Heaven Help Us

Folks, can we get one thing clear? Wishing people a "Happy Holidays" this time of year is not about destroying Christ and his followers. Instead, it is about tolerance and understanding that not everyone feels the same way that you do. If you are going to celebrate Christmas and follow the holiday tradition that goes all the way back to the 1830's, that's fine. But it's not about forcing that idea on someone else.

Imagine, Christians, if a movement arose that all stores should only wish people a "Merry Kwanza." A majority of the country feels that way in this hypothesis, and they decided that they don't care about what you "secularist Christians" feel. Would it upset you at all? Would it make you feel a little unfairly persecuted? If not, then keep on doing what you are doing, because Jesus himself couldn't teach you about understanding and respect for your fellow man.

Of course, if you know someone is Christian, wish them a Merry Christmas. There's nothing wrong with that. But if you can't be sure, a Happy Holidays is not going to make the baby Jesus cry. More than likely your respect for your fellow man will make the little guy smile.

In the meantime, thank goodness for people like this that wrote to their local papers in response to the church mounted campaign:

"What happened to the land that my parents, Eastern European immigrants, adopted as their beloved country — a country of fairness and tolerance?" wrote Harriet Lasher.

An Episcopal priest wrote to compare the campaign to the Nazi policy requiring Jews to identify themselves with yellow stars.

Judah Segal, executive director of the Raleigh-Cary Jewish Federation, said he was not disturbed by the advertisement, and hoped it was intended to "remind Christians that there is an essence to the holiday," not to shut out others.

"We really respect and admire people who want to have religious content in their own holiday," he said.

*UPDATE* From Dynamist Blog:

Why criticize merchants for including all their customers in wishes for a happy holiday season? The holidays do, after all, stretch from Thanksgiving to New Year's, both nonsectarian holidays. "Happy Holidays" includes Christmas, for those who celebrate it. But it also includes holidays we all share, as well as some others only a minority observe.

When you extend these greetings, are you wishing people happiness? Or affirming your Christianity? Do you want people who don't celebrate Christmas to be happy (or merry)? Or do you want to make them at least mildly uncomfortable? The answers will determine what you say.

It is important to keep it in perspective. Someone telling you Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas should not diminish the way you celebrate the birth of Christ. In fact, it should not be about what you say at all, but that, it seems is a different post altogether.