General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Dear Fox News; thank you for making Christmas SUCK! [View all]Swede Atlanta
(3,596 posts)I always say Happy Holidays or Season's Greetings.
Unless you have some reason to believe or know someone is a Christian it is indeed impolite to wish them a "Merry Christmas". What the "war on Christmas" crowd fail to appreciate is when you use the word "Christmas" you are wishing them to celebrate the virgin birth of a baby in Bethlehem, a baby that would save all sinners if you "believe in him".
That is very pompous indeed in a multi-cultural and multi-religous society. Yes Christianity is a proselytizing religion - i.e. the duty of each and every Christian is to spread the good news and convert others to the faith.
But it would be the same as if every Jew (I live in a very Jewish part of Atlanta) wished me a Happy Hanukah. While Jews and some Christians share the First Book of Maccabees in their Old Testament and Torah, not all Christians do. Hanukah is a wonderful story and indeed Paul in Colossians referred to the historical Jewish festivals as forerunners to the glory of Jesus Christ. But that is as far as Christians go in terms of recognizing Hanukah as anything more than a quasi-historical, wonderful story about light.
Out of respect for others it is that I use a generic greeting unless I have some information about the other person. I wish my Jewish friends Happy Hanukah at Hanukah and they wish me Merry Christmas at Christmas out of mutual respect based on the knowledge of each other's faith traditions.
There is no "war on Christmas". But what I have seen is a holiday that as a child was full of wonderment as much for the story of the birth of Jesus but of course the anticipation for what would be found under the tree the next day. But Christmas in our home was not a gross display of consumerism. Our parents exchanged one nice and a few smaller gifts with each other. The children got one "big" gift from Santa and then some nice, usually more practical gifts, from Mom and Dad and sibling too.
If there is a war on Christmas it is the consumerism and gluttony that describes western observations of Christmas. I used to think it was mostly in the U.S. but having spent a few Christmases in recent years in Western Europe and even Australia, it is Merry Consumption, not Merry Christmas. This at a time we have so many in our own nation around the world that are hungry, cold, sick, etc. It is indeed a disgusting sight to see the news clips of the consumer wars on Black Friday.