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It was a letter to the editor in the Coeur d’Alene Press Wednesday 2 December 2009 that really got me riled. Where the writer admitted to wanting to go downtown and spend money freely until seeing something posted that said, “Happy Holidays.” And proceeded to “get upset” that “Merry Christmas” wasn’t being displayed instead. The question that I have for both the writer and the Press, where is your Christmas spirit? After all, what did Christ teach in his lifetime? Love thy neighbor as thyself, of course. Doesn’t sound as though much love was in evidence if the writer could take issue with a sign/Arch Druid. More here.
Question: Does the term “happy holidays” bother you?
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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.
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JeanC on December 04 at 2:57 p.m.
Happy Holidays is a perfectly good phrase to wish on people for the season, esp since there are several holidays this month. What is wrong with wishing someone a happy Holy Day, which is where holiday comes from?
zelda on December 04 at 2:59 p.m.
It only bothers me because it sounds clumsy and wooden when spoken. I’ve never heard anyone say it spontaneously. Uusually there’s a pause, like the person’s mental gears can’t quite mesh, as they’re thinking, “Cripes, they might be Jews or have Jewish in-laws but Irving Berlin was Jewish, wasn’t he, and he wrote ‘White Christmas’ and gosh, what if they’re Wiccan or atheists?” And then out it comes. “Happy, um, holidays, OK?”
Cabbage Boy on December 04 at 3:07 p.m.
The annual “War to not offend anyone so we can get more of your $$$s” continues.
simpleton on December 04 at 3:14 p.m.
As a Christian this whole controversy really torques me off. If people don’t want to celebrate Christmas they shouldn’t have to. It’s all about the choice. Christ never wanted people to become believers at the point of a sword, nor through peer pressure. If folks don’t want to go to church they don’t have to, if the don’t want to say “Merry Christmas” they shouldn’t have to. And if people are upset that they can’t get enough religion while shopping maybe they should spend a little more time in church instead.
Smacky on December 04 at 3:17 p.m.
Simpleton, that is the best response to this issue I have ever read. You nailed it.
mike_s on December 04 at 3:22 p.m.
There’s two types of Christians in the world.
mike_s on December 04 at 3:23 p.m.
There are
MusicalChair on December 04 at 3:36 p.m.
It doesn’t bother me at all. It’s a greeting that covers everything from Thanksgiving to New Year’s. That’s all it is. Heck, Irving Berlin’s song, “Happy Holiday,” is still popular today, and it was written back in the early ‘40s, well before the politically correct bandwagon. I find our culture’s lack of grammar skills more offensive.
Sisyphus on December 04 at 3:36 p.m.
Great response, simpleton, but I think you have someone else’s pseudonym. I can think of some with whom you should swap. ;-) Having been raised in a place where the dominant religion was a little more overt in its pressure to conform, I’m probably a tad over sensitive to the issue. But I think the ‘war on Christmas’ is way overblown. I have a couple Jewish friends who aren’t shy about pointing out things we usually take for granted. Its actually quite embarrassing when you get called on it. I joke with one of them that she can take off for Yom Kippur so long as she works Christmas Day. Of course she never does. ;-)
Cabbage Boy on December 04 at 3:45 p.m.
“And if people are upset that they can’t get enough religion while shopping”
That is a great line Simplton.
IdoDave on December 04 at 4:09 p.m.
Speaking as a pagan I resent that Christians stole the Solstice winter celebration and nearly all its trappings and now don’t want anyone else enjoy the season. I think it is amusing that the holiday, as it is celebrated in North America, has almost no biblical basis whatsoever and yet so-called Christians can get so worked up about it. Happy Holidays to all. Season Greetings. And don’t forget to light your bonfires on Dec. 20th.
Arch_Druid on December 05 at 7:02 a.m.
That was a great line too, IdoDave. As a fellow pagan. Thanx Dave, for front paging this.
HonestGeorge on December 05 at 11:13 a.m.
Not at all - “Happy Holidays” is a perfect fit for the season. The richness of the Christian religion isn’t usually found in ShopKo inserts or banners in the windows of Pizza Hut - why should we look for it there?
Escapee on December 05 at 9:19 p.m.
Perhaps if someone wishes you “happy Holidays”, you can ask them which holidays they’re referring to…
richard on December 06 at 3:14 p.m.
Here is a clever idea … why not “allow” people to say whatever greeting they wish … what kind of grinch could get all “over-excited” if it is given with a positive spirit. Some people need a life.
The problem with all this nonsense - and Zelda nailed it - is that is all so contrived when people feel they “must” say Happy Holidays rather than what ever greeting they wish.
We have had more than 20 years of “elitists” (nicer word for no-it-alls) who have been correcting our speech like an old school marm with a ruler in her hand.
It is time they look inward for a whiles, get a job, and stop monitoiring and critiquing other people’s speech.
hmoffsuite on December 06 at 3:45 p.m.
richard. I could use you being around here more. Give it a thought.
Arch_Druid on December 06 at 9:14 p.m.
“Richard,” plenty of people wish me a “Merry Christmas,” even though I don’t celebrate the holiday. I don’t take offense, I simply say, “same to you.” So, you won’t find a “school marm” with a ruler in fist “correcting anything” here. The issue is when people get torqued if a holiday float isn’t displaying “Merry Christmas.” Or a store isn’t displaying “Merry Christmas.” So what? Shades of that school marm with ruler in fist correcting everything?