Not to be a Grinch this Christmas season, but everyone involved in the "Should I say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays?" debate needs to move on to more important issues.
Christmas is about giving, helping, understanding, hanging out with family and friends, maybe drinking and eating too much, and yes, even sledding - not debating over what you feel is the "true meaning of Christmas." The true meaning of Christmas is whatever it means to you personally and not what others think it should mean to you.
Both sides of the debate are wasting precious breath that could be used to blow up tubes for the sledding hills. People on the "you can only tell me Merry Christmas side" say things like "Jesus is the only reason for the season," or "You're being politically correct by saying 'Happy Holidays' and therefore, you hate God. Shame on you."
That's not true - and a bit melodramatic.
Ninety-nine percent of the time, people say "Happy Holidays" because it's the first thing that comes to mind. People have been saying that for years, and there's no real deep meaning behind it. It just means, "Hey, enjoy both Christmas and New Years."
ADVERTISEMENT
On the flip side of that, to those who do intentionally avoid saying, "Merry Christmas" for fear of offending someone who doesn't celebrate it - say it anyway. It's what you believe in. You can't do a post-greeting interview every time you talk to somebody to determine whether they celebrate Christmas or not. Just say it. If they reply, "Actually, I celebrate Hanukkah," then say, "Oh, well, Happy Hanukkah, then!" Odds are, they won't care either way because they probably respect your Christian beliefs - as you should respect their Jewish beliefs. It's too bad the vocal small percentage of folks who make a big deal out of saying the "correct greeting" - from both sides of the fence - make it an issue for the rest of us.
Either way, we need to quit stressing out around the holidays for all the wrong reasons. If we all hang out with our families or friends, drink some egg nog, play Christmas games, go sledding (as you can tell, I LOVE sledding!) and just let our worries about politically correct greetings melt away, we'd enjoy Christmas a heck of a lot more....
Pine Journal Editor Mat Gilderman can be contacted at: mgilderman@pinejournal .
