'Merry Christmas' or 'Happy Holiday'

[tw]

Americans can be sued for changing the expression "Merry Christmas" to "Happy Holidays". Right wing christian extremists insist this is necessary to protect us from those who would subvert Christ and Christmas.

And then we ask those extremists questions such as Why? Why do we call them Holidays? Because the only days off work were "Holy Days". Where did the word Holiday come from? From what they were - the Holy Days.

But knowing facts - the underlying reasons why - is unnecessary for extremist Christians. As scam artists know, extremist Christians are some of the easiest to take. They will believe most everything they are told. So they are told to protect "Merry Christmas" from the scandelous expression "Happy Holy Days".

Extremists blindly impose their religous beliefs on others as instructed. Since no one told them what Happy Holidays means, then denial mode is next.

Happy Holidays - a slap in the face of those who just know rather than first ask why the expression is so wrong.


This post belongs in the Politics section because religion is being imposed on others only for political reasons.

[Troubleshooter]

So what should I expect from all of the people I tell "Fuck Christmas!"?

[tw.]

ironic, don;t you think, when you consider that 'christmas' was held on dec 25th in order to supplant the pagan soltice celebration....christ being born nowhere near that date. now, the christians ....who are not taught the facts about their savior, just the stories, are up in arms?

[Griff]

Merry Christmas!

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by tw.

ironic, don;t you think, when you consider that 'christmas' was held on dec 25th in order to supplant the pagan soltice celebration....christ being born nowhere near that date. now, the christians ....who are not taught the facts about their savior, just the stories, are up in arms?

But December 25th is the date they have chosen to celebrate the birth so that becomes the holiday.

I've gotten several emails bitching about the use of Xmas instead Christmas and how it makes Baby Jesus cry. But Snopes says no.

The X abbreviation of 'Xmas' for 'Christmas' is neither modern nor disrespectful.
The notion that it is a new and vulgar representation of the word 'Christmas' seems to stem from the erroneous belief that the letter 'X' is used to stand for the word 'Christ' because of its resemblance to a cross, or that the abbreviation was deliberately concocted "to take the 'Christ' out of Christmas."
Actually, this usage is nearly as old as Christianity itself, and its origins lie in the fact that the first letter in the Greek word for 'Christ' is 'chi,' and the Greek letter 'chi' is represented by a symbol similar to the letter 'X' in the modern Roman alphabet. Hence 'Xmas' is indeed perfectly legitimate abbreviation for the word 'Christmas' (just as 'Xian' is also sometimes used as an abbreviation of the word 'Christian').

None of this means that Christians (and others) aren't justified in feeling slighted when people write 'Xmas' rather than 'Christmas,' but the point is that the abbreviation was not created specifically for the purpose of demeaning Christ, Christians, Christianity, or Christmas -- it's a very old artifact of a very different language.

[keryx]

Merry Christmas! and xoxoxoBruce is correct. I think it is ignorance of the fact that 'X' stands for chi, the greek letter representing the first letter of Christ's name is what leads to Christians feeling slighted when Christmas is abbreviated to Xmas. That and the fact that it is used in a lot of commercial venues.

Personally, at work I say "Happy Holidays." Sometimes my job calls for me to have a lot more public contact, and I do this mostly out of consideration that there are other holidays celebrated by other faiths this time of year.

[Sun_Sparkz]

Mery christmas and happy holidays and seasons greeting and whatever the FUCK you WANT to say. fook what anyone else wants you to say.. feedom of speech yo'!!!

I dont believe in god, but i believe in christmas.. and i'll say merry christmas not because I'm celebrating the birth of some dude i never knew but because i am excited to go home and spend 10 full days of food, relaxing and sharing and love with my family and those i care about, which has been a part of my life since i was born.

Religion has nothing to do with it for me.. but i dont get offended by nativity scenes and chrissy cards, because it means a lot of things to different people, and i think people who do get offended by that are just dickheads.

[Trilby]

I like "Have a Super Saturnalia!" or, "Happy Yule!" but I don't usually greet people that way. I say, "Merry Christmas," because I always have. I guess if someone feels offended they can just say, "well, F*CK YOU!", right?

[capnhowdy]

to supplant the pagan soltice celebration?
now I'm really confused.
Wolf, I'm dying to see your post. Is this for real?
I still say merry Christmas, and prolly (sorry humpbug for the sp) always will. Happy Holidays would not offend me, though, as I have heard that all my life.
What the hell is wrong with people these days? Have they nothing better to do?
Why can't we all enjoy ourselves and stop worrying about the term we use to encourage it.
Let's try this: HAVE A GOOD TIME THIS DECEMBER 25th!

[Griff]

[one]Early Christians in Rome hid their festival behind the state religions Saturnalia celebration so they could celebrate without fear of Patricius Robertsonius. When they came to power they in turn buried the old religion.[/interpretation]

[Trilby]

Yes, to acknowledge the Pagan solstice celebration! It's the original winter holiday. What, only wolf can have a Happy Yule and be serious??

[Kitsune]

Protect the meaning of Christmas? You mean that day when everyone feverishly tears the wrapping off of all the gifts that everyone will owe credit card debt on for the rest of the year? That holiday that is preceeded by an orgy of consumer spending, television advertising, and rabid material desire? The day of the year when everyone tells their children that a magical fat man in a red suit from the north pole flies around the world in a sled pulled by reindeer to shuffle down the chimney to place brand named toys under an evergreen symbol of a pagan holiday? That day is about Jesus Christ? Oh, I had no idea...

[Pie]

[Plaintive cry]But what about the athiests?[/plaintive cry]
Oh, yeah, Happy Day Off.

[Kitsune]

So, uh, what's the big deal with this? There are a number of people at my office that are refusing to shop at Target because the store makes only rare and infrequent references to Christmas.

So what?

Are people really that threatened by this? Do people think the store changed it simply to "attack Christmas" as opposed to oh, I dunno, maybe making more sales by changing their store and goods to appeal to everyone versus a select group?

To the people that demand "Merry Christmas" from businesses: welcome to The United States. This is a country where not everyone is like you and not everyone caters to your religion. It's a free country and a free marketplace where businesses adapt and change to follow their customers. Get over it. If you are that insecure about your religious beliefs that you need a law to "protect it", then you have a bigger problem than what you expect to hear from the part time cashier when they hand you your receipt.

And, anyways: <a href="http://www.target.com/gp/search.html/ref=sr_bx_1/601-8026492-7042505?field-keywords=christmas&url=index%3Dtarget&x=0&y=0">We found 39024 match(es) for "christmas" at Target.</a>

[Trilby]

Kitsune, dude, why all the fuss? Holiday expectations stressing you out? There's probably a nice, affordable foot massage/sex toy on sale at a Target somewhere near you! Kisses, you old fox. It will all be okay!