A politically correct Christmas?

[CF DolFan]

OK ... I give!! I've had enough of being politically correct and really don't understand it anyway. Why isn't it Merry Christmas? Why isn't school getting out for Christmas vacation? Why are commercials and retailers forced to say "Happy freaking Holidays" when their store is littered with Christmas wreaths, trees, and baby Jesus music playing out of their speakers? Cities are holding Christmas tree lightings and decorating with Christmas items. TV commercials are pushing Christmas but saying Happy Holidays. Everywhere you look and hear it's Christmas!!!!! I've seen a million pictures or cards that say Happy Holidays but all of them have a Christmas scene on them. This is absolutely insane!!!!

I know several devout Jewish people, Hindus, and even Muslims and they do not have an issue with “Christmas” though they do not celebrate it. I’m not sure why the politically correct police outweigh them.

God Bless you if you are Jewish, Muslim, Hindu or even atheist but to pretend that the country is celebrating anything other than Christmas is just plain stupid!!

[Pappy13]

Everyone has the right to call it whatever they want.  I still say Merry Christmas, but I won't be offended if you tell me Happy Holidays or anything else that you feel appropriate.  If you're offended by that, you'll have to just get over it.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I personally prefer the phrase "Happy holidays."

It is the phrase I use with anyone for whom I don't know for a fact their heritage.  If I know someone is Christian I will wish them a "Merry Xmas", or if Jewish, "Happy Hanukkah." 

If someone assumes to know my heritage or knows my heritage and wishes me a "Merry Xmas" anyway, I respond by wishing them a "Happy Hanukkah."  (The only exception to this is the two days of Dec 24th & Dec 25th in which case I assume they are just telling me to have nice day) 

[Dave Gray]

Nobody is forcing business to say Happy Holidays.  They choose to do it because it is more inclusive and means more money for them.

Because schools are publicly run, they are legally not allowed to support the establishment of any particular religion, so they are trending towards Happy Holidays because it is inclusive to all of their students.

It's not political correctness.  It's just that saying Happy Holidays encompasses everyone, while Merry Christmas can be exclusive.  Just because the latter half of December is about recognizing Jesus to you doesn't mean that it's the reason that other people are in the spirit.  That's all it is.  It's not like it's some conspiracy.

[Thundergod]

Agreed CF, been annoyed by that for quite a bit too. Really too bad that things changed. Give it time, soon it'll be a non denominational holiday season:

[StL FinFan]

Happy Festivus!

[Phishfan]

The only thing I am celebrating is having a couple weeks off of work (love that mandatory shutdown) and that I'll get to see my parents.

I almost forgot, I'll be celebrating college football as well.

I'm not sure there is a name for my holiday.

[Spider-Dan]

The "War on Christmas" continues!

I'd like to know what the following have to do with the birth of Jesus of Nazareth:

- decorated trees
- Santa Claus
- reindeer
- elves
- candy canes
- snowmen

There are effectively two different, unrelated types of Christmas in the United States.  There's the nativity scene, baby Jesus, religious Christmas, and the Santa Claus, decorated tree, Yuletide secular Christmas.  And I daresay the latter is celebrated by more people than the former.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I'd like to know what the following have to do with the birth of Jesus of Nazareth:

- decorated trees
- Santa Claus
- reindeer
- elves
- candy canes
- snowmen

Not to mention eating candy out of your socks.  Yuck! 

[Pappy13]

There are effectively two different, unrelated types of Christmas in the United States.  There's the nativity scene, baby Jesus, religious Christmas, and the Santa Claus, decorated tree, Yuletide secular Christmas.  And I daresay the latter is celebrated by more people than the former.

Most people combine the 2 into 1 entity.  My family has both a nativity scene and plenty of snowmen, a tree, presents etc.  Many people celebrate a Christmas mass or sing carols that deal directly with the birth of Christ.  Most everyone I know combines the 2 different events into 1 celebration and calls it Christmas time.  There's rarely a seperation of the 2.  In fact Santa Claus itself is simply a retelling of the story of St. Nicholas who is the patron saint of children and used to give gifts to children.  Christ being a child and all, there's a very strong tie in.

[StL FinFan]

Not to mention eating candy out of your socks.  Yuck! 

That's taken from St. Nicholas Day, which is actually December 6, in which children put out their shoes with gifts for the saint and his horse and are returned sweets and a sackful of gifts.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

That's taken from St. Nicholas Day, which is actually December 6, in which children put out their shoes with gifts for the saint and his horse and are returned sweets and a sackful of gifts.

Which has what to do with a pregnancy allegedly occurring without fornication?

[StL FinFan]

^ Nothing.  St Nicholas Day and Christmas are two different days.  Americans have combined them.  Jesus was born in the spring anyway.

[Dave Gray]

In our family, though my Mom is very religious and we were always churchgoers, Christmas wasn't really that important a holiday from a religious perspective, but we definitely did the gifts/fun/reindeer aspect of it all.  Although, my family never really did the religion thing outside of church and some small rituals like a standard blessing at dinner.  It's not like we talked about scripture or dogma or anything like that.

[Spider-Dan]

Most people combine the 2 into 1 entity.  My family has both a nativity scene and plenty of snowmen, a tree, presents etc.  Many people celebrate a Christmas mass or sing carols that deal directly with the birth of Christ.  Most everyone I know combines the 2 different events into 1 celebration and calls it Christmas time.  There's rarely a seperation of the 2.

That's one way to look at it.

Another way would be that damn near everyone (even many Jews, Muslims, and atheists in America) celebrates the Yuletide part of Christmas, and then some smaller subset (I would say a minority) of that enormous group also celebrates the nativity part of Christmas.  Then you have an extremely small portion of the population that does not celebrate Yuletide at all (no Santa, no Christmas tree, etc.) and sticks strictly to Jesus.

That's what I meant when I said that more people celebrate the Santa Christmas than the Jesus Christmas, and I think it's almost indisputable, even in America.

FYI: The term Yuletide effectively encompasses most things about Christmas that do not involve Jesus.  It originates from the pagan Germanic end-of-year festival, which the Roman Catholic Church absorbed and changed to "Christmas" (even though according to the bible, Jesus was born nowhere near December).

In fact Santa Claus itself is simply a retelling of the story of St. Nicholas who is the patron saint of children and used to give gifts to children.  Christ being a child and all, there's a very strong tie in.

Santa Claus (Sinterklaas) predates Saint Nicholas.  And I think pretty much everyone was a child at some point, so I'm not sure how strong of a tie-in that is.