The "Happy Holidays" Debate

I love the holiday season. The music and decorations; spending time with people I love. To me, there is nothing better and I look forward to it every year. There is one thing I don't look forward too, though: the inevitable "Happy Holidays" debate. It seems every year, it is the same old story as some of the more conservative step up and take offense to the term. Some of the more common defenses of "Merry Christmas" include the fact "Jesus is the reason for the season" and "It's Christmastime, darn it!! Say so". Once, I even read a post basically saying that Pagans can do evil the rest of the year if they want to, but they need to leave "my" holiday alone.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to put down Christians or Christmas. I happen to be part of a Christian faith and believe in Jesus and God and all that. I also happen to celebrate Christmas. However, I have also done a lot of reading on ancient pagan faiths and will not be blind to facts.

The Holiday season is made up of much more than just Christmas, so saying "Jesus is the reason for the season" is problematic. There is also Chanukah, Kwanza, Yule and others. Let's also not forget that the Holiday season also includes Thanksgiving and New Year's. Having one term that recognizes this isn't necessarily a bad thing. I have a feeling these same people would not be complaining if everyone was forced to say "Merry Christmas" even though they do not believe in or celebrate the holiday.

I also cannot understand how some of the more radical claim that Pagans are stealing "their" holiday. When we celebrate Christmas, we are in actuality celebrating Yule. The customs of decorating a tree, hanging holly and mistletoe, etc all began with Yule. The early church then took these customs and re-named them to make Christianity more palatable to a people who were reluctant to convert.

Personally, I don't care what people celebrate or what greeting they choose to say during the Holiday season. I do, however, get a bit annoyed when I hear some of the more tyrannical members of a faith I think is a wonderful thing spew what amounts to hate speech and act as though they are persecuted for their beliefs. Isn't Christianity supposed to be about love and acceptance? In that case, why is it so hard to accept the fact the Holiday season is about much more than one specific day? If people want to truly practice what Christ preached, instead of getting snippy and defensive when someone says "happy holidays", give them a smile and wish them the same. Donate a toy so some kid won't go without this year. Make a donation to a cause. That is the real spirit of Christ's teachings and the holiday.