# The Christmas Warriors are mobilizing already. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 21, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-christmas-warriors-are-mobilizing-already/638461 "2012-10-21T22:54:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-christmas-warriors-are-mobilizing-already/638461/1 "2012-10-21T22:54:30Z")
“This person does not say Happy Holidays. They say Merry Christmas. So get over it.” If Thanksgiving is too much to ask for, can’t they at least wait until after Hallowe’en? I used to enjoy Christmas, now it’s just another excuse for belligerence and bigotry. (… but the good news is now I don’t have to worry about driving for two hours to eat dry turkey and overcooked vegetables) ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-christmas-warriors-are-mobilizing-already/638461/2 "2012-10-21T22:57:19Z")
Well, a Merry Ramakwahannumas to you, too. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-christmas-warriors-are-mobilizing-already/638461/3 "2012-10-21T23:10:55Z")
Like most Australian atheists, I’m very happy to celebrate Christmas. My belief is that the American practice of wishing “Happy holidays” is not to protect the sensitivities of atheists, but to give some consideration to Jews – who are relatively more numerous in the U.S., and who generally don’t celebrate Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-christmas-warriors-are-mobilizing-already/638461/4 "2012-10-21T23:15:07Z")
And it is also to be inclusive of ALL the year-end holidays! Much quicker to say “Happy Holidays!” than to say “Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year too if I don’t see you before then!” ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-christmas-warriors-are-mobilizing-already/638461/5 "2012-10-21T23:20:27Z")
Yeah, I don’t know of anyone in a non-commercial setting who is already saying ‘Happy Holidays’. But commercially, crap has been ramping up since September. 😑 It’s already ‘Happy Holiday - Give Us Your Money!’ season in retail-land, so yeah. Your best bet is just to do all your shopping online and go into hiding until Jan.3, lol. ---
**Author:** ![Baracus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@Baracus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baracus)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-christmas-warriors-are-mobilizing-already/638461/6 "2012-10-22T00:07:55Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Like most Australian atheists, I’m very happy to celebrate Christmas. My belief is that the American practice of wishing “Happy holidays” is not to protect the sensitivities of atheists, but to give some consideration to Jews – who are relatively more numerous in the U.S., and who generally don’t celebrate Christmas. Oh, oh, but I got an email from Ben Stein, spokesman for all American Jews, that said that he doesn’t take offense to being wished a “Merry Christmas” so that isn’t a valid reason. Actually I wouldn’t be surprised if most Jews didn’t take offense, which would seem to make them less PC than those that get their panties in a wad over being wished a “happy holidays”. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-christmas-warriors-are-mobilizing-already/638461/7 "2012-10-22T00:30:36Z")
I’ve actually seen Pagans and atheists get bent way more out of shape than jews about the use of “Christmas” in the workplace. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-christmas-warriors-are-mobilizing-already/638461/8 "2012-10-22T01:12:15Z")
I thought it was for New Year’s and Christmas. Not to avoid offending Jewish folk by not saying Hannakuh. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-christmas-warriors-are-mobilizing-already/638461/9 "2012-10-22T01:41:21Z")
It’s way too early for this topic. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-christmas-warriors-are-mobilizing-already/638461/10 "2012-10-22T01:42:20Z")
Well, since the word “holiday” is a contraction of “holy day”, I would think non-religious people who were determined to be offended by Merry Christmas, would be just as offended by Happy Holidays. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-christmas-warriors-are-mobilizing-already/638461/11 "2012-10-22T01:43:06Z")
I’ve never seen anyone but Christians get mad about a greeting. the whole “Happy Holidays” is an atheist plot to take Christ out of Christmas, is the theory. I forget who started it but I think it was Bill O’Reilly…? and if you shop at Walmart, you know the year has only 2 seasons: Christmas and Lawn Care. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-christmas-warriors-are-mobilizing-already/638461/12 "2012-10-22T02:35:27Z")
> [@Baracus](#): > > Oh, oh, but I got an email from Ben Stein, spokesman for all American Jews, that said that he doesn’t take offense to being wished a “Merry Christmas” so that isn’t a valid reason. Actually I wouldn’t be surprised if most Jews didn’t take offense, which would seem to make them less PC than those that get their panties in a wad over being wished a “happy holidays”. There is a large Jewish community where I live. I have seen some people, justifiably, get pissed off over being snottily told Merry Christmas by a cashier that has just processed a cart full of Hannukah stuff. It’s one of the few times when I am in favor of bitching to management about a clerk’s attitude. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-christmas-warriors-are-mobilizing-already/638461/13 "2012-10-22T02:45:34Z")
> [@j666](#): > > “This person does not say Happy Holidays. They say Merry Christmas. So get over it.” Someone I know posted that to their FB wall recently. So I copied it and used SnagIt to reverse the “Merry Christmas” and the “Happy Holidays”, because I’m kinda sick of it all. I think I’ll take a page out of Hanne Blank’s book, and just wish everyone a “Merry Pigduff![sup]1[/sup]” [sup]1[/sup]That’s how you pronounce PGDFF, which stands for “Pretty God Damned Fucking Festive”, a term that refers to the entire time period between Halloween and New Year’s Day. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-christmas-warriors-are-mobilizing-already/638461/14 "2012-10-22T03:23:15Z")
Some people are determined to be martyrs whether anyone is oppressing them or not. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-christmas-warriors-are-mobilizing-already/638461/15 "2012-10-22T05:26:33Z")
This issue was [settled](http://youtu.be/MioTYWrsVHQ) by MST3K. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-christmas-warriors-are-mobilizing-already/638461/16 "2012-10-22T05:51:48Z")
> [@](#): > > “This person does not say Happy Holidays. They say Merry Christmas. So get over it.” Next Good Friday, I’m tempted to greet certain people with a hearty “Death to Jesus!” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-christmas-warriors-are-mobilizing-already/638461/17 "2012-10-22T06:19:02Z")
Wasn’t the origin of “Happy Holidays” Christians who were complaining about their religious holiday becoming associated with non-Christian stuff like Santa Claus and decorating trees and handing out presents? They were complaining that Christmas is supposed to be a religious event - “Jesus is the reason for the season”. So to not give offense, people started avoiding saying Christmas when talking about secular holiday events and started saying “Happy Holidays” instead. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-christmas-warriors-are-mobilizing-already/638461/18 "2012-10-22T08:50:13Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > Next Good Friday, I’m tempted to greet certain people with a hearty “Death to Jesus!” Is that really necessary? When you could just say “Crucify Him!”? 😃 Unfortunately, what happened a few years back, or at least seemed to happen, was some stores were actively forbidding employees to say “Merry Christmas”. Then someone called Customer Service at a BigBox HQ to complain & got a snotty “Pagan Origins of Christmas” lecture from someone who apparently didn’t care about having a job & it escalated as the pro-Christmas people got snotty in return & away it goes! ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-christmas-warriors-are-mobilizing-already/638461/19 "2012-10-22T11:59:33Z")
> [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](#): > > It’s way too early for this topic. Comes earlier every year, doesn’t it? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-christmas-warriors-are-mobilizing-already/638461/20 "2012-10-22T14:26:57Z")
Festivus felicitations to all. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-christmas-warriors-are-mobilizing-already/638461.md?page=2)