“I'm inviting all my Facebook family and friends to join me
in returning to the traditional greeting of "Merry Christmas" instead
of the politically correct "Happy Holidays". If you agree with me,
please re-post this message or hit like. Merry Christmas!”
I’ve been seeing this status all over Facebook since early
November, and every time I groan a little. I am irked by the so-called “war on
Christmas” for a very simple reason. If there was a war, Christmas won, hands
down. Starting well before Halloween, Christmas is everywhere, from stores to
television. There is no possible way to escape being exposed to Christmas in
some fashion, regardless if you actually celebrate the holiday. It has not only
overshadowed all other holidays celebrated in the month of December, it has
taken over Thanksgiving a full month beforehand. In fact, it seems to have
stretched out its tentacles to ensnare Halloween as well. What aspect of
Christmas has such power? It’s the commercialization and subsequent greed, of
course. My young son says “I want to buy that!” after nearly every commercial that
airs during his favorite TV shows. Well before Halloween, we are bombarded with
ads: Get a jump on the holidays. Do your Christmas shopping now and use our
layaway plan. Now the entire month of November is simply a build-up, not to
Thanksgiving, but to Black Friday and Cyber Monday (or rather Cyber Week as it
has evidently become). Thanksgiving itself, which used to be a strong, proud
day of celebrating not only our American strength and persistence but also
expressing gratitude for the people and blessings in our lives, has become as
battered and starved as those first pilgrims. Instead of a day of good food,
family/friend togetherness and football, many choose to sit outside a store and
wait for the doors to open so they can mace each other over the 4 xboxes in
stock. But I digress. My point, wherever it has gone to, is that for two to
three months, this country is all about Christmas.
So why do people claim that war has been declared against
Christmas? Because, even though the term Christmas itself is used just as
frequently, some people choose to use other terms interchangeably. But let me
go off on a tangent before I address that.
I’m converting to Catholicism, and so I’m attending an RCIA
class (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults). The first day, I was given a
book,
Believing
in Jesus by Leonard Foley, O.F.M. It was approved, like all
authoritative books on the Catholic faith, by the Vatican. In the very first chapter,
I noticed that the author and editors chose to use BCE/CE to designate dates
rather than BC/AD. This dating system, which stands for “Before Common
Era/Common Era, was of course created as an nonreligious alternative to the long
used “Before Christ”/”Anno Domini.” A third, less popular alternative I came
across recently was to do away with letter designations altogether and simply
use a + or – sign. So, 500 BC(BCE) becomes -500, and 1492 AD(BC) becomes +1492.
As with most academics, the goal is less about politics and religion than it is
about simply making it universally understood. I don’t wish to debate why one
is better or worse than the other. In truth, it is merely a choice. A writer
would be correct in using one or the other, although some fields or disciplines
may prefer one to the other. Papers published in scientific journals, for instance,
usually use BCE/BC. When reading books written by and for Christians, I have
almost exclusively seen BC/AD. That’s what struck me as so remarkable about
Believing
in Jesus.
Why did the use of BCE/BC strike me as remarkable? Well,
here was this book on the first Christian religion, willingly using terms
specifically designed to replace Christ. I made the comment in my class that it
impressed me that they didn’t make a fuss,
like the Protestants did, who “see
the switch to CE and BCE as just one more example of secularism and
non-Christian religions being given precedence over Christianity.”
I expressed my observation that the Catholic Church does not appear to be
threatened and chooses not to pick a fight over such a small thing. One of the
teachers responded, “Well, of course the Church isn’t threatened! It’s been
around for centuries. It isn’t going anywhere.” Of course, even the Protestants
have made less a stink about date designations than on saying “Happy Holidays”
instead of “Merry Christmas.” Honestly, I think they might have picked the
wrong battle.
Waronchristmas.com
states: “‘Christmas’ became a dirty word, and was replaced by ‘holiday.’ The
War
on Christmas had begun.” The author of this site claims that “‘Christmas’
was everywhere during the month of December,” but not anymore. The funny thing
is, I see Christmas everywhere, starting in October. I see trees, wreaths,
Santas, etc. all over the stores. I see the word Christmas everywhere too, as
well as the more generic word “holiday.” In fact, I’d wager that I see more
words related to Christmas, (Santa, St. Nick, Rudolf, Reindeer, stocking,
Nativity, etc.) than I do any other holiday celebrated in November and
December. Yet, people still raise heck when a store chooses to use “Happy
Holidays” in their advertising. I think the best response to the outrage was
expressed by
Best
Buy, “We recognize that several holidays are celebrated during the months
of November and December. Many people exchange gifts in celebration of one or
more of these holidays. In order to be respectful of all our customers (and
employees) who celebrate different holidays throughout the season, we are
choosing to use ‘Happy Holidays’ as the primary greeting in our holiday
campaign.” And that is, really, what it boils down to. Of course, this response
is dismissed with the charge of being “politically correct,” which is evidently
a bad thing.
According to the
Online
Etymology Dictionary (my new favorite website),
“politically
correct” first came to its current use in 1970. “[T]here is no doubt that
political correctness refers to the political movement and phenomenon, which
began in the USA,
with the aim to enforce a set of ideologies and views on gender, race and other
minorities. Political correctness refers to language and ideas that may cause
offence to some identity groups like women and aims at giving preferential
treatment to members of those social groups in schools and universities. [Thuy
Nguyen, "Political Correctness in the English Language,"2007]” I do
not believe using the term “Happy Holidays” falls into the category of political
correctness. Its purpose is not to avoid offending non-Christians, but to
simply not leave them out and respect the diversity in our society. Christmas
is not the only holiday in the last two months of the year. And, I might point
out, prior to the 1970s, the phrase was commonly used interchangeably with
“Merry Christmas,” as was the seldom contested “Season’s Greetings.” It was a
common way to wish someone not only an enjoyable Christmas, but also a handful
of other holy days leading up to Jesus’ big day as well as New Year’s Day. ,I
say “Happy Holidays” for two reasons: it’s all encompassing and it’s polite. I
was raised to be respectful of others. It’s what Jesus would do.
This is not to say that the secularism of Christmas is not
real. No one is denying that is an ongoing phenomenon. More than any other
Christian holy day, with the exception of Halloween, Christmas has been infused
with secular symbols and traditions, some dating back to the pagans. This is
not a new development, however. The pagan practice of bringing an evergreen
indoors dates back to a pagan tradition, and December 25
th might
have very well been chosen due to it’s proximity to the Winter Solstice as a
ploy to convert pagans. Our notion of Santa Claus seems to have been adopted from
the Dutch legends of St. Nicholas, a Catholic bishop. In the Dutch legend,
Sinterklaas traveled around and rewarded all the good children while his
traveling companion Black Pete (an evil spirit/devil) punished the bad
children. Somewhere along the line, we lost Black Pete due to his racist
depiction of Moors. (For more info, please see links below.) Early settlers in Massachusetts actually
banned Christmas for a spell claiming the celebrations went against the Bible.
So yes, atheists and agnostics can celebrate a
secular
Christmas. There is a growing trend, however, of such individuals adopting
a celebration of Winter Solstice, previously observed mainly by pagans and
Wiccans, instead, but many of the same traditions adopted by Christians over
the centuries (such as the tree, Yule log, gift giving, mistletoe, holiday
cards, etc.) are still practiced.
One argument thrown at me recently was “There would be no
‘holiday season’ if it wasn’t for Christmas.” This promotes the notion that
there is only one worthwhile holiday to acknowledge in December, Christmas. According
to ReligiousTolerance.org, there are
three main groups
in the conflict of the winter holidays. Some Christians feel that “Happy
Holidays” is too generic and that Christmas is exclusively the only holiday to
be acknowledged in December. Non-Christians object to having their religious
observances ignored, and a third group of people who don’t celebrate anything
and resent being exposed to such intense religious “propaganda.” I would like
to add a fourth group: Christians who celebrate Christmas but who feel that the
Christian thing to do is respect all the other beliefs and non-beliefs that
make our diverse society so interesting. I’m obviously including myself in this
group. In the true spirit of Christmas, I extend well wishes to everyone this
time of year. I respect their choices and beliefs, though they differ from
mine, and acknowledge that Christmas isn’t the only game in town.
And what is so wrong with “holiday” anyway? According to
OED,
holiday is
derived from “holy day.” Its earliest usage was referring to a religious
festival or day of recreation. In the 1500s, those were one in the same. So if
you feel it is a snub against religion, think again. When you wish someone
“Happy Holidays,” you are wishing them a joyous celebration of whichever holy
day they observe. I, for one, think that is a beautiful sentiment. And I am not
alone in my opinion of the greeting. In a 2009 article published on The History
News Network website, Edward T. O'Donnell, an associate professor of history at
The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester,
MA, praised the use of the
phrase. “I must admit that the expression Happy Holidays once struck me as
vapid and meaningless—essentially the December version of the all-time vapid
and meaningless phrase of modern times, ‘Have a nice day.’ But all this War on
Christmas hysteria in recent years has led me to a new and heartfelt
appreciation for the expression, for I see that it embodies both a fundamental
American value and, strange as it may sound, one of Christmas’s core religious
ideals.” O’Donnell, a church going Christian, points out the particularly
American virtue of “respect for each and every citizen’s right to their own
religious beliefs (or non-beliefs).” He then goes on to state something I
hadn’t previously considered. “The ‘Merry Christmas, or Else’ zealots are not
preaching violence, but they are promoting a dangerous, unwelcome, and
ultimately un-American form of religious intolerance. … Put simply, the charge
that individuals and retailers who fail to say Merry Christmas is itself a very
real assault on Christmas. After all, the holiday celebrates the birth of
Jesus, an event the Bible tells us was hailed by a choir of angels singing,
“Peace on Earth and goodwill toward men.” Raging against the inclusive,
tolerant and ultimately harmless phrase, Happy Holidays, runs directly counter
to this theme. Indeed, it’s like making war on Christmas.”
And here I just thought it was pointless and annoying.
Did “Happy Holidays” and “Season’s Greetings” come into use
for the sole purpose of replacing “Merry Christmas”?
Evidently
not. It seems these phrases have been in use for quite some time, and were
often used in conjunction with, not necessarily instead of, “Merry Christmas.”
All this can be evidenced by these advertisements in the Los Angeles Times
dating back to the late 1800s. According to
Wikipedia,
“Commercial use of the term ‘Happy Holidays’ to replace ‘Merry Christmas’ and
‘Happy New Year’ dates back at least to the 1970s. Use of the term may have
originated with the
Irving Berlin song ‘Happy Holidays’ (released in 1942
and included in the film
Holiday Inn).” The same article mentions the
term inexplicably less offensive to Christmas revelers, “Season Greetings.”
"‘Season's Greetings’ is a greeting more commonly used as a motto on
winter season greeting cards, and in commercial advertisements, than as a
spoken phrase. In addition to ‘Merry Christmas,’ Victorian Christmas cards bore
a variety of salutations, including ‘Compliments of the Season’ and ‘Christmas
Greetings.’ By the late 19th century, ‘With the Season's Greetings’ or simply
‘The Season's Greetings’ began appearing. By the 1920s it had been shortened to
‘Season's Greetings, and has been a greeting card fixture ever since.” True,
there was a movement in the 1970s and 1980s to make things less offensive to
minority groups who did not celebrate Christmas. Stores and government agencies
were, and occasionally still are, called upon to include other holidays
alongside Christmas. Some were picketed and boycotted. But the tides have
turned. Now stores are boycotted and chastised for being too inclusive.
In an
article
written for Time Magazine in 2008 (and a
repeat
in 2009), Alex Altman addressed the “war on Christmas” with striking clarity.
He points out that it was the Puritans who first sought to shut down Christmas.
They actually banned it in Massachusetts
from 1659 to 1681. Henry Ford accused the Jews of opposing Christmas. In the
1950s, the destruction of American Christmas tradition was evidently on the
to-do list of the evil communists. The modern connotation of this “war” did
not, however, originate on Fox News as I had initially thought. “
Before it became part of mainstream conservative punditry,
the leading proponent of the War on Christmas was a former magazine writer and
editor named Peter Brimelow.” But it did logically wind up there, as it claims
Christmas is being attacked by us nasty liberals. “Outrage over alleged
restrictions against Christmas emblems imposed by stores like Wal-Mart and
Sears led conservative mouthpieces like Sean Hannity and O'Reilly to take up
the cause in earnest.” Altman concludes that the “war on Christmas” is a
“
backlash against a wave of political correctness that
swept the U.S. in the late '90s, resulting in some strange new concessions to
cultural sensitivity: cities insisting on calling the telltale conifers
‘holiday trees,’ efforts to ban the pleasantry ‘Merry Christmas’ and crackdowns
on the use of holiday nativity scenes and other religious iconography. But to
many, the War on Christmas is a hyperbolic construct that blows the problem out
of proportion.” I strongly agree with that last sentence, and applaud the use
of the word “hyperbolic.”
Indeed, it is blown out of
proportion, but only on one side. This might have started with concessions to
cultural sensitivity, but the opposing side in this “war” seems strangely quiet
in 2011. There are many retail businesses that freely use “Merry Christmas” in
signage and advertising, and no one seems to be in a mind to complain. However,
every episode of “The O’Reilly Factor” in December features a segment on the
“war on Christmas,” giving 15 minutes to individuals in a mall offended by a
store’s “holiday tree.” There is a website solely devoted
to pointing out the “anti-Christmas” stores so that followers of the doctrine
know not to shop there. According to the American Family Association, stores
are either “for,” “marginal” or “against” Christmas. The criteria for these
classifications are incredibly bias, and does not allow for any respect of
or goodwill toward others. “The ‘Merry Christmas, or Else’ zealots” are
a determined lot, and they are organized to the point of over-kill.
I’ve been often chastised for using Xmas as shorthand for
Christmas. A modern interpretation is that “xmas” replaces Christ with the x
variable. But really, this abbreviation has nothing to do with algebra. Turning
to my good friend the OED once more,
Xmas
is derived from “
X'temmas, wherein the
X is an abbreviation for
Christ
in
Christmas, from first letter of Gk.
Christos “‘Christ.’" This abbreviation was actually
in common use by the 15
th Century, as Gutenberg’s printing press was
less time consuming if one employed abbreviations. As
Snopes states,
“it’s a very old artifact of a very different language,” but allows that some
might still be offended by it. It can be used erroneously by those who either
don’t know or care of its origin in attempts to secularize or “cross out”
Christ to insult Christians. But knowing the truth behind the term turns the
tables. The joke is on them.
Here’s another nibble of food for thought. If there is such
a demand for keeping “Christ” in Christmas, why not take it one step further.
Christmas
is, after all, a combination of “Christ” and “mass.” So why not put “mass” back
in to? There’s room in my RCIA class.
To quote John Lennon, “War is over, if you want it.” Do you
really want to spend the entire month angrily countering a store clerk’s well
intentioned “Happy Holidays” with an embittered “Merry Christmas”? Are you
really going to shove all the cards that say “Season’s Greetings” in a drawer
while proudly displaying the one’s wishing you a “Merry Christmas.” Wouldn’t
you be happier and more at peace if you just accepted these greetings for what
they are, warmest wishes for whichever holiday you happen to celebrate?
Christmas is a time of hope, peace, love and goodwill. As the old Sunday school
song goes, “They will know we are Christians by our love.” Does it really
matter if Kohl’s and Macy’s have Christmas decorations or holiday decorations
if you have your nativity scene proudly displayed in your living room? Does it
really affect your faith if we acknowledge other beliefs and traditions? Does
it really ruin your traditions and celebrations if someone else brings an
evergreen inside and incorporates it into their festivities, calling it a Yule
tree, holiday tree or Hanukkah bush? Answer these questions truthfully.
Most of the people I know celebrate Christmas, though quite
a few disregard the religious aspects. I know a few Jews, Wiccans, atheists and
agnostics who don’t celebrate Christmas but acknowledge its existence. They
aren’t offended by you wishing them a “Merry Christmas,” but are simply asking
for reciprocal respect. All anyone asks is that the “Christmas people” (as my
Jewish cousin called them) acknowledge their holidays, whether it is Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Yule, Winter Solstice, or even the generic
cultural Christmas holiday. You don’t have to celebrate them, just admit that
they exist and deserve to be acknowledged right along with Christmas. What’s so
hard about that?
And if you happen to celebrate
Festivus, consider this my "airing of
grievances.”
Update (12/12/2011): My son was watching "Sid the Science Kid" this morning before school. It's one of his favorite shows, and one of mine as well. I knew it was incredibly educational, but I had no idea how open-minded it was. Evidently, Sid and his family celebrate three holidays in their house! Wow! My husband said that Sid must be really spoiled. I guess there's no "War on Christmas" in that house! View a clip
here.
Further reading of the like-minded:
“The Origin of Xmas”:
Regarding Santa Claus:
Regarding Christmas/Yule/Holiday trees:
Visit Santa Claus and drop him an email:
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Created in Darkness by Troubled Americans: The Best of McSweeney's Humor Category by Dave Eggers
