There seems to be a flap on social media this time every holiday season, that there's a "War on Christmas," largely because signs that maybe once read 'Merry Christmas' decades ago, now say, 'Happy Holidays.' The phrase itself goes back to at least 1942, with the song Happy Holiday, and has been used for as long as I can remember(I'm 44) as a catchall greeting to cover Christmas, New Year's, and Hanukkah. Eventually I became aware of things like Kwanzaa and such, and thought nothing of their inclusion in the festive feel of this time of year. Not so for many who seem to think that their holiday - Christmas - is the holiday season.
Now I understand not wanting to observe the holiday of another religion, and no one is asking anyone to do so. All anyone is looking for here is a little bit of common courtesy. It doesn't deduct in any way from your good standing within your religion, nor does it add any to anyone else's. Like it or not folks, this country isn't a Christian nation, or any other religion for that matter, and this nation was founded by immigrants! Now before I get off onto a tangent far from where I intended to end up, let me reel it back in a bit: if you want to say Merry Christmas, say Merry Christmas. If someone says Happy Holidays to you, say it back, or Merry Christmas, or 'You too,' or something acknowledging that they went out of their way to greet you in a peaceful manner, with love in their heart. There is no war on Christmas; people who say Happy Holidays aren't enemy combatants...if more of us could adopt the mindset of 'go along to get along' where this is concerned, this would be a far more joyous time of year.
With that said, I offer you the wish that you all have a happy, healthy, safe, and enjoyable holiday, in whichever way you celebrate.
Thanks for hearing me out.
It's better than saying 'bah humbug' isn't it? :-)
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