Posted on 12/11/2005 5:15:05 PM PST by Qwertrew
People Are Saying 'Happy Holidays' Instead of Merry Christmas
Happy holidays! Merry Christmas!
They may sound like simple salutations, but they have become opposing battle cries in a wintry culture war — with conservative Christian groups going up against retailers, municipalities and even the White House.
If you receive a card from President and Mrs. Bush this season, you will find the first dogs sitting in snow, a scripture from the book of Psalms and "Best wishes for a holiday season of hope and happiness."
And to some, that is pure blasphemy, because nowhere does it mention the word "Christmas."
"When I got the card from President Bush, it didn't mean that much to me," said Catholic League president Bill Donohue. "I figured that's what most presidents did. Then I found that I was wrong. Everybody from F.D.R. to Bush's father had at least one card every year while they were in office that said Merry Christmas."
The so-called "war for Christmas" is actually thousands of years old because 'tis the season of mixed messages.
Evergreen trees, candles and gift-giving were all part of a pagan winter ritual hundreds of years before Jesus was even born. The Christ child and St. Nicholas joined party in the 4th century. Jewish Hanukah and African Kwanzaa emerged in America in the 20th.
But any effort to be all-inclusive by referring to the "holidays" has riled those anxious to keep Christ at the center of the season and even sparked political battles.
A spruce on Capitol Hill is a Christmas tree once again, losing its "holiday" title thanks to the effort of Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.
After Target opted for generic holiday advertising, a conservative Christian group threatened the retailer with a boycott 700,000 strong. Target's new campaign now includes the word "Christmas."
An Ohio couple says they've sold almost 15,000 "Just say Merry Christmas" bracelets.
Donohue said he wants to know why people insist on "neutering" the holidays.
"Elvis didn't sing about 'Blue Holiday,' " he said. "Nobody says 'I'll be home for the holiday.' It's, 'I'll be home for Christmas.' If you can't say Christmas at Christmas time, when 85 percent of the population is Christian and 96 percent of the population celebrates Christmas, something's wrong."
In Phoenix, the sheriff has ordered Christmas music to play throughout the county jail all day long — hymns and carols — and for agnostics he says he'll mix in the singing Chipmunks.
"We can't say 'Merry Christmas' in the U.S., in the world anymore," said Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Ariz. "What are we coming to? I am saying it. I am singing it. It's gonna be in this jail, and that's the way the ball bounces."
Perhaps people who are offended by the use of the Christmas have "drunk too much from the multicultural well" and are victims of "political correctness run amok," said Donohue.
There are two ways to deal with the problem, he added.
"You can educate the people that object to 'merry Christmas,' or you can veto the use of the term," he said. "I want to educate the bigots."
A lot of people who are afraid to say merry Christmas are actually Christians who don't want to offend people, Donohue said.
"On Thursday, I'm going to be with Jackie Mason and we're going to take a Hummer, go down Fifth Avenue and have press conference about Jews saying, 'It's okay to say merry Christmas. All my Jewish friends say it's okay to say merry Christmas.' "
But for those who are still worried about offending people, Donohue has a solution.
"I think we can say, 'Merry Christmas and have a happy New Year,' " he said. "That covers it both."
There's a joke in there somewhere....I'm just too tired to think of one.
Kwanzaa has nothing to do with Africa. etc etc.
Was it the words of the original "Greensleeves?"
I don't know anyone who observes Kwanzaa.....maybe this one will die the natural death it deserves.
When was the last time you heard a Liberal DemocRAT politician say that they wanted to bring the troops home by "Happy Holidays?"
This past Friday we had our party at work, and when the Human Resources manager got to the podium and wished everyone "Happy Holidays" she was booed. She changed her tune, there is hope.
I have a question. I had never heard of that concocted holiday here in the south before the mid 90s, even though I know it came out of Cal Berkley in the 60s. It makes me wonder, considering the US administration in the mid 90s, was there some kind of formal recognition of this concocted holiday by that administration? I did hear somewhere that it is that period of time that the Christmas trees in Wash DC started becoming holiday trees.
That's sad.
Merry Christmas to you! And here's to hoping that next year they have a change of heart.
What's wrong with saying "Happy HolyDays!" ???
"Holy Happy Days, Batman!"
When I see "Happy Holidays" on, for example, a merchant's window, I assume they mean "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year" -- plural holidays. The phrase could encompass Hanukkah and Thanksgiving as well. I've heard "Happy Holidays" all my life and never had a problem with it. Just always thought it covered the whole bunch of 'em.
When they start rewriting the songs then something is very wrong.
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