IF you are the type who follows the political commentary media closely, then you know that a big topic of discussion this month has been the Happy Holidays vs. Merry Christmas debate. A lot of conservative commentators have been unhappy creeping elimination of Christ from Christmas, and one of the areas they have focused on is "Happy Holidays", that generic catch all term that so many people say in place of of "Merry Christmas" today. I'm going to agree with these commentators-it is a sad state of affairs that make "Merry Christmas" a politically incorrect statement. And now I'm also going to hang my head and admit that the money whore businessman that I am for much of every week says "Happy Holidays" almost exclusively to anyone who isn't family or a close friend.
Here's my reality. Unlike the conservative commentator, whose success depends partly on how many people he/she can piss off, my success depends partly on how few people I can piss off. There are a few hot button areas where I do not go with my customers; one is politics, and the other is religion. When it comes to politics, if a customer brings it up, and I completely whore myself out. I have one customer who thinks I'm just to the left of Stalin, and that makes him happy. When it comes to religion, I do everything in my power to avoid it. That means pondering to the lowest common denominator, which means at this time of the year, when you have to acknowledge Christmas in some way since most business either shut down or are dead because of vacations, 'Happy Holidays' becomes the accepted term.
I noticed something the past week. People want to say 'Merry Christmas', but they are afraid to. I've exchanged Merry Christmas a few times with customers, and every time they have been halting, uncomfortable greetings. Not because people don't want to say it, but because they are afraid to say it. Not afraid because they think they'll be imprisoned, but because they are afraid they will lose a valuable business contact or customer. In some ways, 'Happy Holidays' is almost a clandestine 'Merry Christmas' amongst believers. Hear me out on this. In my experience, the most die hard anti-Christians will not acknowledge Christmas in any way, shape or form. They will not utter Happy Holidays to you. Happy Holidays is the de facto way a celebrator of Christmas can say "I observe and celebrate Christmas, and I hope you enjoy the holiday as much as I will." What is most sad is that we have come to the point where there is such a poisonous anti-Christian element in American society that we feel that we have to do this.
Having said all this, I'm not going to excuse 'Happy Holidays'. I choke on it every time I say it because I feel like I'm Peter and the rooster has just crowed for the third time. Christmas is the crown jewel holiday of this holiday season, and we should not hesitate to wish others a Merry Christmas, even if the other person is not a Christian. Christianity is, after all, the most inclusive religion the world has ever experienced, and it is only right to extend the greeting to all. I just think that those who see 'Happy Holidays' as some sort of an attack against Christmas are missing a little piece of the story.
3 comments:
I sympathize with your need to accomodate the reality of business. The sad thing is that Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religion are the basic tenets of our country. The anti-Christmas zealots are the very people who would shut off free speech for others with whom they disagree. Most of us have ancestors who fled that European bigotry. To have it here in this country is both disturbing and disgusting.
What would be wrong with saying, "Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas" And if someone disagrees, tell em you plan to please everyone, and that you are tolerant and caring (inferring that they are not.) hehe
Merry Christmas to you and to Mrs. Jib.
the mere use of "happy holidays" is not what frustrates me. what frustrates me is the expectation of the extreme "politically correct" supporters that i should no longer use "merry christmas." when people are complaining that bakeries are making "christmas cookies" rather than "holiday cookies," that's when i get a little worked up. like i said in one of my entries, christians have been expected to honor everyone else's rights in regards to religious expression...and rightfully so. however, it appears it is at the cost of our own religious freedom and the expression of our beliefs.
merry christmas, jib. merry christmas to mrs. jib as well.
It's a shame that you have to worry about saying "Merry Christmas" to your customers, so that you will be successful. Ideally, you could say whatever you wanted, and it would not affect the likelyhood that they buy from you.
Personally, I say "Happy Holidays" because: My household is not overly religious and because I grew up in an area that was at least half Jewish, and had a fair amount of people that celebrate (observe?) Kwanza, and it is simply easier to use the catch-all "Happy Holidays" rather than inquire what the person observes.
I stumbled across this blog...I'm no one you know :)
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