Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, or Bah Humbug?

Running into an friend last week while out Christmas shopping, we ordered up some latte's to warm us up, when things became quite frosty. The barista wished us happy holidays instead of Merry Christmas, which my friend took offense to.

Though I am a Christian (and am a member of a fundamentalist church, no less), I probably use Happy Holidays more than Merry Christmas, if I'm not sure, simply because it's generic. Maybe it stems from my multi-faith upbringing, or my multi-cultural experiences of travel over the years. They way I look at it, if I want someone to respect my faith, I need to do no less for them.

Common sense, right? Apparently not.

"But," argued my friend, "We are celebrating Christmas. They're making money on us advertising for Christmas but unwilling to say the word. That's wrong."

There's actually a few holidays that fall in or around December, including Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanza, Winter Solstice, and sometimes even Ramadan, depending on the calendar year.

I have one branch of our family that is Jewish. They have always made it a point to buy me a Christmas card, and I make it a point to buy them a Chanukah card, which has caused me to sympathize with them more on this issue. They don't get offended when someone says Merry Christmas. They usually don't even correct the person wishing them Merry Christmas. They don't even get offended even though there is usually one shelf (if they're lucky) of Chanukah decorations in stores filled to the brim with Christmas. The Chanukah card I buy them each year is usually the only one in the store. Even trying to find some Chanukah candles for our menorah is a challenge.

In contrast, many towns have manger scenes, though often with the compromise of Santa and his reindeer standing somewhere between the wise men and the Shepherds. As a result, one of my preschool-aged Jewish cousins assumed for years that Santa was a fourth wise man, which brings a smile to my face whenever I see him standing there in the nativity scene. Most stores have Christmas unavoidably displayed from September into January, to the point that I even start to get sick of it after a while, and I love Christmas. Everywhere you go, distinctly Christian Christmas songs like Oh Holy Night, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Joy to the World, and others are playing over the loud speakers, mixed in with secular Christmas favorites like Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer of course. I have yet to hear songs like "Maoz Tzur" or "Yimei HaChanukah" in my local Walmart. Even though I'm Baptist, I'd love it if they did play those lovely tunes.

If you are up in arms over this issue of Merry Christmas versus Happy Holidays, please ask yourself very seriously, "Does someone not wishing me Merry Christmas really violate my freedom of religion?"

I honestly don't see the problem with Happy Holidays. I've had some pretty unfriendly cashiers while out shopping, and frankly I find it nice when they look me in the eye, smile, and wish me anything at all.

As a born again Christ-follower, one of the reasons why I love this time of year, is the opportunities I tend to have to talk to others about my Savior whose birth I am observing each December. However, when those professing His name are always running around offended over such minutiae, those who don't follow Jesus aren't interested in the good news we have for them. Please don't waste your opportunities and mine by getting upset about such insignificant things.