Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays?

The phrase "Merry Christmas" has been a long-standing greeting and farewell during the days leading up to and around the 25^th of every December. The phrase is uttered in many countries worldwide from Christians to other Christians, and even among non-Christians. But lately, the phrase "Merry Christmas" has come under attack from the politically correct population and non-Christians as well.

Most notably, the low-price retailer Wal-Mart asked its employees in 2005 to refrain from issuing the greeting "Merry Christmas" to its customers during the Christmas season. During the 2005 season, the Wal-Mart website even re-directed customers conducting searches with the word "Christmas" to a search for the word "Holiday." However, searches for other religiously dominant holidays such as Kwanzaa or Hanukah yielded results for their respective search terms without the same redirect. The website has since been updated and Wal-Mart has also returned to its allowance for the greeting "Merry Christmas." But the one season withdrawal from the usage of the phrase and outlaw of the Christian celebration begs the question, why would Wal-Mart alienate Christians and no other group. Wal-Mart has insisted that they simply wanted to include all groups in the "holiday" season. But Wal-Mart has errantly inserted itself into the politically correct arena on this matter. Wal-Mart also failed to use good business sense on the matter, by failing to realize that blatantly alienating Christians, who make up the majority of the United States population and also the Wal-Mart customer base, they would essentially be loosing profits.

What this country needs is someone to stand up and tell it like it is. We need to stand up and state the obvious. The truth of the matter is that Christmas is a holiday to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. And yes, Christians realize that December 25 may or may not be the exact date of his birth, but regardless we honor his birth by setting aside the 25^th day of the last month. The holiday has become a material possession to the majority of Americans. Christmas no longer means reverence for the ultimate gift of Christ our Lord, but instead it means presents and material possessions, time off of work or school, and even a chance to create lavish meals and gatherings. The heart of the matter is that non-Christians have felt obliged to take all the great benefits that come with Christmas, but have insisted on ignoring the reverence of Christ and have gone as far as to insist that others ignore the same reverence. Simply put, Christians celebrate a Christian holiday and to express this to other Christians we use the greeting "Merry Christmas." For non-Christians, not using the greeting is acceptable, but trying to make other not use the phrase in an attempt to be politically correct is ludicrous. So for companies like Wal-Mart, the Christian communities are sending a message loud and clear: "Merry Christmas" is here to stay.