December 25, 2022

I've been criticized for starting the day saying "Merry Christmas, everyone" because what about the way not everybody is Christian?

I've got to admit, the criticism didn't occur to me. Anyway... 

 

I hope that gives you a thing or 2 to think about, and really: The day is Christmas, and merriness can be wished for all. Or isn't that insensitive too?

33 comments:

Lyle Smith said...

The woke set in England are tweeting “Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!” It is easier to just wish for a everyone a Merry Christmas because it applies to all regardless of faith.

phantommut said...

Even at Christmas some people just want to be Grinches.

RNB said...

Giving the gift of a nanoaggression to folk whose day is not complete without having something to be offended at.

Yancey Ward said...

I am a Festivinian, but I took no offense that I won't refuse to share in the Airing of Grievances.

wildswan said...

Early this morning, coached by my great niece, I opened my Ninja-turtle stocking and took out my candy and my Diva glitter nails. We sang Happy Birthday to Jesus at breakfast. The laughing never really stopped. I wish you all as merry a Christmas.

hawkeyedjb said...

Merry Christmas should be given and accepted in the spirit of good wishes, always. To take offense at such expressions is to show rudeness in the face of goodwill.

I used to work in a largely Jewish area, and often ate lunch at a local deli. At the time of Rosh Hashanah, the deli workers would wish me a happy new year. I appreciated it - they didn't know or care if I was Jewish. Should I have taken umbrage at their benevolence? I hope I would never be that kind of person, looking for a reason to be offended by those who wish me well.

Steven Wilson said...

No one is offended or outraged. It's just a cheap shot at gaining leverage. I like the point that whether you celebrate it or not December 25th is Christmas Day. So, if you don't celebrate Christmas as a religious festival just consider my "Merry Christmas" just to be a special way of saying "Have a nice day!"

Roy Lofquist said...

"Merry Chistmas" is not nearly offensive as "and the horse you rode in on". Learn to appreciate small favors.

MountainMan said...

Only in America do we seem to have this problem with "Merry Christmas".

Back in 2006 I spent a couple of weeks working at our company office in Singapore, right after Thanksgiving. All along Orchard Rd, their equivalent of 5th Ave, was an unbelievable display of Christmas decorations. Strings of lights over the road, decorations in the store windows, etc. The employees in the office put up a Christmas tree and decorations, and everyone wished me a Merry Christmas before I left and gave me a little Christmas gift. The Christian population there is probably no more than a few %.

Same thing happened in Hyderabad, India, during the same time period in 2014. One afternoon the manager of our office there sent a group of employees off with a company credit card and they came back loaded down with decorations and spent the rest of the afternoon decorating the office. Most of the employees were Hindu or Muslim, I may have been the only Christian in the office. But they all celebrated Christmas. When I went to the airport a few days later to come home, while sitting in the gate area waiting on my flight to Dubai, the PA system was playing non-stop Christmas music, religious and non-religious, and there were some Christmas decorations in the various shops and public areas.

Jeff said...

As a Jew, who has spent my life with numerous Jews ranging from unaffiliated to extreme Orthodox, I can say with all honesty that I have never met a Jew of any sort who was in the least bit offended by being wished a "Merry Christmas."

Iman said...

This one is special… https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yxDZjg_Igoc

SGT Ted said...

Its a very dumb criticism.

Merry Christmas!

TickTock said...

So it is inappropriate to express your belief to others? A Jew cannot wish me happy Hanukkah because I might be offended? Or a Hindu wish me serenity, or….. What a poor, barren world it is becoming.

Iman said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
rcocean said...

Since the number 1 priority of Christians and "Traditional Americans" is not to conserve their culture, religion, folkways, and values but not to offend any racial, religious, or ethnic minority under any circumstance, I'd suggest no saying anything to anybody at Christmas.

My wife and I stopped by the local starbucks for our usual sunday coffee and found no christmas decorations, no christmas music, and no one wishing anyone a "Merry Christmas" or even a "Happy Holiday".

Everyone seems to be happy.

WASPs have never really liked Christmas, it goes back to their puritantical roots. Can you imagine Joe Manchin or some New Englander singing a Christmas Carol? They probably just spend Christmas thinking how to get more $$.

Ice Nine said...

To everyone who is offended by "Merry Christmas": "Merry Christmas!"

Big Mike said...

I’ve had many Jewish friends over the years. Only two still alive, I’m sorry to say, and one of them went hard woke and does not speak to conservative scum like us anymore. We used to bring presents wrapped in plain blue paper or hannukah-themed wrapping paper for their kids; our friends understood that for those of us raised in the Christian tradition the holiday season is all about giving, not receiving. However it does make me sensitive that not everyone celebrates Christmas.

(See also my comment on the “Merry Christmas” post.)

reader said...

I appreciate when someone wishes me well in the way that is most meaningful to them. In turn I wish people well in the way that has the most meaning to me.

Merry Christmas.

Kevin said...

Or isn't that insensitive too?

Insensitive: The fear that someone, somewhere, might decide to take offense. Generally brought up by someone who not only doesn't take offense, but would have no reason to do so.

Jim at said...

If you're offended by someone wishing you Merry Christmas - on Christmas Day - the problem is on you. Not them.

Big Mike said...

(My comment was at 8:49.)

n.n said...

Have a merry Christmas, make the Yuletide gay.

Scott said...

Fun song. But those guys are scary looking. Odd odd odd. the Beatles influence "Its only just begun...."

Clyde said...

Today is also the eighth night of Hanukkah. People of good will understand that wishing people a Merry Christmas, even if they are of another religious tradition, is a friendly gesture. People who get their panties in a wad about it are not people of good will.

Hey Skipper said...

Just returned from a month in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Christmas decorations and music are pervasive.

None of those countries are any more than minority Christian, and two are communist.

rcocean said...

its the 2nd most important Christian holiday after easter. But can we talk more about the Jews and Hannuakah. Some more? Y'know while they're only 3 percent of the USA, they seem to be like 50 percent.

Goddamn. I mean I appreciate all the comments. But can Jews just chill out for a day or two and shut the fuck up. Of course, Biden's kids are all Jews. And Trump's kids are all Jews, and Clinton's kids are all Jews. And Mitt Romney and Mitch Mcconnell want to be Jews. So, I can understand the atitude.

But we don't need to talk about Jews 24/7.

Temujin said...

Well...if you're gonna talk about us like that, then no- rcocean- please don't talk about us at all.

The only people who get upset about someone wishing everyone a Merry Christmas are the lefty secularists and the atheists. Jews are not insulted by it at all. In fact, most of us wish everyone we know a Merry Christmas. And I, for one, love the season and love when others wish me a Merry Christmas. It's a nice thing to wish someone.

As for Hanukkah, historically it has some importance, but as a holiday, it's not a big thing unless you have kids. Then it can be a thing, but even then...it's only because of the time of year it falls. If it bothers you to hear people mention Hanukkah, wear earbuds.

And if it bothers you going forward, just wait until you pass from the Here and Now and you can ask The Man Himself about it. As one of the tribe, I'm sure he'd have a good perspective on all of this.

Rocco said...

rcocean said...
WASPs have never really liked Christmas, it goes back to their puritanical roots. Can you imagine Joe Manchin or some New Englander singing a Christmas Carol?

Joe Manchin is no WASP. Manchin is a Catholic of half Italian and half Czech descent (and looks it, IMHO).

Rocco said...

rcocean said...
WASPs have never really liked Christmas, it goes back to their puritanical roots. Can you imagine Joe Manchin or some New Englander singing a Christmas Carol?

Joe Manchin is no WASP. Manchin is a Catholic of half Italian and half Czech descent (and looks it, IMHO).

M Jordan said...

Slade. Ah; the memories. A barely talented group who jumped on the glam rock train and actually led it for awhile. This song was their best, imho. It’s a good one, fun, upbeat, and very British in its own way.

Michael K said...

Blogger reader said...

I appreciate when someone wishes me well in the way that is most meaningful to them. In turn I wish people well in the way that has the most meaning to me.

Merry Christmas.


Exactly.

loudogblog said...

I agree that there is no reason for anyone to be offended by being wished a sincere "merry Christmas," but there seems to be an awful lot of people who get offended when it's obvious that no offense was intended.

The other side does it, too. You also have people who get offended by being wished "happy holidays" instead of "merry Christmas."

Nicholas said...

Ah, that takes me back, to the England of my childhood, a more or less homogeneous society with a common culture transmitted through just three television channels. Noddy Holder also reminds me of the severe limitations of National Health Service dentistry.... but all in all, good ties, when, Cold War notwithstanding, people were optimistic about the future.