Which one do you say; Happy Holiday or
Merry Christmas?
Every year at the beginning of
December some Americans engage in a ridiculous rhetorical ritual that recycles
righteous arguments about whether people should say to one another Happy
Holidays or Merry Christmas. This question is one skirmish in the broader
cultural and political battle that come under the heavily ladened frame of the
'war
on Christmas.'
Retailers large and small that had tossed
“Christmas” and embraced the generic exhortation ‘Happy Holidays’ in advertising
and in-store promotion are becoming Christmas-friendly again. The ability to
tap into the massive increase in consumer spending during the pre-Christmas
period can mean the difference between survival and bankruptcy for many
retailers, so connecting with the Christmas gift-givers, or at least not
alienating them, appears to have produced a shift in strategy.
The battle of “Merry Christmas” vs. “Happy
Holidays” is feistier
than ever this year. Maryland schools recently changed their “Christmas Break”
to “Winter Break.” Texas lawmakers signed a “Merry Christmas Law” that protects the phrases “Merry
Christmas” and “Happy Haunukkah” in the state’s public schools. Even major
retailers across the country are taking a side, Gap’s a “Merry Christmas” kind of store, whereas stores like Barnes
& Noble, Family Dollar, and Pet Smart proclaim “Happy Holidays.”
On the surface, the debate
seems irrational. Why would the choice schools, stores or people make to
use “Merry Christmas” or the more politically correct “Happy Holidays” mean so
much? The answer lies, as always, in the power of words. When you choose
to utter the words “Merry Christmas,” you are secretly endorsing the Christian
agenda. A Pew research study conducted last year found that 46 percent of
Americans don’t care what seasonal greeting they receive, with 42 percent
preferring Merry Christmas but this is still a major issue.
Atheists would not take Merry Christmas from you.
My Atheist friend was the first to email me saying, “Happy Holidays.” I
replied, “Yeah, that is Christmas.” He did not write me again.
But if the "War on Christmas" was a
real thing, Neil deGrasse Tyson just won it with an etymology
knowledge-bomb.
Let's start with the fact that there are several
holidays that fall
during December including Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice and
the newly minted secular HumanLight. They all would like, and deserve to be
acknowledged and respected. So this brings us to the Merry Christmas vs Happy
Holiday debate that is not complicated and is solved with basic etiquette. If
you know someone is a Christian who is celebrating Christmas you should say to
them 'Merry Christmas.' Likewise, say 'Happy Hanukkah' to a person you know is
Jewish, etc.
Conversely, if everyone shifts to using “Happy
Holidays,” how will we remember what
holidays we are actually celebrating? Who’s to say that I am not simply
lazy and am actually wishing you a Happy Easter, Hanukkah, Christmas and/or
Fourth of July? Plus, consumers might begin to forget that Christmas is coming,
despite department stores’ helpful displays of Christmas decorations that they
put up immediately after Halloween. If the word Christmas becomes taboo, how
will stores stay afloat?
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