Why don't I wish everyone a Merry Christmas? The simple answer is, because not everyone celebrates Christmas. Some are more adamant about their beliefs than others, and I really don't care to find out who among those around me is of this more adamant variety. By wishing you a Happy Holiday Season, or simply Happy Holidays, I can express my desire that at least this next month or so will be filled with happiness, peace, fond memories, and good food for you, and I can do so without having to wonder whether I might offend you. I guess I'm just lazy.
Now, does that mean that if I were to wish someone like Jeff (Yaakov) a Merry Christmas that I think he should take offense to it? Absolutely not! Nor do I think Jeff would. Jeff is clearly a very religious person, but I think Jeff would take it in the spirit in which it is intended - that is:
* I am, in some manner or other, a Christian and I celebrate Christmas;
* To me, Christmas is a time to come together, put differences aside, and share happiness with others (which, with a family the size of mine, is truly a blessing); and
* I sincerely wish for you that, during my holiday season, you will receive the same blessings.
By the way, Jeff, I don't mean to pick on you, but your post is sitting just above the message box as I'm writing this!
I arrived at this perspective on holiday wishes in a rather odd manner. Growing up, my parents divorced when I was little, and one of our neighborhood friends, a recent divorcee, took my mother and I in to live with her for about a year. She had a son six years younger than me, and as she was Jewish, she was raising him to practice that faith. I learned a fair amount about Judiasm at that time, though a lot of it has since been forgotten. But one of the big things I learned is that there are different faiths other than Chrisitianity, and that some people take theirs very seriously.
Years later, when I was in college, I worked in a predominately Jewish part of South Jersey one holiday season. While there, I was wished Happy Chanukah about five times more often than I was wished a Merry Christmas, and the first several times I heard it, I was taken aback. It amazed me that these people just assumed I was Jewish! Then it dawned on me that I was doing the same to them when I wished them a Merry Christmas - I was assuming that they practiced the same faith as me, and I realized that that was because I was looking at things from my self-centered universe. I quickly decided that, rather than taking offense, I could take the Happy Chanukah wish in the spirit in which it was intended (which is similar to my Merry Christmas wish). I also realized that by simply switching from Merry Christmas to Happy Holidays, I could still express everything I wanted to express, and could do so that actually better conveyed the spirit of the wish I was bestowing on the person.
So, may each of you (especially those who suffered through my entire little tirade here) have a joyous and blessed holiday season! I'm glad we can have these kinds of discussions on here without it turning into a hate-filled confrontation.
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