Merry Christmas, NOT Happy Holidays!
December 12th, 2006, by Michael StelznerFellow writers, I want wish you a Merry Christmas!
Turns out that’s what you want to hear AND it just happens to be what I want to say.
The December Zogby American Consumer report found that 95 percent of folks are NOT offended when they hear the words “Merry Christmas.”
The real kicker is that 1 in 3 are actually very offended when the words “Happy Holidays” push out the phrase “Merry Christmas.”
This should not come as a big surprise because another poll by Fox News/Opinion Dynamics showed that 95 percent of Americans celebrate Christmas.
Let’s do a little informal poll here. Please indicate your agreement with the following:
Question: Are you afraid of offending someone? Share your thoughts on this topic.
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December 12th, 2006 at 10:48 am
I’m not offended by “Merry Christmas,” but I tend to use “Happy Holidays” or some other non-religious alternative. That has more to do with my own personal perspective on a host of issues than it does concern that someone might take offense to a “Christmas” utterance.
The one in three who are upset when “HH” pushes out “MC” need to find a new hobby and should stop worrying about the fictional War on Christmas.
How a more inclusive expression of friendliness could upset someone baffles me–unless they mistakenly see that language choice as a threat to their own belief structure.
Happy holidays, Michael!
Carson
December 12th, 2006 at 10:59 am
Merry Christmas back to you Carson!
Christmas happens to be a national holiday AND all the other alternatives are also religious.
Way I look at it, it’s hard to say “Happy Holidays” and not be religious, because they are all “Holy” days.
Appreciate your opinion!
Mike
December 12th, 2006 at 2:43 pm
Carson, I think you missed the point regarding the use of Happy Holidays. What annoys many people is when retail stores go out of their way to avoid saying “Merry Christmas”, because they view the term as an andorsement of Christianity, instead of its recognition as a national holiday.
When retailers such as Best Buy only use Happy Holidays in their advertising and displays, they’re simply making a stupid business decision, by failing to acknowledge the vast majority of their customers, namely people who celebrate Christmas.
This is coming from a practicing Jew that enjoys saying “Merry Christmas” to others during the holiday season as often as I can.
December 12th, 2006 at 3:03 pm
Why is this even an issue? I say Happy Holidays because it’s inclusive of all religions, but also includes New Years, etc.
This “war on christmas” stuff was old years ago.
December 12th, 2006 at 3:11 pm
Hi Guys;
Tom, it was only last Christmas that Walmart decided to ban the words “Merry Christmas.” This is not an old issue.
In Seattle, only YESTERDAY, the airport banned Christmas trees. See http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2718266
This is actually a rather timely topic.
Mike
December 12th, 2006 at 8:34 pm
I don’t see the term “Happy Holidays” as all inclusive. I see it as a plain vanilla way of not acknowledging ANY of the various holidays.
I would like to have retail stores tell their employees to say all of them. Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwanza.
December 13th, 2006 at 1:28 am
Merry Christmas all the way…we live in a Christian nation founded on Christian principles.
I enjoyed the brillance of Glenn Beck:
https://members.premiereinteractive.com/ows-img/glennbeck/pages/28585/41387_2487.htm
December 13th, 2006 at 6:24 am
Correction Griffin, I believe that is a Judeo-Christian nation founded on Judeo-Christian principles.
December 13th, 2006 at 7:03 am
Hey Jonathan - I am not a historian AND this is technically splitting hairs. But I think we were founded as a Christian nation. The term Judeo-Christian was adopted in the U.S. much later. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judeo-Christian#Etymological_background
But we are most certainly founded on Judeo-Christian values, no argument there.
FYI, pretty interesting how the poll is turning out.
Mike
December 13th, 2006 at 7:17 am
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Seasons Greetings.
I agree with JK, most of us come into contact with the MC vs HH debate when we are fulfilling the role of customer during the shopping season.
I do not care which phrase a person uses. However, I resent being told “Happy Holidays” because the employee was told to use HH instead of MC. I want a sincere wish, not a canned response that feels manipulative. If it isn’t sincere, then skip it altogether.
I’ve worked retail and know experientially that it is hard to keep the sincere Christmas spirit alive while running a cash register for 10 hours. Those employees who manage this should be rewarded with an appreciative word from the customer and recognition from the store’s management.
December 13th, 2006 at 8:20 am
Hello Michael:
Happy Christmas to you, which I believe is the British version. I’m with Sandy here, I’m looking for a connection with authenticity. Not always easy to do when stressed, tired and distracted as many of us may get during this time of the year, especially those who work in retail.
The operative word here is connection. Heartfelt cannot be faked and that is what people respond to.
Happy Holidays seems to be a conclusion reached by committee; it makes nobody happy, yet it was the best that could be done at the time.
Companies already intrude in people’s lives with all sorts of interruptions, even at the cash register where you’re often asked to provide a phone number or a zip code to complete the transaction (which are not obligatory to do so).
As with all verbal and non verbal expression, the challenge is to convey the spirit without detracting from the message by using the wrong tone, whatever that may be for the people in the front lines.
December 13th, 2006 at 11:26 am
Great topic to stir things up!
I too agree with Sandy. Your well wishes should be from the heart and not be some “genericized” term with little meaning. Say what you really mean!
I think what you say should reveal more about who YOU are. We’ve protected ourselves too much trying to be politically correct. I happen to celebrate Christmas, so I say “Merry Christmas” to those I know. It is definitely more meaningful and personal.
Sometimes it feels like the politically correct movement has whitewashed our society, removing all that is interesting about us. There is so much beauty in differences. Why not celebrate and be proud of who you are? What’s wrong with being a milkMAN or a mailWOMAN? At least I know that much more about you!
Now having said that, if I know someone is Jewish, I WILL wish him Happy Hanukkah, too.
Merry Christmas Everyone!
December 14th, 2006 at 5:54 am
Strongly disagree with the poll question. I’d much rather hear “Merry Christmas” than “Happy Holidays”.
“HH” is just plain cheesy. And I’m no fan of political correctness. In fact, whenever possible, I’ll purposefully avoid shopping establishments that go out of their way to be politically correct.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, to all that are not offended. To the rest, Bah Humbug.
December 15th, 2006 at 3:41 am
Our Founding fathers were almost all Christians of sorts. Some, like Thomas Jefferson (Jeffereson incidently was not in the U.S. when the Constitution was drafted, but was the Ambassador to France) called themselves “Deisits,” which meant they believed in a Creator, but not a God who intereacted with his creation. Nevertheless, all subscribed to a Christian-based world view, even the skeptics.
They were, however, sensitive to Jewish Americans and took pains to establish a freedom of religion clause in the Bill of Rights that protected Jews as well as any other non-Christian belief.
The point is, I would be much more comfortable hearing Merry Christmas and Happy Hannakah (not sure of my spelling) than a generic Happy Holidays.
December 15th, 2006 at 7:32 am
Hey Charles;
Thanks for stopping by. My understanding of the original freedom of religion had to do with the diversity of Christian faiths because of persecution of Christians in the United Kingdom.
Some interesting info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_religion#United_States_of_America
Mike
December 15th, 2006 at 1:36 pm
I think the poll results here speak pretty strongly.
The overwhelming majority of folks strongly disagree with the statement “The phrase ‘Merry Christmas’ offends me.”
So, Merry Christmas to all!!!
Mike
December 22nd, 2006 at 11:45 pm
I’m 15 years old and I believe Americans should stick to saying “Merry Christmas.” We’re in AMERICA where most household familes celebrate CHRISTMAS.
December 23rd, 2006 at 9:44 am
Jenny - Thanks for stopping by AND Merry Christmas! - Mike
November 15th, 2007 at 9:14 pm
I say Merry Christmas not only because its the name of the the holiday we celebrate on Dec 25th , but because this nation is Christian founded.
Even if your not a believer in a religious faith theres is nothing wrong with the name Christmas for the T is silent.
If someone came up tp me and said, “Happy Holidays” I would reply, “Which holiday are you talking about for there are many?” same thing with season greatings there is more than one season but only one Christmas.
If people have a problem with that then maybe they should consider another part of the world to live in. For we are “One nation under God”.
November 26th, 2007 at 8:06 am
What is wrong with people…if there were no CHRISTMAS there would be NO Holidays. If sombody saying Merry Christmas offends you in any way you have some other issues to figure out, this is insane. Majority Rules…sorry!
December 18th, 2007 at 7:47 am
I say “Happy Holidays” because I am part of an interfaith family. Sometimes I say “Happy Holy Days” to remind me that important traditions of the season we still practice today come from many (non-christian) faiths. I feel better about myself when I don’t make assumptions about others being one faith or another but remember that we are all the same regardless of what religion we choose or are raised in. At holiday time, I want to celebrate and acknowledge diversity because diversity is healthy and it’s the reality in which we live. I say Happy Holidays because I trust my gut, not a study when it comes to what I should say and to whom. Personally, I don’t find anything particularly American about Christmas. Nor do I associate being American to have anything to do with one religion or another. I am an advocate of people following their gut…and it will inform them of what to say when. Thanks for the discussion.
December 24th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
I am offended that “Happy Holidays” is being used by retailers to draw in more money than “Merry Christmas”. I’ve heard people say that it’s more diverse to say “Happy Holidays”, however Christmas is a major event for Christians and trying to generalize it with other religions is offensive. It’s bad enough we have to deal with Santa Claus…. As long as something pushes Jesus out of the spotlight seems to be good. The problem is Christians are way to passive, it’s like they are sorry about their faith. Look at the Muslims, Hindu’s and Jew’s, if you offend their faiths, all hell breaks loose.
December 24th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
I am a nothingarian. most existing holidays come from religion, no matter which countries, religions or race. I am not offended by ‘Merry Christmas’, because I respect and understand all these holidays, just like Muslim say ‘happy Eid ul-Adha’ to me (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_ul-Adha).
I only feel offence if the holiday been rephrased and someone tried to convince me it is true.
For me 25-Dec is holiday, any holiday should have name, just say ‘Merry Christmas’, it is non-sense to call it ‘Happy Holiday’ only. But don’t tell me whatever I do is to celebrate birth of Jesus, It is what Christian does, not me.
Again I understand, respect, and sincerely to see what Christian are doing on 25-Dec, but don’t ask me to do same.
PS: the vote is mis-leading, it may cause wrong interpretation. because if I feel offence by MC, doesn’t mean that I want to say HH or don’t respect Christian.
December 25th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
I’m not particular over whether I hear Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays — I just want to hear something said from the heart!
What I find more objectionable is if I’m in stores doing my Christmas shopping — and economists are quick to remind us all that the retailers are depending on all us good little consumers doing a bang-up job with our Christmas shopping if they are have a successful year — so if the retailers are so dependant on all us Christmas shoppers, then they darn well should be cheerful about the season. Most of the time this year I encountered salespeople and checkers who could barely be bothered to say “Hello” and “Have a nice day”, let alone “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas”.
However, I don’t worry about offending anyone — anybody who is important enough to me to hurt my feelings already knows I’m a religious person.
I always send out Christmas cards with a beautiful nativity scene on them. I say Merry Christmas to co-workers and strangers in stores and on the train. If I know somebody to be of a different faith (I have both Jewish and Muslim friends), I make an effort to acknowledge their traditions because it’s respectful to them.
December 25th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
P.S. — Mike is right — the original Freedom OF Religion concept was primarily a response to the extreme political antagonism between Protestants and Catholics (with plenty of bad behavior on both sides for centuries) that all started with Henry VIII and his wish to divorce (which Rome wouldn’t allow, which caused Henry to break with Rome and start the Church of England). Over 200 years of English history was a horrendous power struggle among the ruling elite as Catholics, Anglicans, and Puritans all tried to eradicate each other in Britain, along with the aftermath of the Reformation and counter-Reformation on the Continent.
The original intent of Freedom of Religion in this country was that the government couldn’t mandate one flavor of Christianity on the citizenry over another, that the government would stay neutral. How far we’ve strayed from that.
February 11th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
LOL! Who cares? Christmas isn’t Christian holiday. Do you research. It’s pagan in origin, adopted and re-mixed by Roman Catholics.