween) is chock full of 'em. My husband is Catholic. 0 . Maybe they should read a few of those write-ups here. Calling, always calling, not understanding, but calling still. @16PinOak: You said it started as Merry Christmas so I was just working from that.We said all 3 Merry Christmas to Christians, Happy Holidays when it was not the exact day but in between Thanksgiving and NYE and Happy Hanukkah to our Jewish friends of which I have many and I'm 65. And, for the most part, that is what it still means to me. But, getting back to my point, if you want to wish somebody a Merry Christmas on any other day but the two most important ones, it makes more sense to say "Have a Merry Christmas" and even more sense to make sure you're saying it to somebody you're reasonably sure celebrates it. now I saw merry christmas, and when they complain because they aren't christian i politely tell them that I am atheist, and that I am just wishing them to have a good 25th of december, aka christmas day. d.getElementById("contentad622858").appendChild(s); Author's Note: I realize I may be preaching to the choir here given the liberal and diverse nature of E2, but we are being Googled a lot lately and more and more our messages are reaching the entire world. Still, try to at least understand what I have said. Makes you sick, doesn’t it? Why not put more up, of every December holiday you can think of? Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors. Trump and the conservative media machine is telling you that liberals want to make saying Merry Christmas illegal. I don't look Jewish, so I must celebrate Christmas. Each deserves to be acknowledged and respected. Some pro-Merry Christmas people are saying "What's the big deal? Today, I got an email from the alumni director of my high school. Merry Christmas! I was raised a Catholic—attended Catholic school through high school. Even still, without any research or foundational information, many have succumbed to the default belief that Xmas should be viewed as offensive. I am Jewish. Breadcrumb Trail Links. Nobody is telling you you can't say Merry Christmas. It won't be in the november-december bracket for another 9 years or so.". When somebody says "Happy Holidays" to me, it means that they are wishing me well on all of the November/December holidays that I celebrate or mean anything to me. Should we greet each other with vague holiday cheer or specific Christmas-related well wishes? Obviously. By Cherese Jackson on December 22, 2017Comments Off on Happy Holidays Versus Merry Christmas and Other Dumb Debates. The debate is different, though, when you get into situations where schools are taking down Christmas decorations, be it an earnest effort to be politically correct or to avoid a lawsuit. Therefore, I wish you a very “Happy Holiday”! With all of the chaos going on in the world, that energy should be used to unite the already divided church and love the unchurched. And, I grew up and expanded my world view—having friends from different races, learning about other kinds of belief systems and understanding the various ways and forms that God appears to others. This is all good except they must have forgotten Christ was not an original ingredient of this season. Actually any time is a perfect time to be nice, but that's another whole argument in and of itself. It seems like, if I believe the chatter I'm hearing on the radio and television this month, that a lot of Christians are getting up in arms about rampant political correctness in the form of a war waged against "Merry Christmas," in favor of being all-inclusive with "Happy Holidays." Before, when I was younger and before I'd ever heard the term "politically correct," "Happy Holidays," to me, meant "Have a Happy Thanksgiving, a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year." The history of the word Xmas is actually more respectable and even fascinating than one might suspect. They would look at you like you were a few fries short of a happy meal if you wished them a happy birthday on September 17th when their birthday is really April 10th. Pawel Kopczynski/Reuters. There was no day off for Yom Kippur. Part of the whole new issue of having to specifically wish people a Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays is relgious profiling. "Merry Christmas" vs. "Happy Holidays": A Summary of U.S. Holiday Greetings. When living in America during the December holiday season you may have noticed a little more than just Christmas trees, Santa hats, and other festive decorations. My mom always went all out for Christmas, and to this day it’s remained one of my favorite holidays. The 'Happy Holidays' rule being just one more. Inline Image Courtesy of Erin’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License The ecumenical symbol originated in the early Christian church and has since become a source of disagreement for followers of Jesus. themanwho says: "oh... you can remove ramadan. Is it too much to expect the same with the celebration of Christ’s birth? He sent me back a message saying that everyone should be wished a Merry Christmas in order to celebrate the birth our our lord Jesus Christ. But I think there are more and better defenses. (notice, I said CHRISTMAS, not holidays!!) So let me end by saying Happy Holidays! Keep in mind that you're being quite paranoid if you think that people are trying to stop you from saying "Merry Christmas," like there's a Holiday Gestapo out there ready to suit up and beat everybody down who likes to say it. It's a simply a marketing strategy. The Bible Study Site: Why is Christmas shortened to XMAS? Instead of embracing another opportunity to walk in love, many would rather argue a ridiculous point of view. Why would you want to wish somebody a Merry Christmas who you know is or could possibly be Jewish? I still think “O Holy Night” is one of the best Christmas songs there is (and I try every year to hit the notes as purely as the best singers do). I choose to celebrate Christmas. Just say the greeting you think is best. Do you wish people a Merry Christmas or a Happy Holidays? This made it easier to get people to celebrate Christ's Mass (later shortened to Christmas) because so many other holidays were going on at the time. You shouldn't necessarily be afraid of offending them, but keep in mind that even if you don't piss them off, you're going to be telling them something that's totally meaningless to them, something they can't relate to. Christians are encouraged to spread the love of Christ to everyone. There's a huge difference between saying Merry Christmas and launching into a "Jesus is the reason for the season and I want to put my rosaries on your ovaries" sermon. Culture 'Merry Christmas' versus 'happy holidays': A tale of two expressions. I usually respond in the same way: I don't celebrate Chrismas, but I will parlay your wish into a Happy Hannukah. By M. Smith. For the most part, only Christians are in their circle of peers. It is something I can honestly wish everyone I know. In saying 'Merry Christmas' people are in effect saying 'It's Christmas, I'm a bit nicer and happier than normal and I extend that courtesy to you, hope you feel the same way.'. The truth is, it should not affect anyone’s personal admiration of the honoree any more than Happy Holidays versus Merry Christmas. I believe that now in a profoundly different way than I did when I was young and believed everything that I was taught by my early teachers. Christmas has almost arrived and while it is time to exchange pleasantries — this year it would be mostly virtual meet-ups and couriered presents due to the coronavirus pandemic. Well, now they just call them Winter Oreos. "Happy Holidays" is not a bad thing. Happy Hanukkah! Happy Holidays! In the “Christian” Bible, the New Testament was originally written in Greek and the corresponding letter for Christ is “X.” Contrary to popular belief, it was not instituted by anti-Jesus mechanisms to replace Christ in Christmas with the English alphabet X. , I said Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa are the three major Holidays that can be reached at imerm umich.edu! 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