What do you think about Merry Christmas being changed to Happy Holidays?
Just curious as it is now the Holiday season!
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I think it makes sense in a way. I mean, during this month there is more than one holiday. I don’t understand why people get upset over it.
NO THANKS.. sounds too American to me! lol
I object and I don’t remember being consulted.
How do you mean ‘being changed’? Do you mean when you’re shopping or something on television?
Merry Christmas was not changed to Happy Holidays. The other holidays have always been there and are simply now included. They don’t say Happy Holidays But Screw Christmas. I like the inclusivity of it.
I like it not every one celebrates Christmas this is a multi cultural nation like me I celebrate Yule
Happy holidays is a perfectly respectful and, frankly, appropriate thing to say. There are many of us who do not celebrate the holidays because of a belief in Christ or because of spiritual obligation. We celebrate the opportunity to all have a day off where a family can actually get together at one time and see each other. We celebrate because the holidays are a time for family.
We say happy holidays because we aren’t in denial of the fact that this is a country where people have varied belief systems and cultures. Happy holidays is all inclusive. It doesn’t matter if you’re Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, or a nontheist—a wish for the holidays to be joyful is still sincere, and still applicable.
This holiday season is not dependent upon religious practices and the joy that goes with it is not reserved for those who celebrate it for one sectarian reason or another.
I speak as an atheist who is going to happily celebrate this holiday season not by going to midnight mass or by putting out a tree, but by being joyful that I have an opportunity to see my family and friends. I give gifts to show my appreciation to the people that I love for simply being there to be cared about.
/rant
People complaining about this is a bit of a pet peeve. Not that you’re complaining about it, Gecko. I just hear it a lot, especially because I read the editorials in the newspaper. Augh. If I hear one more person say that I should be Christian BECAUSE I get a day off, I am going to scream.
Some places in my city have changed it. Some of these out of “courtesy”, some of these by court order. YVR, Vancouver international airport was ordered to remove all Christmas trees and “Merry Christmas” greetings because a Jewish church filed a complaint.
@gemiwing – I don’t think you’re understanding the question. It is not officially changed, BUT it is now politically correct to say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”
I for one do not like how the vast majority of Canadian’s and American’s celebrate and have celebrated this holiday for years, along with “Merry Christmas” being the official tagline and now it must be changed as others who come to our countries do not like how we don’t conform to their standards.
Sorry ; BUT for me it has been “merry Christmas” for over 60 years and wil continue to be “MERY CHRISTMAS” until I die…
I wasn’t aware it had been changed. I’ll continue saying what I have always said all of my life, and that is “Merry Christmas.” Others can say whatever they like, and it won’t bother me at all.
@LeopardGecko Oh, I’m quite sure I understood the question. My answer stands.
No one’s telling you that you can’t wish people a Merry Christmas, some people/businesses/organizations are just trying to be inclusive. Which is cool. It says “Hey I realize not every one thinks the same thing as me and that’s ok with me.”
I received an email from a closed minded family member requesting that everyone boycott a certain store this holiday season because they were acknowledging an Arab holiday in their ad. This is ridiculous to me. News Flash, not everyone living in America is a Christian, and it is actually quiet pleasant to acknowledge other people’s traditions and holidays. I don’t care what any one says, as long as I can say exactly what I want to say, whether it’s Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, or Bah Humbug.
If you want to wish someone a Merry Christmas, say “Merry Christmas”. If you don’t know what holiday they celebrate say “Happy Holidays”.
I believe it should be left up to personal choice.
Although I thought “Happy Holidays” had been in use for quite a long time now.
There are 23 holidays between Thanksgiving and New Years day…. Happy Holiday is inclusive. Merry Christmas is Exclusive.
“Happy Holidays” is respectful and inclusive. I find it offensive when people assume that I celebrate the same holidays that they do.
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@LeopardGecko: ”[...] now it must be changed as others who come to our countries do not like how we don’t conform to their standards.”
So basically you want others to respect your traditions without you having to respect theirs.
I would always say happy holidays around this time of year, but I’d switch to merry Christmas when it’s actually Christmas. Why? Because at this time of year, there are multiple holidays. It’s not just Christmas time. If I say happy holidays, I’m covering all bases. Otherwise, I’d feel like I’d have to say merry Christmas, happy boxing day, happy Hanukkah, happy yule…. etc.
GA @randomness. Why would you say “Merry Christmas” if it’s not Christmas? You wouldn’t say “Happy Easter” three weeks before Easter because it’s the “Easter season…” Because of all these other wintertime holidays, this is the “holiday season” – making it therefore appropriate to say Happy Holidays.
i am dead set against it!! im not particularly a traditionalist but hey come on, some things must be sacred!
@HighShaman & @YCLYHO I agree 100%. It’s Christmas, for God’s sake. You see Happy Holidays everywhere now. All this political correctness crap is not for me. I’ll tell you Merry Christmas every time.
In the US it makes sense. We are a multicultural society. But I don’t think that Christians should be bashed for saying Merry Christmas; just that they shouldn’t dominate things or put their symbols on public property, nor should any religious group.
”[...] some things must be sacred!”
So, again, your holiday should be respected, but nobody else’s. So rude.
I think I’m going to start responding to every “Merry Christmas” with “Happy Solstice.” Maybe I’ll even try performing unwanted blessings on people.
It’s a matter of being polite. If you don’t know what holiday someone celebrates just play it safe and say ‘Happy Holidays’. The saying has come because this is a diverse country, one saying does not fit all.
nah, i like my Merry Christmas. although, if you’re not a christmas person, happy holidays i’ll accept :)
It makes buying greeting cards for different people easier, though.
Hey, Happy Kwanza to everyone. Or how about if everyone said Happy Hannukah. Does that sound inclusive, or exclusive? I mean, the events leading to Hannukah did come first….
@MacBean – I’m referring exclusively to those who are mass immigrating to this country. Yes I do believe that they should respect mine and we shouldn’t respect theirs. It’s selfish for anybody to come into another country which has already had traditions in place and expect them to change.
@MacBean on behalf of @YCLYHO – Yes, that’s exactly how it should be, as far as I’ve checked this country was dominated completely by Merry Christmas-‘ers until immigration started. When this happened, things started to change.
I’ve got entire cities here in Vancouver that are dominated solely by certain races who refuse to learn the English language and part from their traditions. We even have some East Indians refusing to remove their turbans because they can’t put a helmet on to ride a motorcycle (they won by the way)
How would you like it if a homeless person came into your house which you graciously invited him to, and he began to complain about how he doesn’t like everything inside and that he wants it all to change? Not very fair. I realize that in the US and Canada we are immigrant’s ourselves coming from Europe. But we asserted ourselves into this country much more firmly than others who are coming over in the masses every day. (At least as far as Canada goes). My main problem with this is that the inhabitants of Canada must offer comfort and relinquish our own traditions so that others will be able to thrive in theirs. I strongly believe that if you come to another country that you respect their values, laws and traditions. I’m not going to immigrate to India and expect them to put all cows into slaughter houses am I? And I’m definitely not going to file a complaint because they didn’t do as I ask.
I think I may as well add, that I am NOT racist. Do not laugh. I have no problem with people of different colours, and I do happen to have many friends who are not Caucasian, the only discrepancy that I have against them is that they refuse to drop their traditions when they immigrate to another country. I feel the same way against Caucasian Jewish and Caucasian Muslims….whatever, name it. I for one am also not a Christian either, and only celebrate Christmas because this is how my parents were brought up by their Christian parents and this is how I was brought up by my non-theist parents.
Happy Hannukah
and Merry Christmas everyone!!!
Mere respect does not garnish a relinquish of your own traditions. It is kind to respect other people’s traditions. I’m not a christian, but I sure do value some kindness when it comes to tolerating others. My country was founded on the freedom to practice whichever religion you choose. We can find room in our existence for other people to practice what they want, speak their own language and have their own traditions without thinking it’s taking something away from our own traditions, languages or holidays.
Tolerance and understanding goes a long way. Happy Holidays!!
Changed? Changed how? There’s no way to officially change this.
I think if you feel like saying “Merry Christmas” you should do it, and anything else you feel like saying should be equally accepted. If someone wished me a happy Hannukah or Happy Holidays or Kwanzaa or whatever, I would be thrilled to even get such a kind and thoughtful wish. It would be real snotty of me to get all huffy because I celebrate something else. I would say “thank you!” for any happy well-wishes.
@LeopardGecko: ”I think I may as well add, that I am NOT racist. Do not laugh.”
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
We really shouldn’t oppress the Christian majority with our hateful Happy Holidays.
I think it’s lame. Everyone trying to make everyone else comfortable.. what ever happened to free speech?
@J0E Huh?
Wouldn’t you say “Happy Holidays” for every holiday? Why just Christmas / New years?
Theoretically, yes you could. But this holiday happens to have more diversity than, lets say Valentines day.
@J0E I still don’t understand your response. What does being polite have to do with… oh nevermind…. lol.. this can’t end well.
What I mean is, I see at more of a polite gesture, rather than suppressing free speech. Instead of looking like an idiot and saying “Merry Christmas” to a jewish person you might as well just cover all bases and say “Happy Holidays”.
@NaturalMineralWater perhaps putting yourself in the shoes of someone who isn’t of your faith might shed some light.
@NaturalMineralWater: “I think it’s lame. Everyone trying to make everyone else comfortable..”
Essentially you are saying “Making people comfortable is lame.” That’s not very polite.
Call me OLD FASHION, but the Holiday is Christmas and Christmas represents an event (of Biblical proportion) I say leave it Merry Christmas. Now about trying to please those from other lands?? Well like they say, “When in America, do as the Americans do”. Sorry, but you would not see other countries trying to cater to your Holidays.
why dont you just call it “happy stolen pagan customs .”
@druebeall No you wouldn’t, and that’s why America is so great. We do try to cater to everyone, and that isn’t a bad thing. Christmas is one holiday among many, surely you can see that. Say ‘Merry Christmas’ to those who celebrate Christmas, ‘Happy Hanukkah’ to those who celebrate Hanukkah, ‘Happy Kwanza’ to those who celebrate Kwanza, etc, etc, etc. Why would we lump them all into one?
What would Jesus do? I suspect he’d love and respect others, and encourage everyone else to do the same.
@Macbean – LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
@MacBean and “suspect” is all you can do .
I still say “Merry Christmas” regardless. I don’t think it offends anyone and I think it’s dumb to say “Happy Holidays”. When I lived in a predominantly Muslim country I heard “Eid Mubarak” all the time and it didn’t bother me because I understood that they were celebrating Eid. Likewise, if someone told me “Happy Hanukkah” I wouldn’t care.
The problem I have with this “when in Rome do as the Romans do” idea is that the United States was founded by individuals seeking religious freedom. Indeed, the 1st Amendment of the Constitution highlights the separation of church and state. For people to then behave as if the US is a de facto Christian country is appalling to those of us who aren’t Christian.
And also some who are, actually.
@druebeall The United States Supreme Court most certainly favors my interpretation of the separation clause. In contrast, the website you linked is quite slanted in favor of religion, and thus cannot be considered unbiased (just because they call it All About History doesn’t make it a reputable source). For instance, here is the about section from the same website. Let me quote from the site (grammatical errors and all) “Many people refer to us as “Christians,” but we consider ourselves followers of Jesus….We also believe that ultimate, saving Truth is found only through God’s Son, Jesus Christ.” If their interpretation of the separation clause of the Constitution isn’t biased in favor of Christianity, then call me St. Nick.
I understand saying Happy Holidays. Not everyone celebrates the same thing. I say Happy Holidays to people I don’t know personally.
It’s saying Merry X-mas instead of Merry Christmas that I find silly.
Response moderated
No one is stopping us saying Merry Christmas they are just giving us other options incase we are unsure of someones religious beliefs. This is not a bad thing. If there was a law that said no one was allowed to say Merry Christmas ever again then I could understand why people may get annoyed but there isn’t. I am not an athiest but I am also not overly religious and although my faith is mostly based on Christianity, Christmas is not an important time of year for me (and yes, @The_Anonymous_Witch I am aware of the Pagan celebration that Christmas was adapted from and I don’t pretend that Christmas didn’t come from that) so I don’t really care what people say to me as long as they mean well when they say it. Happy Channukah is fine, Merry Christmas is fine, Happy Holidays is fine, they are all positive wishes and that is what matters to me.
what people here dont seem to understand is ,, it should not be how you feel about it saying it ,,, but how they would feel about being said to.
many here are saying ‘oh i dont mind what they say its a greeting ” etc…. what if a satan worshiper said “satan praise you !” to you ?. or someone yelled “white power ! ” to you? —-to them its a nice greeting of their belief .. but i bet you would be offended for them pushing it on you and assuming .
its the same thing !
@The_Anonymous_Witch Thank you for the Yule greetings!
Personally I think about how I would feel if someone wished me happy Channukah or happy (insert individual faith greeting here) and it wouldn’t be an issue. I would say thank you and go ahead with my day. I doubt I would give it much thought. If someone said “White Power” to me then yes, I would find that offensive but I consider that to be completely different to wishing someone a merry christmas or happy Channukah etc
not different at all .. its assuming and placing the belief on you. without consideration….and
to some pagans its like someone pulling up in your stolen car smileing and beeping the horn at you.
@The_Anonymous_Witch In that case you are perfectly within your rights to tell them that, because you don’t share their beliefs you would rather they didn’t wish you a merry christmas. Although the basic idea that it’s “assuming and placing the belief” on another person may be true I think that anyone that compares Merry Christmas or Happy Channukah or whatever to “White Power” doesn’t fully understand what white power means. White power is not about wishing someone happiness on a certain day/time period of the year it is much much more serious and offensive than that and that is why I can’t compare the two, even though I understand (although don’t agree with 100%) what you are saying about assuming belief. You told us to put ourselves in the shoes of those with different faith and imagine how we would feel if someone wished us happiness on a holiday that we didn’t celebrate. I did what you asked and told you how I would feel. I am not forcing anything on anyone by saying Merry Christmas I am merely wishing them happiness at that time of year and I don’t believe that anyone wishing me a happy Kwanza is forcing their beliefs on me.
isaid placing ,, not forcing
@The_Anonymous_Witch What I said above still applies, I am not placing or assuming anything on anyone and I don’t believe anyone is placing or assuming anything on me by wishing me happiness at the time of their chosen holiday.
i would advise that you dont yell “go leafs go” at an oilers game then. ;-)
I think you both, Leanne and AnonW, bring up a good point. I think that if one is in the majority it’s easier to accept alternative greetings of faith. Yet, if one is in the minority it might feel like ‘yet another person’ who is pushing their beliefs everywhere. Perhaps it has to do with the occurrence of hearing beliefs that aren’t our own and how that can test one’s patience over time, leading people to react a certain way over time about the issue.
I know if I loved purple and 80% of everyone else liked red, I would be sick to death of hearing about how great red is and everyone telling me that they hope I have a red day. While they may not, personally, be ‘forcing’ their love of red on me, it would certainly drone on to the point that I would feel like they were. Especially if half of those who loved red were trying to push a Red Agenda onto me and telling me purple is wrong and horrid. I would eventually lump all Red Lovers together and filter my future experiences through my past experiences with Red Lovers.
@gemiwing Yes, I understand which is why I am happy to say “Happy Holidays” rather than “Merry Christmas”, I never denied that and it probably helps that I am not an overly religious person nor do I care much for Christmas. However, the reason I defended “Merry Christmas” as much as I did was because it was being compared to “white power” which I can’t agree with. The two may be similar in as much as they are linked to a belief of some sort but wishing someone well for a certain time of year is so different from wishing extreme racial violence/death on someone who’s skin is a different colour to yours.
@Leanne1986 I agree with your point about White Power not being the same as Merry Christmas. It just made me think about how, to some people, it could be viewed as just as hurtful and filled with hate. I know that sounds simplistic, yet I could see how someone could feel that way.
@gemiwing I understand that too which is why everyone has the right to say “I’d rather you didn’t wish me happy whatever because I don’t believe in that particular holiday” I’m sure any decent person who oblige and keep their mouth shut at that point. For those of us who have been raised to celebrate Christmas it is sometimes second nature to say Merry Christmas at this time of year especially those of us who live in country where Christmas is a major holiday. Even my Hindi friend participates in Christmas and sends out Christmas cards because she has lived here for so long, she doesn’t believe in it but she enjoys the celebrations (and time off work!!!) with her friends here. If I am aware that someone is against the idea of Christmas then of course I won’t wish them merry christmas but until that someone informs me of their beliefs or lack of then I think it is silly for anyone to assume that a force of habit like “merry christmas” is meant as an offence or that I am placing my belief on them.
Personally I just wish everyone would be a little less sensitive and a little more accepting. Only say merry christmas if you don’t mind hearing happy Channukah back!
@Leanne1986 Perhaps the trouble is with the shortage of decent people, then? I worked in retail at holiday time and I can’t tell you how many people would yell at me and scream (one man threatened violence) because I wished them Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. It would seem that polite people are in short supply.
Where I live, I wish people would be more sensitive. That most likely shapes my own view about the conversation. I feel like I’m living with heartless rock-people at times.
@gemiwing I have also seen people react badly when wished happy holidays, these people seriously need to get over themselves and are far too sensitive about their own beliefs and not enough about other peoples.
easy on the “white power” thing .. it was an example ... but since you want to go there and dont see a connection as to why people may not want to be associated with either…. here you go look
makes complete sense to me Anonymous the problem is you are speaking to a mostly deaf audience they have made up there minds and that is all they want to hear anything else is heresy to them
” You cant teach some that which they think they already know ”
@MacBean No that’s not what I said at all Mr. Straw Man. What I said was… “everyone trying to make everyone else comfortable” That taken to an extreme is ridiculous in my opinion.. because try as you might.. you will never please everyone… But ok… perhaps the 4 who gave you lurve for misunderstanding my statement are comfortable.. XD
@The_Anonymous_Witch I don’t know how many times I will have to tell you that I am not overly religious myself and I don’t give a crap about Christmas so please don’t get me confused with one of those people that claims everything in the Bible is true and is in denial about some of the horrible things that it teaches. I’m not. All I said is that simply saying “Merry Christmas” is nowhere near as bad as saying “White Power” and your link does not change my mind about that. Most people that “celebrate” Christmas are not religious nowadays and so what the Bible teaches have nothing to do with why they are wishing someone happiness around a certain time of the year.
I am all for saying Happy Holidays if you wish and personally don’t care what someone says to me if it’s well wishing and I don’t completely disagree with you in certain aspects but I do think that if you are going to give examples to back up your arguement then in this case white power was the wrong one, hence why I jumped on it. The way I see it, the average person wishing me a merry christmas is not supporting the mass violence/death inflicted on someone of a different race where as someone who says white power most probably is. That is the difference.
@druebeall No thanks. I’ll do my own research, when needed (this is not one of those times). FWIW, Do you really think a site called alliancedefensefund is going to be objective?
Well, ambiguities are part of any language.
Merry Christmas has at least two meanings:
1) Happy Birthday Jesus Christ a.k.a. Let’s Remember to Love Others as you Love Yourself
2) Merry Shopping and Spending a.k.a. Long Live Never-ending Economic Growth
Is only the second one is politically correct?
@Leanne1986 if you think about it .... your statements just proved my point . ;-)
@The_Anonymous_Witch How exactly? I already said that there were certain things that I don’t completely disagree with you about but your choice of comparison is what I have the issue with. I can understand why people may wish to say and hear “Happy Holidays” rather than merry christmas and I can understand why pagans are pissed off about the whole Christmas thing. I said all that from word go but I can’t accept that simply saying “Merry Christmas” (unless you are doing it deliberately to offend someone that you know doesn’t celebrate or agree with Christmas) is as offensive as “white power”. Would you really compare someone who says “Merry Christmas” in passing to someone like Hitler? That’s my point and I fail to see how it proves yours.
@Leanne1986 . it proves mine cause it pissed you off . ,,,,saying something that you think has no merit ..and should not be compared to . just as yule compared to christmass
and i’m agreeing with you 95% also . im not trying to argue with you , you seem very nice ;-)
@The_Anonymous_Witch I see. For what it’s worth, part of the reason I don’t find it important to celebrate Christmas in a religious sense is because, although a lot of my faith is based on certain aspects of Christianity, I am aware of the Pagan celebration and how Christmas was adapted/stolen from that. For that reason, as nice a story as it may be (the baby in a manger and all that) I find it hard to believe. That and the fact that Jesus probably wasn’t born in December at all!
Nice talking to you :)
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