Great post! So what you're saying is that if someone wishes me "Merry Christmas" I should respond with "Happy Birthday"? I just might consider that under the right circumstances if I'm feeling particularly surly that day. :-)
I see your points and basically agree with them, though in actuality I don't take any offense to "Merry Christmas". The reason is simply that, at least in the US, the "War on Christmas" ended decades before we were born, and Jesus lost. The "Jesus is the reason for the season" crowd are taking a position that, from a cultural standpoint, is only slightly less anachronistic than the redneck with "The South shall rise again" painted on his truck.
Jesus isn't the reason for the season. Setting aside axial tilt, big cozy family get-together with presents and Rankin/Bass specials on TV is the reason for the season. Even as someone who used to regularly attend mass on Christmas Eve and bought into the manger fable hook, line, and sinker, I could see that the primary cultural significance of Christmas had more to do with Santa and Jingle Bells than with Christianity. Sure, the Christian overtones were part of the whole celebratory storm for our family, but the main driver was the secular celebration, regardless of the holiday's origins. I see Christmas as a secular holiday whose name happens to have vestigial Christian roots.
That said, I still prefer "Happy Holidays", for precisely the reasons you stated.
Saying "happy holidays" does not exclude Christians, it merely *includes* everyone else.
no subject
I see your points and basically agree with them, though in actuality I don't take any offense to "Merry Christmas". The reason is simply that, at least in the US, the "War on Christmas" ended decades before we were born, and Jesus lost. The "Jesus is the reason for the season" crowd are taking a position that, from a cultural standpoint, is only slightly less anachronistic than the redneck with "The South shall rise again" painted on his truck.
Jesus isn't the reason for the season. Setting aside axial tilt, big cozy family get-together with presents and Rankin/Bass specials on TV is the reason for the season. Even as someone who used to regularly attend mass on Christmas Eve and bought into the manger fable hook, line, and sinker, I could see that the primary cultural significance of Christmas had more to do with Santa and Jingle Bells than with Christianity. Sure, the Christian overtones were part of the whole celebratory storm for our family, but the main driver was the secular celebration, regardless of the holiday's origins. I see Christmas as a secular holiday whose name happens to have vestigial Christian roots.
That said, I still prefer "Happy Holidays", for precisely the reasons you stated.
Saying "happy holidays" does not exclude Christians, it merely *includes* everyone else.
May I quote you on that?