I’ve never got this “Merry Christmas” offense thing either. People can wish me Merry Christmas, Happy Hanakuh, a Prosperous Kwanzaa, Happy Bastille Day, or Happy Idi Amin Day and I’ll offer them a kudos without offense. It simply does not offend me. It would seem like you’d have to be looking for offense in something as innocuous as well wishes. It’s just as bad as the Christmas Crusaders finding offense in Happy Holidays or Seasons Greeting.
Then again, Happy Holidays is a bit offensive to me as a nonreligious sort because everyone knows that it really means Happy Holy Days by etymology. (The Buckeye Offense)
Then why not just say Happy Holidays? Or Merry Thursday? Or have a nice day. It’s presumptive, just like most things religious-based in this country. It assumes you are Christian just like the majority of Americans. Because if it didn’t do that, there would be no “Jesus is the reason for the season” or “Harumph! Christmas is all about consumerism, now.”
And the other thing is now some people have decided to say ‘Merry Christmas’ to you with tone, like it’s a statement of defiance to say Merry Christmas. “I’ll keep my Christmas, thankyouverymuch, and you’ll respect that, so help me!”
Agnostic here, I love Christmas as the celebration of Winter, family gatherings and the triumph of Capitalism over Communism. I spent a week in Hong Kong at Christmas time in '87 and I loved the way they celebrated it. It is nearly the same with NYC of course. The religious overtones are barely noticeable. It is the huge light displays, the music and cheer in the air for people of all religions and none at all.
Most know that Christ was not born in December and that Christmas was just the Churches methods of Cooping pagan celebrations they could not stop. Much as St. Brigit was invented as they could not stop the worship of the kindly Goddess healer Brigidin Ireland.
The Yule log, Mistletoe, Christmas Tree and so much else have nothing to do with Christ. Just like Chanukah was never an important holiday until Christmas became so overwhelming. To most Orthodox Jews my understanding is the Chanukah is still a minor event each year.
Because, owing to the overwhelming number of Christians in this country, (and NOT owing to any sterling qualities associated with that majority or its beliefs), the day of Christmas has become a day when the vast majority of businesses close so that their employees can spend the day with family. The one celebratory day of the season (that is not limited to hangovers and football), happens to be named “Christmas.” Does this mean that “Merry Christmas” is the most appropriate greeting? No, but it provides an explanation why most people use it as the greeting of the season.
And to those people, “Bah! Humbug!” is the most appropriate response. I’m not sure why that is an issue. There are rude people scattered across the countryside who can be rude about many things. I encounter the “It’s CHRISTmas, damn it” people perhaps once or twice each year while the overwhelming numbers of people I encounter simply wish good will with whatever greeting they choose to employ.
I’m happy to hear it and to say it. I think it’s complete mythology that anyone is offended by it. The only offense I’ve ever seen get taken is by media demagogues like Bill O’Reilly asserting that telling somebody “happy holidays” is a terrible insult to Christianity. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a RL Christian get upset by it, though.
I think on either side of this, the only people who are going to express indignation are the kind of arm band atheists/religionists who are just looking for an excuse to be offended no matter what.
Good thing too, because that would really piss me off big time.
That it should even be an issue that wishing someone “merry Christmas” is so bloody stupid. I wish everybody I feel like a Merry Christmas. Don’t know any Jews, but plenty Muslims and Atheists. And them too. Or rather, in Denmark you don’t say “Merry Christmas” (or the equivalent Danish) but instead “Good Yule” – which is a left-over from pagan times. Since there are very few of that kind of pagans left, I guess that should insult everybody. Which is good. Because people that get insulted over such trivialities need to grow some skin.
Do some people also get upset at being wished a good Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday?
Because in retail, we can’t be rude to the customer, no matter how rude they are to us.
But you’re right, there aren’t many of these people, just a handful. On the flipside, the vast majority of people (at least in this thread) is okay with me sticking to Happy Holidays in order to be all-inclusive, right?
Because again, there isn’t that much thought that goes into it. I come from a rural area where everyone celebrated Christmas–it was only upon entering college that I met anyone who didn’t. It’s a pretty ingrained habit, and I don’t see what’s so offensive about it anyways. Anyone who is offended is twisting the meaning too much for me to take them all that seriously.
I don’t have a problem with it, just with people who would turn an expression of good will into a slight upon their beliefs.
As an aside, it seems that atheists should be just as offended at “Happy Holidays” as they are at “Merry Christmas.” They don’t believe in any holy days. If one secular-idea-with-a-religious-name bothers people, why shouldn’t another?
Umm this is taken out of context. The thread in question was about whether a Hindu would be offended by Season’s Greetings, and Dervorin was saying, “No”. The thread wasn’t even addressing holiday well wishes, just seasonal ones.
Atheist here. I can’t imagine being insulted by anyone wishing me a Merry Whatever. This is a predominantly Christian country, and you’re going to get wished a Merry Christmas all the time. BFD. If I lived in a muslim country, I would be fine with people wishing me a Merry Ramadan (or whatever greeting is given), and I’d probably return the greeting just like I do here with Christmas.
I agree that there’s no attempt to insult or demean; I hope I didn’t imply people were being malicious in any way. It’s just impolite, IMO, to include me in a religious celebration that I don’t celebrate. I know they don’t think they are doing that, but it grates on my nerves.
Look, it’s not a major thing, and I have learned to mostly ignore it. But it’s an easy thing to fix by just changing slightly what you say. Once you know a person’s religion or what they celebrate then it’s easy to get more specific.
I’m nearly as fanatical anti-Christianity as Der Trihs, and it doesn’t bother me in the least. The only people I’ve ever seen offended by a holiday greeting are Christians if one doesn’t say “Merry Christmas”. No one else cares (IMHO)
Yes, you are right. I think it extremely rude to go out of one’s way to take offense at the way another person issues a polite greeting, so I have no problem with “Happy Holidays,” “Season’s Greetings,” “Good Yuletide,” or anything else. (And I would not think that Telemark, for example, is going out of his way to be offended, so I do not consider his responses to be rude.)
I am a non-Christian liberal and I find nothing at all offensive about being wished Merry Christmas. In fact I think it’s a nice gesture. Usually.
Now that was offensive. What under other circumstances could be interpreted as “peace and good will be with ye” now looks more like a big “fuck you, your feelings, and your alien belief systems.” And that, I think, is why some people do take offense, because some people do use it in that way, and it is difficult to distinguish them from sincere well-wishers.
Well, that would be silly unless you knew they were fasting. On the other hand, if you wanted to wish me a happy Yom Kippur… well, I’d still find that odd for a day of repentance and atonement. But if you sincerely wished me a happiness on a day that you associate with general happiness, I would probably appreciate it.