December is only a few days old and the annual debate has already begun. It started when two of my coworkers were discussing what to have engraved on a gift for the boss. One suggested “Happy Holidays” and the other replied angrily, “WHY? He’s not Jewish!”
Aren’t the sounds of the season lovely & heart-warming?
For the life of me, as a Christian myself, I will never understand why so many Christians get so offended by inclusion. It’s as if they believe that anyone that uses any phrase other than “Merry Christmas” is personally attacking everything they stand for. How weak do your convictions have to be for them to be shaken by something as insignificant as an inclusive holiday greeting? And when I say “inclusive”, by definition it includes Christians too! Christmas is a Holiday, isn’t it? Actually, if you look at the etymology of the word, it was derived from “Holy Day.” And to a Christian, how much holier does it get than Christmas?
Not to get too preachy, but didn’t Jesus fight for inclusion himself? Didn’t he reach out to the poor, the unclean, the tax collectors & prostitutes? Wasn’t he leading by example & admonishing the church leaders for not doing the same? Maybe I read it wrong, but I don’t think so.
I guess my point is that Happy Holidays is not anti-Christian. It’s not anti-anything. It’s pro-people. It’s pro-American. It’s respectful of our differences & our individuality. It’s heartfelt & sincere. It doesn’t matter to me if you’re Christian, Atheist, Muslim, Jewish, whether you worship at the Church of the Sub-Genius or the Flying Spaghetti Monster, I want you to be true to yourself & I sincerely want you to be happy & have a great holiday, regardless of what holiday that might be. (Obviously an unpopular view among people of my own religion.)
