Atheist here. Doesn’t bother me, but the reason it doesn’t might bother some of the “Jesus is the Reason for the Season” folks. The word Christmas to me has become precisely as non-religious as Labor Day, President’s Day, Independance Day, or any other holiday in which we get a day off work, special sales at the mall, and some secular traditions. “Merry Christmas” to me mean no more than Happy Holidays, except that Happy Holidays or Seasons Greetings includes any other festivals. I tend to use happy holidays myself because I celebrate more than one holiday during the midwinter season.
Jewish agnostic here, taking a break from housecleaning before my high school choir buddies come over for Christmas caroling, which I host every year.
I’m certainly not offended when people wish me Merry Christmas, but I do get tired of it. I was at a loss the year that I was working in-house at a large financial institution, and scores of my (mostly non-Christian, recently arrived in the U.S.) Indian and Chinese clients would wish me Merry Christmas or ask how my Christmas had been.
I get tired of people assuming that all Americans are Christians, especially when they should know better if they look around themselves in the workplace and see how many of their colleagues are not. I never knew quite what to say to them in response; I didn’t want to mortify them (they were almost without exception very well-meaning and polite people), but I really did get tired of it, and I wanted to make the point that they shouldn’t make assumptions about their colleagues’ ethnoreligious heritage. So I would sometimes respond “not bad, considering I’m a Jewish agnostic - how was yours?” or something along those lines. I considered it a teachable moment.
Anybody who gets offended by me saying Merry Christmas gets a giant mental roll eyes and a fuck you. And I have no interest in knowing you.
For those who ARE offended, can’t you just think, well, “Today IS Christmas” (as in, the day that is designated Christmas, and when Christmas is celebrated", and I should have a good day on the day that is Christmas? I mean, have a nice day, so my day doesn’t suck?
How does that work?
See, this is the attitude that I just can’t fathom. I have a friend at work who’s name is David. He prefers David, not Dave, so that’s what I use. What difference to me should it make why he prefers one over the other? The polite thing is to honor that person’s wishes and not make a big deal of it.
If someone said to you “I’m Jewish and don’t celebrate Christmas” would you still use the term? Would you be offended at their response? Why?
Part of the problem, I think, is with people getting offended at strangers wishing them “Merry Christmas”. Like it or not, the majority of Canadians and Americans believe either in a religious holiday called Christmas or a secular holiday that happens to have the same name and falls on the same date (or both). On that basis, I do not believe it is reasonable for someone that does not recognize that holiday to object when a stranger wishes them Merry Christmas and I see no reason to be concerned about wishing a stranger Merry Christmas. It is presumably a heart-felt wish for something nice.
Now, if I know someone neither recognizes Christmas nor appreciates (not appreciating is different from being offended) the sentiment, then I am being an asshole if I continue to wish them Merry Christmas. That in my eyes is very similar to people using the diminutive of my name (e.g. if my name was Richard, calling me Ricky) when they know I hate being called that. There is no justification for me getting mad at a stranger using the diminutive of my name once even though I don’t appreciate it, but they are an asshole if they continue doing that after I have told them I don’t like that. Same goes for holiday wishes.
For those of you south of the border that are so concerned about wishing someone else Merry Christmas (or get mad if a stranger wishes you Merry Christmas), am I allowed to get mad at you if I happen to be south of the border on your Independence Day and you wish me a Happy 4th of July, not knowing that I am Canadian?
I’ve never been offended by anyone wishing me a Merry Christmas. But the OP’s contention that liberals don’t understand that is ridiculous.
Atheist here, and I’ve never been offended by “Merry Christmas”. So count me among those liberal atheists who don’t get the big deal of the OP.
But I also don’t get why people are getting so confused over Telemark’s comments, which make perfect sense to me. I have a professional colleague who is Jewish, and very observant; I’ve attended seders at his house. Wishing him Merry Christmas, given what I know, would just be thoughtless. He doesn’t celebrate Christmas, I know he doesn’t celebrate Christmas, and there are a dozen other ways to express my good wishes towards him. Saying “Merry Christmas” just isn’t the polite thing to do in that context. It would just be me being rude to him so that I don’t have to go to the trouble of thinking about his religion; selfish, in other words.
Christmas is a secular holiday, but it isn’t just a secular holiday. It has both secular and religious components, whether any of like it or not. Sometimes you can ignore one component or the other, but sometimes you can’t.
<Sesame Street> ♪ ♫ ♪ One of these things, does not belong here… ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ </Sesame Street>
I’m still right. It’s right wing mythology that any significant number of people get offended or that it’s part of any “liberal” trend.
You may over parse my use of the word “anyone” if you want, but that’s an obviously a specious objection.
ETA, how did you do those musical notes?
I despise religion…but I take Merry Christmas in the spirit it is given. So far from being offensive it is a cry of well wishing to me. I think it is a myth that people are offended by it. The only people I have seen offended are the ones who get pissy about people using some thing other than Merry Christmas
“How did you do those musical notes?” Tom quavered.
Could care less how someone cheerfully greets me.
Also think that this “Christmas offense scare” is mythic glurge. Certain sources are spreading apocryphal stories about liberal bogeymen to get people fired up about putting the CHRIST back in CHRISTmas. I hear people talking about “I’m putting up Christmas decorations and I don’t care who it offends!” Um, nobody cares what sort of dumb fairyland you build in your front yard, but if a misguided airplane tries to land on our street, I’m reporting a code violation.
Seems like people get most excited about keeping their tradition if there’s a chance it might offend someone else. Too bad nobody gets as excited over, say, peace on earth and good will towards men.
The only time I’m offended by Christmas decorations is when they’re done so as to make the Griswold house look subtle and tasteful.
DtC
Alt 13 = ♪
Alt 14 = ♫
As an ethnic Jew and religious atheist (and a card-carrying “liberal”), I don’t find it offensive to be wished a Merry Christmas and basically take it in the spirit in which it was intended.
However, I have to admit that I do find it nice when, at least in rather official situations, the fact that not everyone celebrates this holiday is acknowledged. Let me give you a concrete example: When I was in grad school, we had in our department what was officially called a “pre-holiday party”. Now, lots of people actually called it the Christmas party…hell, even I called it the Christmas party. And yet, I appreciated the fact that they officially did not designate it that way. In fact, I think I probably didn’t really appreciate it fully until I was postdoccing elsewhere and the dean of the whole school sent out something for a “Christmas party”. This irked me a bit and made me appreciate how it was handled in grad school. Mind you, I wasn’t irked enough to make a stink about it, or in fact to mention it to anyone at all. Yet I still would have ideally liked to see a little more multicultural sensitivity shown at this high an official level.)
Mmmhmmm, etymology. I guess they should be pissed off on Thursdays and Sundays as well, huh? Never mind what the word currently means (holiday=day off/better pay/nothing’s open).
There are lots of things people say simply because they do not know better. I would never get upset over those things. No offense is meant and none is taken. But it does sometimes reveal of sense of cultural arrogance: how could any one else not be celebrating the same way as I do? To even think that others might not celebrate the same thing in the same way is an affront!
That said probably as many of us “others” have acculturated to some kind of secularized Christmas celebration as take silent mild annoyance at the assumption of a belief we do not share. I was once at a table with another Jew, a Bahai, a Hindu, and a Muslim, when another Jewish guy came by and wished the four of us a Merry Christmas. Only in America!
You call *that *a punchline?! 
I’m guessing that you haven’t read this thread yet.