A friend of mine did a post, and it really has gotten me thinking. What was the post you ask? Something simple: a complaint against the trend towards saying “Happy Holidays”, when they are just worried about offending the recipient. The post was a reminder that Christmas is not a “season”; it is a specific, significant religious event to a large segment of the population.
So why did this start me thinking?
Well, I’m Jewish. So you think I would want the “Happy Holidays” instead, or for you to say “Happy Chanukah” to me. I don’t. The issue is more complex.
Let’s take care of the easy part: I have no problem if you wish me a happy whatever-holiday-you-believe-in. We’re lucky to live in a country where you have the right to believe whatever you want, and if you as an individual want to wish me a Merry Christmas, go for it. I wish you one as well. If you want to wish me a Happy Chanukah, that’s fine too. I might wish you back a Merry Christmas.
Now let’s broaden the view. You’re a clerk at a random business, with no obvious religious affiliation. Take Office Depot or your local coffee shop (I’m excluding religious businesses because I expect churches to wish me a Merry Christmas, and for places that promote their religious affiliation to great me with it). These are non-religious. So if a clerk is wishing me Merry Christmas, is it the clerk personally wishing it on behalf of themselves, or the business directing them to say it. I have no problem with the former. But what about the latter? Isn’t a non-religious institution wishing me a Merry Christmas disingenous? It’s like an atheist wishing it — it cheapens the Christian meaning of the holy day. Are they wishing it just to get my business? Are they wishing it just to indicate they want to exclude my business? The same thought, by the way, goes for mass advertising not targeted at an individual.
These businesses that are wishing me Happy Holidays, or even Merry Christmas are primarily doing it not out of any religious commitment, but to get me to spend money. Now, I’m not Christian, but my limited understanding of the belief system indicates that the spending of money is not the basis of the holiday. Even Stan Freberg has noted this in his classic, Green Chri$tma$.
Holiday wishes should be sincere, not perfunctory. If someone wants to wish me a Merry Christmas out of their honest beliefs, I have no problem with it (even if I personally don’t believe the same). I wish that they find all the religious meaning in whatever holiday they are celebrating this season.
What I don’t want to see is the holidays cheapened or assumptions made. Just because Christianity makes up a large part of the religion of the country doesn’t mean we must assume all are Christian. Individually wish what you want, but when you move it up to the corporate/business level, think twice about expressing a religious intent from a non-religious organization. You’ll offend those who believe, and offend those whose beliefs differ.
So what’s the answer? There is no good one. Saying “Happy Holidays” will bother the sincere believers who feel it is cheapening and dismissing their holy day. Expressing wishes for a specific holiday (at least from a corporate level — remember, I have no problem with individuals) creates the question of whether the corporation is only serving one segment of the community. Lastly, of course, emphasizing the religious aspects of the holiday will please those who believe, and bother those who enjoy the season but not the reasons behind the season. This is the challenge of living in our religiously pluralistic society, finding the right line. The question would be easier where there is a state religion, but life would not be better for those of differening religions. The difficulty in answering this question is actually what makes this country great.
So, the next time someone wishes you a Merry Christmas or a Happy Chanukah, be thankful you live somewhere you can get all the religious greetings freely. When someone wishes you a Happy Holidays, understand that they are not cheapening the seasons, but respecting your right to give whatever religious meaning to the holidays you observe and hold dear.
