The whole "Merry Christmas"/"Happy Holidays" thing...

[JCJRSmith]

...here's a pretty good OP/ED piece on it:

The Pointless Holiday Wars
Tom Flynn
2005's so-called holiday season features an epic battle between merchants who allegedly press their workers to say "Happy Holidays" and cultural conservatives who'll settle for nothing less than "Merry Christmas." Both sides share the perception that "Happy Holidays" acknowledges diversity of religion or worldview in ways that "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Hanukkah" do not. Both are missing a larger point. When we take into account the true diversity of religions and worldviews in American life -- and factor in some accidents of the calendar -- we realize that switching to "Happy Holidays" accomplishes nothing. During 2005, most American faith and worldview communities aren't celebrating anything between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. Christians and Jews are the only ones who have a holiday this "holiday season."

For many years Ramadan and its concluding festival, the Eid al-Fitr, coincided with the Christmas season. No more. Islam's lunar calendar moves the festivals about five days earlier each year; Ramadan 2005 fell mostly during October, Eid al-Fitr in the first week of November. Islam's next festival, the Eid al-Adha, doesn't begin until well into January. The Hindu festival of lights, Diwali, also fell early, weeks before Thanksgiving. Of course, secular humanists and other nonreligious Americans kind of cancel each other out when it comes to holiday observance; some keep the Winter Solstice, some a bowdlerized Christmas or Hanukkah, and some (like myself) nothing at all.

If Christians and Jews are the only groups observing broadly-accepted holidays this time of year, then saying "Happy Holidays" is pointless. It encodes the same presumption that all Americans are Christian or Jewish that "Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah" does. The latter is simply more honest about its intention to stiff-arm everyone who's not Judaeo-Christian. Merchants who genuinely want to honor diversity need to take another tack. Instead of pressing their workers to say "Happy Holidays," they should educate them to inquire of each customer whether he or she is celebrating anything at all. Yes, it's more work. But for millions of non-Judaeo-Christian Americans, this isn't a holiday season. For us, "Holiday Season" 2005 is just another five weeks.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tom Flynn is the editor of Free Inquiry magazine and author of The Trouble with Christmas (Prometheus Books, 1993).

 

[NMAmy]

You know, I am totally over this whole "issue." Who cares? I don't care if a clerk wishes me Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, or says Have a nice day. I heard some guy on tv saying that the majority of people who shop at Target WANT to see signs saying Merry Christmas, not Happy Holidays. I simply could care less what the sign says. The phrase Happy Holidays has been around for years--it's not a new thing except to the Christian right who have decided to make this their new issue du jour.

 

[Geoff_M]

I really don't care if someone says "Happy Holidays" to me, or "Happy Hanukkah", or anything else to me. However, what does bother me is the lengths that people will go to remove the word "Christmas" from the public. For example, on the radio with AM it was mentioned that a school district in Washington State this month recalled, destroyed, and re-printed (at the cost of $500) school menu calendars that bore the words "Merry Christmas" at the top. The same for "Holiday Concerts" that are proscribed to only contain works about snowmen and elves. Dittoes for the move to rename "Christmas Trees" as "Holiday Trees". That makes about as much sense as calling a "Menorah" a "Holiday Candle Stand".

Celibrate whatever you want, however you want... but don't try and tell me I'm being "insensitive" by expressing and promoting the Christmas holiday or desire that it continue to be a visable part of our culture.

 

[Brianne]

I know the discussion has always existed, but doesn't it seem like it's become an explosion hotpoint this year? Why does it really matter? Take what you want from it all, do what you want, and leave the rest. JMHO, but it looks to me like some people just want to get heated over something, so this is the newest convenient topic.

 

[luvwinnie]

Merry Christmas
By Rabbi Daniel Lapin
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
Well, December is nearly here, which means the dreaded "C word" is upon us. Put politely, "the holiday season" is nearly here. We shall all hear those "Happy Hanukkahs" and "Happy holidays," but rarely a "Merry Christmas." Secular fundamentalism has successfully injected into American culture the notion that the word "Christmas" is deeply offensive. I think we Jews may be making a grievous mistake in allowing them to banish Christmas without challenge.
We see obsequious regard for faiths like Judaism and even Islam, while Christianity is treated with contempt. I don't want Judaism treated with less respect. I want Christianity to be treated with as much respect.
Step up to the greeting-card racks in your local drug store and see what I mean. Virtually every Hanukkah card is respectful. Similarly, every Kwanza card is a paper paean to this rootless, recent invention. You won't find many cards taking vulgar shots at those holidays.
You will, however, find tasteless cards that mock Christmas. You'll find off-color risque Christmas cards that you'd be embarrassed to be caught looking at. Few even mention Christmas, almost as if the word is so offensive that casual card browsers should be protected from accidental contamination. Secularism is saying, if we can't completely banish Christmas, let's at least turn it into a bad joke.
Our self-appointed "leaders" in the Jewish community do us no favor by denouncing every public expression of Christian faith as if it were a ham sandwich at a barmitzvah. Anti-Christianism is unhealthy for all Americans, but I warn my brethren that it will prove particularly destructive for Jews to be leading the extirpation of all signs of Christian fervor from the village square. Just look at France. Only a religion can stand up to another religion. Christianity could have defended France, but secularism pushed Christianity into retreat. Now, Islamic fundamentalism has its way because there is nobody with moral fervor to resist. Secularism promotes cowardice, not courage - and that is bad for everyone.
Nearer home, Palm Beach prohibited a Christian group from placing a Christian manger scene alongside a menorah on public property. One of the plaintiffs, a Christian woman named Maureen Donnell, told Fox News, "They've discriminated against us, they allow the menorahs, but they have absolutely no interest in these Nativity scenes."
Although Palm Beach didn't always welcome Jews, today it is a city with a large Jewish population. It would have done wonders for Jewish-Christian friendship if Palm Beach's Jews would have valiantly defended religious rights for everyone, not just for Jews. Too bad they missed this opportunity. Remember, friendship is a two-way street.
This I can promise all Jewish parents - trying to prevent your children from awareness of Christianity is not enough to fill them with a love for Judaism. That takes dedication. You should not allow your children to listen to rap music's obscene lyrics. But neither should you recoil in horror when your kids hear Christmas carols. It is invariably a local Reform rabbi who teams up with the American Civil Liberties Union to file a lawsuit against the school singing carols. Christianizing the culture is not the problem for Jews, secularizing it is.
A music teacher in a Washington school removed Christmas from the lyrics in Dale Wood's "Carol from an Irish Cabin" to read: "The harsh wind blows down from the mountains and blows a white winter to me."
Parent Darla Dowell, whose 7-year-old daughter sang the song, called the decision "absurd." "I think the most important thing that angers me is that they sent a message to my child that there's something wrong with Christmas and saying Christmas and celebrating it and performing it at her school with her peers," Dowell told Fox News. She couldn't understand why it's OK to exclude Christmas when her daughter was forced to sing Hanukkah tunes that included lyrics about the "mighty miracle" of Israel's ancient days. In that song, there were at least six mentions of the Jewish holiday.
Will Mrs. Dowell think better of Jews on account of their yanking Christmas? How exactly does this aggressively applied double standard help to maintain the mutual respect that used to characterize relations between American Jews and Christians?
A 1989 Supreme Court decision found a Nativity scene on city property to be unconstitutional. The court emphasized that the privately owned creche was indisputably religious. In the same case, however, a five-judge majority found that a nearby display, featuring an 18-foot Hanukkah menorah did not violate the Establishment Clause. In the interests of fairness and friendship, we Jews ought to protest the court's anti-Christian bias. Nationwide, Christmas Nativity scenes are banned from city halls and shopping malls but Hanukkah menorahs are frequently permitted.
I know the court's distinction, but I reject the legal fiction that a menorah - over which I say a blessing invoking God's name - is merely a cultural symbol. I think most Christians also find that distinction meaningless and offensive.
As an Orthodox rabbi with an unquenchable passion for teaching Torah and devoting myself to the long-term interests of Judaism and America's Jewish community, I believe we Jews must turn our backs on the secularism that will sink us all. An act of friendship would be welcome. Let us all go out of our way to wish our many wonderful Christian friends - a very merry Christmas. Just remember, America's Bible belt is our safety belt.

 

[goofygirl]

Some people are mad at the Bush White House for putting "Happy Holiday Season" on their cards instead of Merry Christmas.

Gimme a break!

Happy Holidays COVERS Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, etc.


the word "holiday" means HOLY DAY.

HOLIDAY should be good enough to say and use!

 

[beattyfamily]

Merry Christmas
By Rabbi Daniel Lapin
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
Well, December is nearly here, which means the dreaded "C word" is upon us. Put politely, "the holiday season" is nearly here. We shall all hear those "Happy Hanukkahs" and "Happy holidays," but rarely a "Merry Christmas." Secular fundamentalism has successfully injected into American culture the notion that the word "Christmas" is deeply offensive. I think we Jews may be making a grievous mistake in allowing them to banish Christmas without challenge.
We see obsequious regard for faiths like Judaism and even Islam, while Christianity is treated with contempt. I don't want Judaism treated with less respect. I want Christianity to be treated with as much respect.
Step up to the greeting-card racks in your local drug store and see what I mean. Virtually every Hanukkah card is respectful. Similarly, every Kwanza card is a paper paean to this rootless, recent invention. You won't find many cards taking vulgar shots at those holidays.
You will, however, find tasteless cards that mock Christmas. You'll find off-color risque Christmas cards that you'd be embarrassed to be caught looking at. Few even mention Christmas, almost as if the word is so offensive that casual card browsers should be protected from accidental contamination. Secularism is saying, if we can't completely banish Christmas, let's at least turn it into a bad joke.
Our self-appointed "leaders" in the Jewish community do us no favor by denouncing every public expression of Christian faith as if it were a ham sandwich at a barmitzvah. Anti-Christianism is unhealthy for all Americans, but I warn my brethren that it will prove particularly destructive for Jews to be leading the extirpation of all signs of Christian fervor from the village square. Just look at France. Only a religion can stand up to another religion. Christianity could have defended France, but secularism pushed Christianity into retreat. Now, Islamic fundamentalism has its way because there is nobody with moral fervor to resist. Secularism promotes cowardice, not courage - and that is bad for everyone.
Nearer home, Palm Beach prohibited a Christian group from placing a Christian manger scene alongside a menorah on public property. One of the plaintiffs, a Christian woman named Maureen Donnell, told Fox News, "They've discriminated against us, they allow the menorahs, but they have absolutely no interest in these Nativity scenes."
Although Palm Beach didn't always welcome Jews, today it is a city with a large Jewish population. It would have done wonders for Jewish-Christian friendship if Palm Beach's Jews would have valiantly defended religious rights for everyone, not just for Jews. Too bad they missed this opportunity. Remember, friendship is a two-way street.
This I can promise all Jewish parents - trying to prevent your children from awareness of Christianity is not enough to fill them with a love for Judaism. That takes dedication. You should not allow your children to listen to rap music's obscene lyrics. But neither should you recoil in horror when your kids hear Christmas carols. It is invariably a local Reform rabbi who teams up with the American Civil Liberties Union to file a lawsuit against the school singing carols. Christianizing the culture is not the problem for Jews, secularizing it is.
A music teacher in a Washington school removed Christmas from the lyrics in Dale Wood's "Carol from an Irish Cabin" to read: "The harsh wind blows down from the mountains and blows a white winter to me."
Parent Darla Dowell, whose 7-year-old daughter sang the song, called the decision "absurd." "I think the most important thing that angers me is that they sent a message to my child that there's something wrong with Christmas and saying Christmas and celebrating it and performing it at her school with her peers," Dowell told Fox News. She couldn't understand why it's OK to exclude Christmas when her daughter was forced to sing Hanukkah tunes that included lyrics about the "mighty miracle" of Israel's ancient days. In that song, there were at least six mentions of the Jewish holiday.
Will Mrs. Dowell think better of Jews on account of their yanking Christmas? How exactly does this aggressively applied double standard help to maintain the mutual respect that used to characterize relations between American Jews and Christians?
A 1989 Supreme Court decision found a Nativity scene on city property to be unconstitutional. The court emphasized that the privately owned creche was indisputably religious. In the same case, however, a five-judge majority found that a nearby display, featuring an 18-foot Hanukkah menorah did not violate the Establishment Clause. In the interests of fairness and friendship, we Jews ought to protest the court's anti-Christian bias. Nationwide, Christmas Nativity scenes are banned from city halls and shopping malls but Hanukkah menorahs are frequently permitted.
I know the court's distinction, but I reject the legal fiction that a menorah - over which I say a blessing invoking God's name - is merely a cultural symbol. I think most Christians also find that distinction meaningless and offensive.
As an Orthodox rabbi with an unquenchable passion for teaching Torah and devoting myself to the long-term interests of Judaism and America's Jewish community, I believe we Jews must turn our backs on the secularism that will sink us all. An act of friendship would be welcome. Let us all go out of our way to wish our many wonderful Christian friends - a very merry Christmas. Just remember, America's Bible belt is our safety belt.

Wow, that was so interesting. Thank you for posting it. He's so right too!

 

[Marseeya]

I've always thought the whole thing is ridiculous. The way I look at it is, someone is wishing you well, whether it's for Christmas, Holiday, Easter, Groundhog day or whatever. Just accept it and MOVE. ON.

Why all the fuss?

Someone wishing me a Merry Christmas has never bothered me in the least, although I do prefer a Happy Holiday because it lasts longer. It encompasses everything.

Now, though, I've noticed a prevalence of employees giving this attitude with it. One person actually said to me, "Have a Merry Christmas! And I don't give a @#%$ if it offends anybody or not." Nice. It seems like a lot of people are saying it just out of spite or to prove something and there's no sincerity in it anymore. That's when it's offensive.

 

[JCJRSmith]

I've always thought the whole thing is ridiculous. The way I look at it is, someone is wishing you well, whether it's for Christmas, Holiday, Easter, Groundhog day or whatever. Just accept it and MOVE. ON.

Why all the fuss?

Well said (written?)