Unhappy Holidays
Okay, this whole “Happy Holidays” jihad is confusing me. As far as I can remember, people have been saying “HH” for many, many years now. Every time I’ve heard it, regardless of who’s speaking it, I’ve always interpreted it as an act of kindness that’s meant to imply “I know we may have different beliefs, but I hope your celebration is a happy one.” Of course, with New Years in the mix, it’s more than a pleasant inter-faith greeting. “Happy Holidays” is a nice, sincere expression of the whole season.
For a few humbugs out there, however, “Happy Holidays” has been stripped of its goodness and turned into a hideous attack on Christmas. Did you think you were being kind and inclusionary in your seasons greeting? Well, you were wrong! Little did you know that you were actually saying “Up yours, baby Jesus”. Okay, I’m exaggerating here, but not by much.
To hear some pundits weigh in, you’d think Christianity was under attack by liberal P.C. zealotry. As someone who’s been accused of being too politically correct, let me assure you that I don’t think saying “Merry Christmas” is an insult, I think public schools should be allowed to have Christmas trees, and I have very little problem with the fact that Christmas is the only religious holiday that’s recognized by the government.1 This is coming from someone who thinks a story about a virgin giving birth to god’s son in a barn is as ludicrous as a reindeer with a glowing nose or an elf who wants to be a dentist.
While many religious folks decry it, I see Christmas as a holiday whose spiritual meaning has been slowly eroding for a few generations now. While I detest overcommercialization, I think the secularization of the holiday is a good thing overall. The “reason for the season” arguments aside, the warmth that people get from the holiday season has much less to do with nativity scenes2 than with our society’s annual rites of being civil towards one another.
So, that’s why this atheist celebrates Christmas, but I can understand why many would choose not to do so. Obviously there are people who aren’t as comfortable with the holiday due to their cultural or religious traditions. Yet for those who are hell-bent on stripping the words “Happy Holidays” from our shared lexicon, the idea that any other major holiday would dare to impede on X-mas’ turf is an insult3. As far as the self-appointed defenders of Christmas are concerned, December belongs to Jesus. Period.
I’m not going defend the hypothetical language police who insist on making the words “Merry Christmas” a crime. That’s clearly a case of political correctness run amok. When you’ve got people interpreting every utterance of a harmless phrase as an attack on Christianity itself, extremism on the opposite end of the aisle is to blame. Just as liberals are often guilty of overreaching in our attempts to curb government sponsorship of religion, religious conservatives need to keep their persecution complex in check and realize that a few vague words of kindness don’t amount to an attempt to kill Christmas.
1: Within reason, of course. As far as I’m concerned, symbols like Santa Claus and Christmas trees have a pretty solid foot in the secular world at this point. Little statues that celebrate a baby being born in a barn are another story… (Check out this Slate article for more on the thin line between religious and secular Christmas symbols.)
2: Besides, as a non-believer, I find the stories about Jesus’s birth to be as unpersuasive as Mel Gibson’s pornographic celebration of his death. Jesus said and did plenty of great things; when are we gonna get a holiday devoted to that?
3: For example, take what Pat Robertson had to say about Kwanzaa :
Reverend Pat Robertson called Kwanzaa “an absolute fraud” during the news segment of Christian Broadcasting Network’s The 700 Club December 6. After lamenting that “left wing educators, left-wing judges are stripping every vestige of our Christian heritage,” Robertson, host and Christian Coalition of America founder, said: “Kwanzaa is an absolute fraud. You know, there was no festival in Africa called ‘Kwanzaa.’ I mean, it’s made up by a bunch of hippie-types on the West Coast. I mean, it’s not something that goes back to Africa. No way.”
Robertson sure is quick to cast stones, but there aren’t any holidays (religious or otherwise) that can reject charge of being “made up”. Since it’s pretty much a given that Jesus wasn’t born on December 25th and that the date was likely chosen by early Christians as a way to compete with pagan holidays such as Yule and Saturnalia, lemme just say “it’s not something that goes back to Bethlehem. No way.”
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great post!
it’s funny, Mona and i were just discussing tthe other day how “Merry Christmas” has become a fairly “secular” greeting as well. I generally say “Happy Holidays” out of politeness in not knowing the beliefs of who i’m talking to. i’ve said “Merry Christmas” to christians, and sometimes they seem a bit offended to hear that greeting coming from an atheist. It’s weird… sometimes you can’t win. Someone will always find a way to be offended by something if they want to.
Comment by tom — December 21, 2004 @ 11:51 pm
Not that I’m trying to advertise on your site, but I’ve just written a post on teaching the history of the Christmas tree to pre-K Unitarian Universalist kids. The debate among Christians about whether to celebrate Christmas itself is interesting, and so is the question, “Is Jesus really the reason for the season.”
For an interesting Christmas service, check out your local UU church. It is possible to celebrate Jesus’ birth without claiming he’s your savior. Take for instance our version of Silent Night: we don’t sing the “Christ the Savior is born” line, and it’s still a beautiful candle-lit, communal moment.
Comment by Robin Morris — December 22, 2004 @ 5:37 am
Atheists for Christmas! I think it has a ring to it.
Someone needs to tell Pat that if he wants to enjoy his Christmas celebration he should take the stick out of his butt.
Oh, and about that”Peace on Earth and goodwill towards men” stuff, I’m thinking that would fall into the catagory of, “LETS STOP KILLING EACH OTHER!!!”
Comment by Stephen — December 22, 2004 @ 7:19 am
It seems obvious enough to me. Unless you live in some podunk town in the middle of nowhere, chances are you know some Jewish people, some Asians, etc. Maybe you know some people who are religious to varying degrees, but don’t have a large family, or don’t care to indulge in the orgy of consumerism, so all Christmas means to them is a relaxing day off from work.
Saying “Happy Holidays”, to me, is just a way of acknowledging all these things. It’s a way of wishing them well, whatever it might mean to them. It’s a way of actually recognizing the other person as an individual.
But all this is repellent to the professional Christian victim crowd. Nuance! Shades of grey! The horror! The horror! They just want their holiday to be right out of a Norman Rockwell portrait. Sort of like what Andy Farmer (Chevy Chase) tried to do in Funny Farm. Other people aren’t respected for who they are; only for what they make the fundies feel about themselves. Seeing their own uptightness reflected back at them is the only thing that makes them feel secure. It’s a true herd mentality.
It’s all hilarious, of course, seeing as how Christmas wasn’t even celebrated for the first few centuries, and when it was recognized, the date was set at Jan.6, until Pope Julius changed it to Dec. 25 in 1743, trying to crowd out all the ancient pagan solstice celebrations. And if you read the book The Jesus Mysteries, it seems increasingly likely that even Jesus himself was just a composite sketch of various savior-gods, not an actual flesh-and-blood person.
No wonder they’re so shrill and hysterical about all this.
Comment by The One True Commenter — December 22, 2004 @ 1:08 pm
If you don’t believe in “a reindeer with a glowing nose” who do you think pulls Jesus’s sleigh when it’s foggy out?
This whole manufactured issue is nothing more than the American Taliban in action. I think they secretly envy the Jihadist schools that teach nothing but the Koran.
In my opinion, I think it shows an incredible insecurity in your faith if you have to enforce your beliefs on others. And there is the true source of fundamentalism.
Hope you all had a good winter solistace.
Comment by kamachanda — December 22, 2004 @ 3:32 pm
Though I’m not quite in agreement regarding the harmlessness of government-sponsored Christmas, and as much as hate it when people promote their own blogs in other peoples ?comments?, I just have to do it, because this ?attack on Christmas? hysteria has gotten out of hand, and its important to show that there lots of us there who are justifiably angered by it, so here?s my humble contribution to the debate: Christmas Rebuttal
Comment by Daldude — December 22, 2004 @ 4:48 pm
My new solution is to ask the following pre-greeting screen question: “Are you a right-wing freakshow?”
If the answer is no, then I proceed to the traditional: “Well then, Happy Holidays to you” otherwise, the Cheney-approved: “Well then, fuck you AND the Baby Jesus.”
Comment by jwer — December 23, 2004 @ 6:23 am
The One True Commenter isdead-on regarding the date issue. I would add that, even if one were to accept Decmber 25 as “the Day”, the message “Merry Christmas” would logically apply ONLY to that day. Otherwise, one must acknowledge that it is only the Christmas season. Would the beleaguered Mr. Robertson, Mr. O’Reilly, and their allied worshippers accept the suggestion that the “Merry Christmas” greeting be preserved for use only on that day when its meaning is actually significant?
Or, on the other hand, would the complaining chorus note that the commercialization of Christmas, a phenomenon that itself was once the source of midwinter angst to true believers, is responsible for the following:
(1) Distorting a religious observance into a spending orgy of greed, envy, and gluttony;
(2) Expanding Christmas buying to “Holiday” buying, so as to offer equal consumer opportunities to non-Christians; and
(3) Over-exposing the whole Christmas/Season/Holiday concept so that (starting with the arrival of “Holiday Shopping” catalogues in mid-summer, and ending in February with “pre-inventory” clearance sales), to the end that the wonders of a blessed night, the birth of a beloved child, and the holiness of time and place are irrelevant?
Or would that make require sincerity? Bring me a whip– I’ll run them out of the temple myself.
Comment by Ereshkigal — December 23, 2004 @ 10:07 am
Actually on the date issue, most scholars believe that the historical Jesus was born on or near May 20th. As for Christmas trees, shopping, whatever else. None of it has Christian roots. I have a post outlining the history of many of our Christmas traditions over on my blog.
Comment by dolphin — December 25, 2004 @ 9:28 pm
“as ludicrous as a reindeer with a glowing nose or an elf who wants to be a dentist.”
Okay, I recognize Rudolph, but what’s the other story? Anybody?
Ed
… or will I have to write it?
Comment by Ed Drone — December 27, 2004 @ 8:28 pm
Tooth Fairy.
Comment by jwer — January 3, 2005 @ 12:14 pm
Oil
The New York Times carried an article today titled “Oil Find Hints at a Less Dependent Cuba”. President Fidel Castro [durational ratio of Cuban presidents to U.S. presidents: 1/10] announced on Christmas day that estimated reserves of 100 million bar…
Trackback by Exiled from the Underworld — January 11, 2005 @ 4:38 pm
Oil
The New York Times carried an article today titled “Oil Find Hints at a Less Dependent Cuba”. President Fidel Castro [durational ratio of Cuban presidents to U.S. presidents: 1/10] announced on Christmas day that estimated reserves of 100 million bar…
Trackback by Exiled from the Underworld — January 11, 2005 @ 4:38 pm