Chill Out

Although I myself am what most would call an “agnostic,” I celebrate Christmas, respect many of Christ’s teachings, and see nothing wrong with wishing someone a merry Christmas instead of clinging to the more politically correct “Happy Holidays” for fear of insulting some oversensitive (or “petty” – from Article 2) weakling. Mike Straka (Article 1) is right in saying that “Xmas” is no big deal, and Jesus probably “wouldn’t care.” It’s also true that not all those who say “Happy Holidays” intend any offense toward Christians. But then, you have to wonder what is the point of greeting anyone at all if the focus is more on whether the phrase is “inclusive” of other religions (or lack thereof) than on spreading the holiday cheer regardless of religion. When you wish someone “Happy Holidays,” do you do it to make him smile, or to make a political statement and challenge that horrid tolerance of his? Those of us who have any shred of genuine compassion in us would say the former. And if your purpose is to make someone happy, “Merry Christmas” works just as well. Just as Straka says, Christmas is about “celebrating life and family and being together” (of course, it can be about many other things as well, depending on whom you’re talking to, but this is the general consensus). I agree that we should not “take ourselves all that seriously” in the sense of our prejudices and politically-correct tendencies. What we should take seriously about ourselves is what we believe the meaning of Christmas really is, and whether or not our actions reflect that belief.

This comment (“Holiday cheer is non-denominational (although if you believe the marketing, ‘holiday cheer’ is synonymous with booze).”) reminds me of something my pastor said. Last Sunday, he mentioned a news article he had read recently in which the author argued that people shouldn’t say “Merry Christmas” (“Happy Christmas,” apparently, is more suitable) because the term “merriment” is associated with drunkenness. How silly! Suppose you walk down the street and pass two people in succession. The first tells you, “I wish you a merry Christmas,” and the second says, “I wish you an inebriated Christmas.” Would they mean even remotely the same thing to you? Of course not. When we hear, “Merry Christmas,” we don’t automatically think of alcohol (except for those hostile few who enjoy making mountains out of molehills), and therefore it is still appropriate to say “merry.”

From Article 2: “The attempts to de-Christianize Christmas are as absurd as they are relentless.” This is absolutely true, and terribly sad. If a person wants to celebrate Christmas and call it what it is, he can shout it from a rooftop. If a person does not want to celebrate Christmas, all right, but he shouldn’t assign himself the role of killjoy and try to destroy the merriment of those who do celebrate it. While Christmas fans are busy having themselves a merry little Christmas, he can have himself a merry little holiday. No big deal. It is absurd to think that we should all be forced to call it the same thing. It is equally absurd that this issue comes up year after year, and many of us have still failed to realize that, regardless of what we call it, it is what it is. Whether we call it “Christmas” or merely a “holiday,” it is still Christmas and a holiday.

I will note, however, that most people are happier to hear “Merry Christmas” than “Happy Holidays.” Using my pastor’s experience again as an example: he was standing outside a grocery store ringing a bell and collecting money for the Salvation Army. He decided to do a little experiment. He would tell some people “Merry Christmas,” and others “Happy Holidays,” and see which one most people preferred. He discovered that when he said, “Merry Christmas,” he not only noticed a visible brightening of the supermarket-goers’ features, but also a greater willingness to donate money. Those who received the blander “Happy Holidays” had no strong visible reaction, and fewer of them donated.

Krauthammer is right in saying, “[The United States] celebrates all faiths with an open heart and open-mindedness that, compared to even the most advanced countries in Europe, are unique.” Do we want to destroy our openness and resultant uniqueness by making a big deal out of nothing?

Another good point: “What kind of fragile religious identity have they [the parents who are worried that their children will have a bad, possibly traumatic, experience with Christmas carols] bequeathed their children that it should be threatened by exposure to carols?” Joyful holiday songs can do nothing to harm a child; only his or her parents’ misleading prejudice and enmity toward healthy exposure to culture can do that.

The whole debate is “anything but merry” (quote from Article 3). Roger J. Augustine, Catholic Diocese administrator (also mentioned in Article 3), has the right idea: “[T]he greeting ‘Merry Christmas’ should not be offensive.” We are merely offending ourselves with our own ignorance if we fight any greeting that is backed with good intentions. Therefore, this year, as in past years, I will wish others a hearty “Merry Christmas!”

P.S. I beat you this time, Dan. :-)