How often do you hear people express that the phrase "Merry Christmas" is upsetting or offensive to them?

Oh no, it’s a theist. You’re in trouble. :)

Only on Fluther, and even here, most people say they’re not offended, but then suggest that the “Merry Christmas” sayers change their behavior to suit others that might be offended. It actually encourages me to see that in the real world most people accept it as it’s most often given, in a spirit of cheer and good will. But there are always a few very loud voices that will bitch for or against.

ETA:Oh, @Adirondackwannabe you gonna get slapped now!

I have never heard a single person say they didn’t like to hear it or say it. It is much ado about nothing if you ask me.

It just seems very strange to me that there seems to be this huge movement of people who are saying “we want this, we want this,” but I haven’t actually seen anyone say that they can’t have it.

I don’t know if there is more of a fuss about it in this area and I have just had a lot of exposure, but, it baffles me that there is so much noise about an issue that I haven’t actually seen or heard of.

It’s like the big movement in the 70s to “Put the Christ Back in XMas” until someone pointed out that the “X” actually stands for Christ. Much ado and all that. Like I said, a few loud voices.

@JilltheTooth I still see that.

I have never personally heard a single person express an issue with the phrase “Merry Christmas”. What I do hear over and over and over and over is that there is a War on Christmas and, as you point out, lots of freaks running around saying this imaginary war tramples not only of their right to free speech but their freedom of religion. I roll my eyes, tell them happy holidays, and move on.

@SuperMouse : I am always amused by the irony of someone saying that their right to free speech is being restricted by someone else’s right to free speech.

Frankly, I don’t think much about it. Merry Christmas? Happy Holidays? It’s all the same to me. Christmas is not a religious thing as far as I’m concerned. It belongs to anyone who wants a part of it. Religion has nothing to do with it.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone express displeasure with it, or any holiday greeting for that matter.

It’s meaningless. I’ll bet if you asked 50 people what the word “Merry” meant, 45 of them would have no idea.

It’s just something that is repeated mindlessly, because everyone else says it. I’m not christian and never will be, but I’m not offended. It’s a “so what” type of thing.

I would liken it to how people say “have a nice day” or “no problem”. It means nothing at all.

I have never heard anybody express offense with hearing Merry Christmas, in “real” life (not internet world).

Seems we just beat this dead horse pretty soundly in recent days in another Q.
I have never had anyone take offense, I do not take any offense, I think the whole PC scene is outta control and I avoid hypersensitive people like the plague.
People need to get over their militant self importance, and over reactivity to benign little blips of cheerfulness. If it’s not your cup o’ tea, don;t drink it, and don;t feel the need to throw it back in someones face.

Smile, move on.

I think you kind of missed what it is that offends some people, @ANef_is_Enuf. There are a lot of people who very much resent the “Happy Holidays!” greeting, because it seems to them to be exclusive of Christ and Christmas. In other words, if you say a (to them) wishy-washy “Happy Holidays!” then you are somehow denying Christ.

Bah, humbug to them I say.

@Coloma do you remember which question it was? I don’t know if I missed it, but I’d like to read if I did.
I asked something (sort of) similar recently, but it was more about the “war on Christmas,” where this question is more cut and dry… I don’t know if that’s the conversation you are remembering, though.

@CWOTUS I think I found the culprit. ;)

@ANef_is_Enuf , Ya know, I don’t, maybe someone else remembers the title..it was only about a week ago I think. I stop following most Q’s quickly. I’m a move on quickly type. lol

@Coloma that’s okay, I was just curious. I’ll browse back a bit and see if anything, other than my own Q, pops up. :)

Never, but then i’m surrounded by happy people.

@ANef_is_Enuf There was a Q from chyna titled “Why is Merry Christmas offensive?” that spurred an epically long debate recently.

I see it the same as you, I see lots of people yelling about putting the Christ back in Christmas yet nobody yelling about taking Christ out of Christmas in the first place.

I still think it wouldn’t be that hard to just say Happy Holidays and cover your bases in case the person you’re talking to doesn’t celebrate Christmas, but that does not at all mean I am bothered in the least if somebody chooses not to. It’s just not a big deal, or shouldn’t be.

@Mariah thanks, I’ll look it up. Didn’t realize I was doing a big repeat.

I’m also a bit relieved to know that I’m not just clueless, but that I’m really not missing anything, because there is nothing to miss.

You’re not really doing a repeat, @ANef_is_Enuf , it’s a different part of the same issue.

I, too, have not seen nor heard a single person with my own eyes and ears say they were offended by someone saying Merry Christmas. Granted, I have never been inside an Islamic Temple.
I think the story that there is a “movement ” just makes good press. It’s the stuff that Rusty Limburger (intentionally misspelled to deprive him of hit counts) loves to promote.

Hey Nef. Merry Christmas! May your holiday be filled with happiness!

@ANef_is_Enuf I agree with Jill. It is a different take on the issue.

Aww, thank you @LuckyGuy! Back atcha!

@ANef_is_Enuf I’m offended!. Not! :-)

Well, I propose we change it to Merry Goosemas….I think geese should have a commemorative holiday in honor of 4 thousand years of domestication and their contributions as food, eggs, clothing, bedding and pillows. Honk!

When a store clerk tells me “Haooy Holidays,” I always respond with “Merry Christmas.”

So far I have only heard it here on Fluther (and even then, only by about 3 people).

The “War on Christmas” is a FOX news construct to stir things up and get ratings.

I think the so—called “War on Christmas” is yet another Faux News rightwing fallacy. I am a Jew and it is fine with me if you say “Merry Christmas”, “Happy Holidays” or nothing at all.

And @marinelife I owe you a Coke.

I’m and atheist and have no problem with people wishing me a Merry Christmas. That is much better than the typical F**k You!

I won’t say it, but I don’t care if anyone else does.

Wait. I will say it to my family, but only on December 25th and no other day.

There’s way too many Jews and non-Christians where I live and I don’t want to make assumptions and feel like an asshole.

Not only am I not offended by Merry Christmas, but if someone said to me “Happy Chanukah” I would not be offended, either. A friend invited me to her Chanukah celebration once, and I was happy she included me. She knew I was not Jewish (am not Jewish) but that was not the point – she thought I might like to join their celebration and that was a good thing. I don’t see why that would or would not be any more offensive, and like @Coloma said, if it’s not your cup of tea, just don’t drink it.

It seems like sometimes, people are going out of their way to be offended by things.

I have never seen anyone just spontaneously say that the phrase “merry Christmas” is offensive. The entire idea seems to have been created by a select group of American Christians attempting to get themselves a little publicity. I’ve seen people express the view that it might offend people, but even then only because the topic had already been raised. My wife has also been offended by its use, but only because it was used in a condescending way and preceded by a ten minute lecture about how important it is to use “merry Christmas” instead of “happy holidays.”

As for “happy holidays,” people seem to bristle very quickly when it is suggested that this phrase might somehow be more appropriate. Given that the “Christmas season” now begins prior to Thanksgiving, it is worth noting that the phrase need not be interpreted as a reference to Chanukah or Kwanzaa. Indeed, “happy holidays” began as a more efficient way of saying “merry Christmas and happy New Year,” as did “season’s greetings” (which goes back to Victorian times).

That these phrases are both more inclusive is a simple fact, not an attack; nor is pointing out that fact in any way an assertion that “merry Christmas” should not be used. Again, it’s just another false furor people raise. We’re never going to be able to have honest conversation if every observation and statement of preference is taken as a challenge rather than simply an expression of where someone is starting from in the conversation.

There is an argument for saying “Happy Holidays” rather than “Merry Christmas” since the second does assume that the recepient celebrates it and many Americans don’t as @tinyfaery says. I just don’t think that anyone is going around waging war on the saying of it or on the holiday itself. Trumped up nonsense from Fox? What a shock!

Atheist here. I don’t get too wrapped up in all the sentimental bullshit with Christmas, for me it’s just a tradition I was brought up with, I never had the religious connection shoved down my throat.. For me it has always been a time for family & friends to get together, exchange gifts & generally just have a good drink & make merry…… My family & friends have always said either; “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Christmas”… It’s the “Happy holidays” that’s a little alien to me. I never came across this until a few years ago… when I did query it, I was told it was a devised greeting from the P.C. brigade on the correct etiquette in wishing strangers ‘well’ over the Christmas holidays as some people might feel that their religious beliefs may be infringed on by mentioning ‘Christ’mas…. I took it that they were talking about people of a Muslim background being offended ( what with the increasing multicultural society we live in )……I don’t subscribe to this myself but does it make me ignorant to carry on wishing friends family & work colleagues a “ Merry Christmas” :-/ or should I be saying “happy holidays”??? to keep the P.C. brigade off my back…....
Or should I just stick to, Propa Crimbo :-)

@ANef_is_Enuf You’re right. I never heard anyone say it’s offensive in person and never heard of a story from another person that it was. I’ve been following the political news everyday for 9 years and thanks to your question, I just realized the media has been feeding us this probably “greatly blown-up to exaggerated proportions irrelevant news”.

I think it’s kind of like the “Mommy Wars” thing. Periodically, over the last 30 years, I’ve heard about the “Mommy Wars” on talk shows, morning shows, etc. I was both a working Mom and a Stay At Home Mom and in Real Life I never heard anyone take issue with anyone else about whether they stayed at home or went out to work. Lotsa hype, no substance.

The “war on Christmas” is not only portrayed by Fox News. I’ve seen many stories about this topic on many different news media outlets. If I had the time I could search for many news articles that are not from Fox, but I don’t. Here’s is one from ABC

If you’re going to blame Fox, please do your research. They aren’t the only ones with this story!

To answer the question, the only people I hear complaining about this war on Christmas is a handful from Fluther, a handful a friends on Facebook and the various news organizations I pay attention to.

In my face-to-face people life? Not that I can recall. Only at home have we talked about it amongst ourselves what we’d like to hear or what we tell others in public. It’s not been that big a deal.

Small towns or tight neighborhoods are very different than a large suburb or city as far as what people say to each other in public. I’ve noticed here in our huge suburbs that people say as little to each other as possible, it’s more relaxed in the cities and in small towns and neighborhoods people tend to know each other more and are more specific with their greetings.

@jonsblond Fox doesn’t get blamed for being the only outlet to push the story. It gets blamed for being the instigator.

One of my favorite anonymous sayings is ” He is a walking grievance just LOOKING for a cause.”
Pretty much sums it up. Some people are hair trigger because of their own stuff and just love to find any excuse to bitch, whine, complain, spread around their miserable mindsets.

@SavoirFaire Do you have links to back that up? They are just reporting the stories like everyone else. I’m not going to get into a second grade argument about who did it first.

I hear that it’s an issue, but I’ve never had anyone directly tell me that it’s offending. Mostly I just hear it on the Internet lol. Guess maybe I live in a bubble too. But I live in a French town…we don’t really have this issue. We do have both phrases for merry Christmas and happy holidays, but nobody argues about it.
Personally, I don’t give a shit lol. Happy Halloween yall! :D

It’s seeing persecution/oppression where there is none. Nothing brings people together like persecution, whether it’s real or perceived.

I have never in person heard anyone say that “Merry Christmas” was offensive to them. I do believe that I have seen it on Fluther.
I have heard some Christians complain that people were saying “Happy Holidays” instead of Merry Christmas and they seemed upset about that.
I have heard about the “war on Christmas” on several different news shows and print articles.
I don’t care what you say as long as it’s said with good wishes and not with a sneer.

Wasn’t there a Q on Fluther a few days ago where some people expressed dismay over being told Merry Christmas?

(I haven’t read above, so forgive me if I’m repeating anyone)

The only thing I have heard against saying Merry Christmas over here in the UK, was that merry gave the connotation of being drunk, and that it was more pc to say Happy Christmas. Despite living in a very diverse society over here, the wishing of Chrismas greetings of whatever sort are completely the norm, whether someone is a believer in the Christian God or not.

@harple I’m always “merry” Christmas or not. Hmm, Have a Merry Halloween sounds good too! Lol. : )

Last week we had this discussion.
It got quite impasssioned at times.

I have never personally heard anyone within earshot complain about it. Then again, I try my hardest to avoid the type of people who would be offended by a simple phrase.

There is a primary school here in Sydney that banned the phrase, and any associated Christian symbolism, for fear of offending Jewish and Muslim families that were part of the school community. I don’t think it is the only one.

@jonsblond Are you asking me to prove that people blame Fox for being the instigator (which is what I claimed) or that Fox was actually the instigator (which is not what I claimed, but which seems to be what you are asking about)? Assuming the latter, see this article from Time magazine, in which John Gibson and Bill O’Reilly are credited with bringing the issue into the mainstream.

@wilma I said it as part of that discussion, and I’ll say it again here: I can’t figure out why people insist on reading that thread as involving impassioned responses.

I think when someone points out that maybe Happy Holidays makes sense, because you might be talking to someone who does not celebrate Christmas that gets all twisted and bent out of shape into someone suggesting you should not say Merry Christmas. The suggestion of it, to maybe enlighten someone (which was a point I made on one of the other Q’s to someone who lived in a very Christian community in the bible belt and did not understand Simone’s point that in NYC there are so many people who don’t celebrate Christmas and so religiously diverse it is odd to assume to say Merry Christmas) I had to say multiple multiple multiple times that if someone says Merry Christmas to me, I happily say Merry Christmas back. It seemed because I explained the rationale behind Happy Holidays I was a Merry Christmas hater or something. The war on Christmas is in the mind of the Christians not the nonChristians in my opinion. And, I do NOT mean all Christians, I mean those loud few that feed on that crap.

The irony of course is some people want to insist on Merry Christmas being said, but feel insisting on Happy Holidays is horrible? Why is one insistance less worthy than the other? As Dominicx said on that other Q Pot calling the kettle black.

I personally don’t know anyone who is pissed off if someone says Merry Chrsitmas to them.

I’ve never seen or heard anyone complain about saying Merry Christmas personally. Maybe negativity about saying Merry Christmas is more likely to occur in more populated areas, I don’t know.

Where I work, I’ve been on the receiving end of ‘Merry Christmas’ being delivered with an in-your-face attitude. I don’t care if someone uses the phrase. I do care if that someone is up in my face about using the phrase. I’m certainly not going to say Merry Christmas to the total stranger bent on being rude to me.

@SavoirFaire I was referring to all the modded answers on that thread. I was there before they were modded and some of them were quite impassioned.

I’ve come to the conclusion that people claiming that others are offended by the phrase is actually a straw man. It gives social conservatives something to complain about, and wraps up the time of others talking about it instead of real issues.

@incendiary_dan Nice observation. That might be why I never hear about that unless it’s on the net or television. :/

@Symbeline and @incendiary_dan , I think you might be on to something there.
Facebook, TV reports, forwarded emails and Fluther, are the only places I hear any complaints from either side of this debate. Obviously some people are unhappy about what they think other folks are thinking or saying, but for most people it’s a non-issue.

@wilma and @SavoirFaire: maybe if the OP from the other question requests the mods move it to Social instead of General, then all of the original comments will return for all to see.

@incendiary_dan I considered quoting your post from the other thread because I think it was spot on, but I figured you’d show up here sooner or later. Perhaps I should repost my comment as well.

@wilma and @jca Most of the moderated posts are just general silliness. They weren’t even on topic, so I can’t see reading them as impassioned rants about the phrase “merry Christmas.” Even the personal attacks were off-topic. I suppose it’s up for interpretation, not being able to hear tone over the internet and all, but I just don’t see it.

The “War on Christmas” anecdote I posted on the other thread is below. The basic point I was making at the time was that the phrase “merry Christmas” is not itself offensive, though one can make it offensive by one’s attitude.

———————————————————————————————————————————————
When the switch from “merry Christmas” to “happy holidays” began, my wife was working her first management job in retail. At the time, it was presented as an economic decision: “holiday” items were selling better than “Christmas” items, and people greeted with “happy holidays” had been discovered by her store’s analysts to purchase items that were not specifically Christmas items (including items with a general winter theme and New Year’s Eve items) at a greater rate than people greeted with “merry Christmas” (who primarily purchased Christmas-themed items). The free market rules when Christmas has become about cash, so “merry Christmas” was out.

Note that it was not until two years later that any of the “War on Christmas” bullshit began. What had started out as a market decision made by a small group of companies had expanded the next year (retail is a constant arms race, after all, and managers bring strategies with them when they change employers) and continued to expand after that. As the market strategy became more common, someone noticed and decided to take what had started out as pure capitalism and turn it into an atheist conspiracy.

This had its backlash in a certain group of Christians deciding to take it upon themselves to go around forcing the phrase “merry Christmas” into their conversations—this happened several times to my wife, even when she moved to a store that still sprinkled the word “Christmas” all over their store and had associates use both greeting phrases—thus making the phrase offensive. In other words, there was no problem until a select group of Christians decided to make it a problem.

Just as an expirement, all day Tuesday wish people a Happy Chanukah, see if they say it back.

I know that can be misconstrued as though I am aggravated by Merry Christmas, which I am not at all, I just still find it ironic that anyone can say there is a war on Christmas, when Happy holidays includes Christmas, amd I have never seen anyone make a big deal about Merry Christmas, and I have lived in parts of the country that are extremely doverse and huge percentages of Jewish people in some places.

One example on the other Q was people don’t get upset if someone says Happy Chanukah to them. Well, usually people only use happy Chanukah if they think the person they are talking to is Jewish, usually for a specific reason, either they know for sure, or see a last name and make an assumption etc. It is trying to show acknowledgement for the person’s holiday, not insisting the speaker gets to wish whatever he wants to wish because it is his own holiday. I completely understand people are accustomed to saying Merry Christmas, it makes them feel good, they only have good intentions, I completely accept that, but they should not be annoyed by those who prefer Happy Holidays, that is what bothers me, and shop owners can ask their employees to say whatever he thinks best fits his business.

I don’t recall anyone being annoyed by Happy Holidays on that other thread, @JLeslie , just a bit annoyed that so many said that Happy Holidays is a better choice.

@JilltheTooth I don’t see the difference. Maybe you can explain it to me?

I am not trying to pick on anyone in the collective, but just talking in generalities.

Let’s say Macy’s, one of the biggest, if not the biggest department store chains in the US developed a policy to say Happy Chanukah when they ring up a sale. Don’t you think the right winger, chain email starter, some of Fox newsers, people would be saying things like I guess Macy’s doesn’t want to sell any Christmas presents, their Jewish CEO has now killed his business. Some bullshit like that? No one is saying anything like that on the other side, so that is why I think the idea of the War on Christmas is made up by the vocal few who like to start something, like to feel under attack, that is their normal state of being, they have become accustomed to it. It is no different than the minority who always feels under attack, same principle in my mind.

I said it over there, not doing it again, here, sorry I mentioned it, too late to edit, just ignore it.

@JilltheTooth No problem, I’ll look at it.

@JLeslie & anyone else….. But there is a war on Christmas. It’s not made up. Just look at my link from my very first post. Atheist groups are targeting nativity displays throughout the country. How is that not a war against Christmas? They use the excuse that the nativity display shouldn’t be on public property. A display that has been on public property without any problems for decades. Why attack the displays now with banners reading “God is a fairy tale” ?

Go ahead and let atheists have a holiday of their own and put up their displays on public property. Why do they have to put something up that is a direct attack against Christmas during the time it is celebrated? I’m agnostic/atheist (can’t make up my mind, tis why I’m agnostic) I grew up looking at nativity displays in public places my entire life. The town nearest us has a display at the public park. They never made me feel insecure about my beliefs. My husband is atheist and feels the same way. A nativity display is not going to harm anyone. Please tell me how this is not a war against Christmas.

@jonsblond I hate atheist messages that say things like God is a fairytale. But, it seems some Christians don’t get what it is like to have Christianity in our faces all over the place. Maybe when they cease and desist, the worked up atheists will too. I waver on how I feel about the public property thing. If they allow one they should allow all, but I still would not want an atheist message, I only mean allow all religious symbols. Writing God is a fairytale to me is, not the same as a nativity seen, it is the same as a message that literally says something about Jesus. My waver is because we have God mentioned on some government things and places historically, so it is difficult to say we should get rid of it, but I am a strong believer of separation of church and state, and easily nativity scenes can be kept on private grounds, something engraved in stone for 150 years, well that is something different.

The bible belt feels the change more, because they have not given a shit about separation of church and state in general in many communities, so secularizing is seen as religion, God, Christmas, being taken away. But, the communities that have kind of always been fairly cognizant of keeping them separate, and who had diverse communities for a 100 years now, have always been that way.

But, asking employees to say Happy Holidays is not a war on Christmas in my opinion. Is that your opinion? I don’t remember what you might have said on that specifically. Again, I am completely fine with people using Merry Christmas, I can just understand the other side of the argument too. What I don’t get is people who prefer to use Merry Christmas, who don’t get the rationale on the other side. A simple, “yeah, I understand what you are saying, and see why Happy Holidays makes sense, but I still prefer to use Merry Christmas myself, because I always have, and my intention is basically to share good tidings.” A lot of people have described their good intent when saying Merry Christmas, which I completely accept, but many still fail to see why the other side makes some sense. A shop owner asking his employees to use Happy Holidays is not antiChristmas, that’s ridiculous.

I have never heard anyone object to a friendly “Merry Christmas”, but some people say it with a hostile attitude, usually when they’re speaking with a non-Christian. This weaponized form of greeting is what most people object to, I think.

@lonelydragon Have you actually heard someone say Merry Christmas in a hostile tone? I haven’t experienced that. It would surprise me if someone said that to me. What did you do?

@JLeslie I have experienced it, as has my wife. There are a few people around here like to force it, as if they’re trying to out you by seeing if you’ll say it back.

@SavoirFaire Wow. Saying Merry Christmas with hostility seems a little odd, doesn’t it? I don’t think I can’t say the two words without a smile on my face. They cause their own angry feelings.

@JLeslie It is very odd, I think. That’s the sad part about the trumped-up stories about a war on Christmas: it causes otherwise nice people to go around feeling like they have to be warriors for “their side.” There would be none of these weaponized holiday greetings if this whole charade had never started. Yes, there are fringe atheists who want to take Christmas away for good. There are also fringe Christians who want to take away every non-Christian holiday for good. But the overwhelming majority of both groups would be happy to live in peace if it weren’t for their respective evangelicals having a war in which the rest of us have no interest.

^Yep.

@SavoirFaire I have to say that where I live, as far as the retail stores go, no one seems too caught up in these things I don’t think. The only time I hear anything like war on Christmas where I live is if someone brings up the topic for discussion. I was in Pier 1 today and the whole place was practically Christmas. I don’t think I have ever been in one of their stores at Christmas time, it was amazing. Anyway, I was greeted at the door and I asked the sales person if they have a Chanukah section, she wasn’t sure. She asked her manager, and the manager said “no,” the salesgirl said, “I remember seeing it on the plans.” the manager replied, “only some stores have it.” The salesgirl apologized to me, can’t remember what she said, but she basically was saying it wasn’t fair. I reassured her it was fine, that I know the area does not have a lot of Jewish people. Mostly everyone wants to be helpful. If I say Happy Holidays they say it back. I have not had any bad experiences in stores that’s for sure.

@JLeslie I have never had that actually happen to me, but sometimes when I am out I have overheard it said to others that way. As @SavoirFaire said, it’s like the greeter is daring the other person to contradict him/her. Most of the time the other person was polite and said nothing rude to provoke the greeter. So much for peace and goodwill.

Just to add another dimension to the question, I just received a couple emails from customers in Malaysia wishing me a Merry Christmas. The way I see it, if Muslims aren’t bothered wishing us Merry Christmas, why should anyone else be offended?

Malaysia has one of the worlds largest Muslim population and also has citizens that are Christians, Hindu, Buddhist. The only real problems is that there are almost 30 National Holidays.

Relevant.

I have several Muslim friends. We just had a Christmas party last night and a majority of the guests were Persian Muslims and really enjoyed the gift giving ritual and playing that gift stealing game. They had so much fun as they had never played it before.
We have another Muslim friend who is Palestinian and he has celebrated Christmas his whole life. (Although my Persian friend jokingly calls him an infidel.)
Muslims acknowledge Jesus, and show more respect towards Mary that Christians (except Catholics maybe.) We learn more about Mary from their ancient texts than we do the Bible.
They just disagree with Christians on the divinity of Christ.

I just got a Christmas card from a student in Hong Kong. No idea what his religion is or if he is even religious though. I have never come across this ‘anti’ Merry Christmas thing thankfully. I have not noticed anyone here in shops or elsewhere saying anything but Merry Christmas.

@Ron_C So the Muslim wished the Christian Merry Christmas. Aren’t you supporting the side of the argument that we should (should is strong) wish the person what is appropriate for them, not ourselves? The people who have argued the strongest on this Q and other Q’s for wanting to be able to say Merry Christmas is because they want to say it because they celebrate Christmas themselves. So, if we relate that to your example, that would be the Muslims wishing you Happy Ramadan (I know that is not a December holiday, but it is one of the more well known Muslim holidays).

@JLeslie Alternatively, since they were customers, it may support my point about how much of this is ultimately a market decision that a small group has blown out of proportion. But really, there could be any number of explanations.

@JLeslie my point was that the whole idea of wishing a person happy holidays or merry Christmas is more of a human response, not a religious one. By the way since Ramadan is a month of penance and fasting, I don’t think Happy Ramadan is appropriate.

According to Jewish comedian Herschel Krustofski, the proper holiday greetings are as follows:

Merry Christmas
Happy Chanukah
Kwazy Kwanza
Tip-top Tet
Solemn, dignified Ramadan

According to everyone else, the proper Ramadan greeting is “blessed Ramadan.”

@Ron_C Yeah, I know. It’s like when people say Happy Yum Kippur. It’s not really a happy holiday.

The original question is if people show a negative response if someone wishes them Merry Christmas. I still say your example does not really address the point. No one who argues Happy Holidays is better either in social situations or business is talking about the religion of the one speaking, they are talking about the person receiving the well wishes.

Only the adamant Merry Christmasers talk about it from the perspective of their own religious belief or holiday celebrations.

Happy Festivus everyone!

Merry Christmas, folks.

Yay, the shortest day is past, my friends and family are all well, there are presents under the tree, there’s a tree, Happily to all for whatever the reason you choose. And a Big Old Merry Christmas from my heart to everyone.

@JilltheTooth And, a Merry Christmas to you!

Oh, and thanks for pointing out the days will start getting longer, I hate the short days.

Ugh, the annual death throws of a religion losing global significance. No one has a problem with “Merry Christmas.” Well, some do, but they’re about as significant a number as those offended by condoms being sold without a prescription. The “War on Christmas” is just a nice way of making people good, angry, media consumers, during a season traditionally geared towards goodwill and fraternity.

Yes Newt, actually politicians are allowed to say “Merry Christmas”

Actually, Rush, children do not get suspended from school for saying “Merry Christmas.”

The only ones that ever had a problem are major corporations who prefer homogenous inclusiveness in all matters. Once they discovered that non-Christians exist and spend money, instructing cashiers or waiters to say “happy holidays” was deemed easier than worrying about offending someone, whether or not anyone actually asked for it. Someone then came up with an ignorant story about how “it’s the law now” or “the NAACP made them do it,” plugged it into the echo chamber, and now you hear the bullshit more often than “Jingle Bells” this time of year.