Yes, just as Halloween, Groundhog day, and Martin Luther King Jr's days are all "holi-days"
It is offensive to call Christmas "Holiday" just as it is offensive to say "X-mas" and make the day all about Reindeer, Santa, and sleighs. It is offensive to go to a store on Resurrection Sunday and find nothing but Bunnies, chicks, and eggs.
It has become offensive because Christians are seeing a systematic elimenation of our Savior from the public square and his name is becoming a dirty word that nobody is allowed to say.
As a Christian, I have zero issues with saying "Happy Hanukkah" or "Happy Kwanza" or the such. My Jewish friends have no problems with wishing me a Merry Christmas. So, who exactly is offended by the word "Christ-mas?"
The same people who want to get In God We Trust off of our currency and One nation under God out of our pledge.
In short, this is all a part of a trend and Christians are sick and tired of the assault on our religion. It is Christmas season. They are Christmas gifts. It is a Christmas tree. And the birth of Jesus Christ of Nazareth is what makes the day HOLY.
If America can't deal with giving one day to the Lord God, then she's in sorry shape indeed.
The day before Halloween this year was the biggest holiday for Hindus.
I made a special point to wish my Indian friends a 'Happy Davalli(sp?).
They were very pleased to be acknowledged and thanked me for remembering.
Mutual respect for others' beliefs is the cornerstone of religious freedom. Taking Christ out of Christmas is blatantly disrespectful. Hare doesn't get that point - he is a moron.
Those who find Christmas offensive have no right to take the day off. Or Thanksgiving Day, for that matter. Tell them that and see how they'll respond; I got an atheist to contradict himself there.
Last year, Dr. Charles Krauthammer wrote a column defending Christmas, even though he's Jewish. When he worked in a hospital, he liked to fill in for Christian doctors on Christmas Day--it was his gift to them--and in return they let him take Yom Kippur off. He has the right non-Christian attitude toward the holiday, I'll tell you that!
I don't think so. It is a holiday. I get the day off just as any other holiday...therefore it is a holiday.
However, I do agree that it's good for christians to fight for the message of Christ and Christmas to become central.
I just am not fanatical about never calling Christmas a holiday. Silly. I have always said "Happy Holiday" to people along with "Merry Christmas". And will continue to do so.
Funny how associations change over time. "Xmas" is an ancient usage, and not coined to be disrespectful at all. It's "X" because, when you spell it in Greek (the original Gospel language), that's the first letter of "Christ."
I used to think it was a flippant abbreviation, but I kind of like it now.
OK, so what should the proper commercialization of Easter be? A chocolate Christ? A marshmallow Mary Magdalene?
Is a ~store~ where you really look for the meaning of Resurrection Sunday?
***It has become offensive because Christians are seeing a systematic elimenation of our Savior from the public square and his name is becoming a dirty word that nobody is allowed to say. ***
Unfortunately, they are allowed to say His name, as in expletives.
"It has become offensive because Christians are seeing a systematic elimenation of our Savior from the public square and his name is becoming a dirty word that nobody is allowed to say. "
In fact, the ONLY time people can say the name of Christ today is WHEN they are doing so in a dishonorable fashion...
The irony of merchants making most of their yearly income from Christmas shoppers while similtaneously refusing to include the word "Christmas" in their advertisements or forbid employees from saying the word is totally lost on these people...