Do people really get offended by receiving the “wrong” card? I get religious holiday cards from my Christian and Jewish friends, and I never take it as anything more than their way of saying “hello.” I mean, if they wrote, “Come to Our Side or Fry in Hell!” I might be somewhat put off . . .
If so, do you skip the tree, wreaths, lights, Santa and gift-giving (all of which seem to be secular parts of the holiday)? No criticism intended if you do. Just curious.
Well, I wouldn’t be, but OTOH I can see where my Jewish friends might get tired of Christmas, so I try to go a little more general. I’m sure most people don’t get offended–all we really want is to hear from each other and get a little news–but the few who yell and scream make us all more cautious.
My friends cover a pretty wide range of religious beliefs, so I usually buy two sets of cards, one clearly and explicitly Christian (no Santa Claus, possibly a manger) which has “Merry Christmas” inside and one secular which has “Happy Holidays” inside. To me, it’s a gesture of respect, especially since among my closest and dearest friends is a Wiccan. Which set of cards I like better varies from year to year. A few years ago, the Christians got the better deal – I sent a card with a beautiful drawing, ironically done by my Wiccan friend during his devout Christian days. This year, the secular one’s better. Speaking of which, Ice Wolf, you need to send me your snail-mail address. Trust me, you’ll like this one! 
CJ
I tend to send the cards that appeal most to me, saying either “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays”. I find the ones wishing Happy Holidays handy, in that some of my family send New Year’s greetings too. This acknowledges both Christmas, and New Years.
If I don’t know people well enough to know what type of card is appropriate, I don’t send them a card. I send Chanukah cards to my relatives and Jewish friends, and generic Holiday or non-religous Christmas cards to the rest, depending on what I have on hand.
I wouldn’t be offended if I received a Christmas card, but I wouldn’t be thrilled either. If the intent is to send good thoughts and feelings at this time of year, it would be best to not step off on the wrong foot. I would hope that my friends would know me well enough to know that I don’t celebrate Christmas, which I still view as a purely Christian holiday, even though it has many secular parts.
I prefer Happy Holidays, mainly because it covers a lot of them instead of just Christmas. I know people who, for example, celebrate Christmas and Kwanzaa, and it’s kinda cool to know that you’re basically acknowledging both of them.
But like others, I don’t care if people send me a Merry Christmas, or Happy Hannukah, or whatever, card. It’s all good wishes. 
I don’t care what kind of card peope send me – I tend towards the view that a holiday greeting card is reflective of the person sending the card. So I’m not offended by a devout Catholic sending me (an agnostic) a religious card.
That said, my husband (he is Lutheran) and I both prefer a more secular card for our own use. If I am doing the choosing, I will tend towards something funny. When he chooses he will usually pick something rather woodsy, winter-ish, Currier & Ives-esque. To tell you the truth, the written sentiment is the last thing we look at. If I like the joke, then I don’t care whether it says “Merry Christmas” or “Season’s Greetings.” And, if Kevin likes the picture, it won’t matter to him whether it says “Happy Holidays” or “Happy Christmas.”
I tend to buy two packs of cards; a very religious one for family and religious friends, and a non-religious one, almost always a dove/peace on earth theme. Not “Merry Christmas” though (I always say “Happy Christmas” in person because “Merry” sounds corny to me) or “Happy Holidays”.
Ditto! I like pandas & penguins.
Er…on Christmas cards, that is. Those two sentences *were * related.
I celebrate Christmas and tend to wish people “… and a Happy New Year” if I’m not going to be seeing them before that time, plus have friends who don’t celebrate Christmas, so I tend to buy holiday cards that don’t have “Merry Christmas” printed on them and without an overt religious theme (or even Santa since I wasn’t really raised with him being that important). I like cards with winter/nature themes especially, but this year’s cards have a dove and “Peace on Earth” as the prominent theme. I’ve sent humorous cartoon cards some previous years.
Then I write on the inside of the card whatever is appropriate for the recipient, be it “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Hannukah” or “Bright Solstice” or whatever, plus “Happy New Year” and a message to the person.
Considering the effort of shopping for, addressing and hauling cards them to the USPS I’m just glad to have friends who think of me. I’m an “unsaved” soul and I’m not offended by a Christmas or Hannukah, Kwanza or “Eid” card.
My friends are multi-ethnic and observe different holidays, so “Happy Holidays” is the best for me to send. I can’t afford to buy individual cards for each person on my list so boxed cards are my answer.
Please omit the “them”. I didn’t catch it.
My Christmas cards usually don’t say either “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays” on them. I find some that just have a pretty illustration on the front, and something about joy and warmth and happiness inside. Because, after all, that is what I wish for all my friends and family.
For my grandmother and others who care more about the religious side of Christmas, I’ll usually add a “Merry Christmas” inside, myself. For others, I’ll wish them a happy new year or give them some other personalized message. I always write a few lines in my Christmas cards - I never let Hallmark say everything for me.
I rarely send paper cards; when I do, I tend to pick one appropriate to the religious beliefs of the recipient.
However, for decades I’ve been sending out email messages to co-workers near the holiday period, labeled:
“Happy Non-Denominational Winter Solstice-Proximate Celebratory Event and Arbitrary Time Period Initiation Observance”
I always expect some of them to be offended, but I’ve never heard a complaint, or in fact anything other than amusement.
Of course, with open hostility toward athiests on the rise these days, I’ve been much more careful about letting coworkers know my religious (lack of) beliefs - so most folks probably assume this is entirely a joke.
I usually switch between the two, depending on the recipient.
However, this year I’ll be going with “Happy Holidays”, and encouraging everyone else to do so, just to piss off Jerry Falwell, Bill O’Reilly, and any other like-minded nutjobs.
My life is full of all the inanity it can handle via my postings on this forum and general being lazy on the internet.
My personal assistant buys all my Christmas cards and I sign them (Best Wishes and my signature to everyone but family, for family I write Love, <signature>) my assistant at my office takes care of sending of all the cards for my employees and business relations.
Most of the time I think my cards have the word Christmas in them somewhere but I do remember some Season’s Greetings cards.