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The Majority of Americans Prefer To Be Greeted With 'Merry Christmas' Over 'Happy Holidays', a Poll Finds
"Merry Christmas" is the preferred greeting of a strong majority of Americans. A survey carried in conjunction by news outlet Axios and SurveyMonkey found that 65 percent of the participants wish to be greeted with "Merry Christmas," while 28% prefer "Happy Holidays."
"Happy Holidays" was invented because 100% of Americans aren't Christian. But 65%? Congratulations! You just found a percentage of your sample audience that is Christian! Now you just have to ask yourself: Do you support tolerance of others?
Happy holidays is inclusive for everyone, and includes people who don't celebrate Christmas. Merry Christmas is fundamentally exclusionary. I'm Jewish, and I don't care much, but after living in Alabama for a while, I can see why people care. Let me tell a story that's relevant that occurred with a work colleague (who already knew I was Jewish based on earlier conversations) when I was in Alabama (this occurred about December 20th or so last year):
Colleague: So are you going anywhere for Christmas break? Me: Well, for break, I'll be spending time with my family who is going to be in Puerto Rico, and my wife is going back to visit her family back North. Colleague: So you won't be together for Christmas? That's sad! Me: Well, the relevant winter holiday for Jews is Channukah, which isn't a big family holiday for us. The big family holidays are Passover and the Jewish New Year. Colleague: Oh ok, have a Merry Christmas, Me: You too, NAME.
It was like he could not get in his head that someone didn't celebrate Christmas. Given that, it isn't at all surprising that some people find the repeated "Merry Christmas" really uncomfortable.
One can easily find behavior by people upset and angry over either version of this. The problem there is people engaging in violence in general over minor things. If you think that violent behavior is relegated to almost any single position on some issue, then you are probably wrong.
Welcome, newcomers. The tradition of Festivus begins with the airing of grievances. I got a lot of problems with you people! And now you're gonna hear about it!
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Frankly, I don’t see anything in that conversation showing that your colleague “could not get in his head that someome didn’t celebrate Christmas”. He heard you, and on his way out, merely wished you an enjoyable day on the day that he calls Christmas Day.
Seasonal greetings are not a reference to you, your culture and your lifestyle. They are a reference to those of the person greeting you (and, typically, of the larger community around you).
For example, on Thanksgiving day, people who were not born in America likely won’t care a bit. Does that mean that it’s not Thanksgiving Day for them? Don’t they have the day off like everyone else? Should we care that they aren’t going to celebrate it? We wish them a happy day, and that day is named Thanksgiving Day. So Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Same thing for Christmas and any other holiday that’s massively followed by the larger part of the population. There’s nothing oppressive about it, unless one chooses to feel oppressed by it. Conversely, there is something oppressive about telling people that they may not name traditions that their community has long been widely following.
If a Jewish faithful said something like “Happy Hanukkah” to me, I would absolutely find it oppressive on my part to tell him that I feel harassed by it. Personally, I would find his greeting inclusive on his part. I’d feel that he was mostly expressing friendship, while sharing a bit of his faith and culture, in a welcoming way, without trying to force it on me: a greeting is not the same thing as proselytising!
Sir Isaac Newton was definitely verifiably born on Dec 25, 1642. To be fair, that was under the Julian Calendar, which corresponds to Jan 4 on our calendar, but it's as good a reason for the season as any. (Well, after axial tilt, of course, and orbital eccentricity on certain planets.) Sometimes I get really mixed up and say "Happy Halloween" because, y'know, DEC 25 == OCT 31.
Aside: even ca. 200 AD, people were mostly guessing when Jesus Christ was actually born. The Church picked the date December 25 to align with the Roman celebration of the winter solstice, even though the date was "probably" wrong (and in fact some Eastern churches celebrate Christmas on Dec 25 in non-Gregorian calendars, and they definitely can't all be right), because the point of Christmas is celebrating Jesus's birth (and life, teachings, and death/resurrection^H^H^H^H bad weekend), not getting the exact dates right.
it mostly came out of government functions. Schools, court buildings, etc. People were 'triggered' because a lot of non Christians get kinda nervous about the cult-like atmosphere of the evangelicals, the fact that many of our closest allies are still theocracies and the thousands of years of recorded history of religion being used in conjuncture with government to oppress.
Through a lot of hard fought battles America became a secular nation, there are those of us who want to keep it that way. And then there are those among us who do not.
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It depends on which side of the political spectrum you are in. Some people say Merry Christmas in a tone to say. Most of us are Christians so deal with it, vs just a friendly well wishing of the holidays.
I tend to use Happy Holidays myself when dealing with people I don’t know. Not because I am trying to be PC or afraid they will be insulted for using a Christian holiday. But because I may not see this person for a few months so they will go then the holiday gauntlet thanks giving, Christmas and new years. And if they are celebrating some other holiday I hope they have a good time with it as well.
If it is someone closer to me then I’ll use Merry Christmas just because I know they are celebrating Christmas and I’ll probably see them for other holidays.
There is being PC then there is just being kind.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Maybe the constant begging and ringing of the damn bell caused that person to flip. I sure can sympathize.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I'm an atheist. And to me the difference between a delusion and a religion is basically the amount of people who share the delusion. Look up the textbook definition of delusion an tell me with a straight face that if it wasn't for the explicit exemption of religions from the definition that it would not fully, 100% describe basically any religion out there.
Still, if someone wishes me a Merry Christmas, I wish them the same. Not because or despite any religion but because I know how they mean it. It is a happy wish from someone who wishes you to be happy. And the very last thing I could think of in that moment is how offended I could possibly be because he assumes that I share his delusion.
At some point you just have to understand what people mean when they say something and not assume the worst. This is one of the occasions when it would be wrong to do so.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.