Tom and I received a Christmas ecard with the following message:"First Christmas is not Happy Holidays. It is Merry Christmas."The ecard is didactic from the first words. Then the words that follow, complete with Scripture references, give a "historical" account of the birth of Jesus. So, if a person should happen to make a friendly gesture and wish us "Happy Holidays", we are to say "NO" and correct them...all in the spirit of the season of peace and good will. Nevermind the good wishes; give that person a lesson.
Alrighty.
Blah, blah, blah...accompanied by Christmas carols.
"So when someone says Happy Holidays, correct them by saying NO. It's Merry Christmas."
The final scene is a PC Santa Claus wishing us a proper Merry Christmas.
I would mark the e-mail as spam and block the sender. (but then I am a nastier person than you) Happy Christmas.
ReplyDeleteJay, the sender is a good person and a friend. She's just overzealous about "saving" Christmas by saying all the right words.
DeleteOh, and Happy Holidays to you, Jay. :-)
DeleteSo, if someone says "Feliz Navidad!" or "Bona Natale!" or, more likely down yo' way, "Joyeux Noel!" make sure you correct them and say, "NO! It's Merry Christmas!"
DeleteAnd people who say "Merry Xmas" means crossing out the name of Christ in the greeting are ignorant of the fact that "X" is the first letter of the name of Christ in Greek, and the use of "X" to mean Christ was common quite early in the church.
DeleteDidn't the Solstice come first? (Check out Stonehenge tonight.) Didn't the church co-opt the event -- the return of the light -- to celebrate its Lord? (Jesus was probably born in the spring, Eastertime, if shepherds were in the fields.)
ReplyDeleteMerry to Mass goers. Happy to Holiday revelers. Joy to all. Seasoned Grecians. Hairy Mishmash.
Exactly, Murdoch. I should send your all-purpose greeting to our friend who sent the ecard.
DeleteI think I'm going to start sending out Mithra cards to people who insist on Merry Christmas.
DeleteMark, you would be acting right in character. :-)
DeleteThere's a board I hang out on where someone told the story of working at a store and getting rebuked by a customer for saying happy holidays. He responded that he was a traditional Christian, it was still Advent and Christmas didn't start until the 25th.
ReplyDeleteIn any case enjoy the new Mayan cycle (tomorrow is 13.0.0.0.0).
Erp, what a wonderful answer during Advent.
DeleteA Facebook friend from New Zealand is still around, so I assume that someone made a mistake about the date of the end of the world.
Can't these idiots understand that as soon as the "Happy Holidays!" person hears "No!" everything that follows is IRRELEVANT??? >:-/
ReplyDeleteI guess they don't realize that the "NO" kills the spirit, JCF. It's all about using the proper words to "save" Christmas.
DeleteWhy are Christians who want to focus on Christmas idiots to you, JCF? A local group of parents is threatening to sue if the local public school puts Christian songs in the Christmas program. The Jewish and other songs are fine, gotta be inclusive to other cultures,Frosty and Santa, too just no "Joy to the World" etc. Can I assume you'd join them if you were here? I can't help but think those trying to protect the "Christ" in Christmas have a bit of a point.
ReplyDeleteChris, would you correct a person who wished you "Happy Holidays"? I welcome any good wishes that come my way.
DeleteI can listen to or sing Christmas carols at church or in my home whenever I wish. I'm not going to get my knickers in a wad because carols are not played or sung in public schools.
No, I wouldn't correct them, but I understand where those trying to protect Christmas are coming from and don't understand why other Christians insist on calling them names in a time when public expression of Christianity is being driven out. I work retail and I'm not supposed to say "Merry Christmas",etc. only "Happy Holidays" and yes, I've had a few customers who make a big fuss about only saying Merry Christmas take it to an extreme explaining it and annoy/offend those of us just trying to do our jobs. It's also a rule I break if I know the person, including wishing the few Jews I know here Happy Hanakkah, but it saddens me when Christians think that removing Merry Christmas from the lexicon is acceptable, proper and good.
DeleteI understand where those trying to protect Christmas are coming from and don't understand why other Christians insist on calling them names in a time when public expression of Christianity is being driven out.
DeleteBecause it's *ridiculous* to assert that "public expression of Christianity is being driven out" because people say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas."
And if people want to "protect Christmas," tell them to get out of the mall, go do volunteer work, and give their money to the poor instead of maxing out their credit cards to buy cheap crap for people--and pretending somehow that doing so has ANYTHING to do with Christ.
Doxy has said it better than I ever could.
DeleteThe problem with all this "War on Christmas" paranoia is that it reinforces every single negative stereotype that seculr people have about Christians. It is the shrieking of a dying vision of church which believes the most effective means of outreach is to stand on the front step and demand that everybody get off our lawn.
ReplyDeleteAye, Malcolm, 'tis true. And rudeness in the face of a well-meaning greeting is a poor witness to our Christian faith.
DeleteI contend that "Happy Holidays" (or at least "Happy Christmas") is a better way to greet people than "Merry Christmas" because merriment,which is often superficial and transient, is inferior to happiness, which is deeper seated and longer laster. Therefore if you wish someone Merry Christmas, you are merely suggesting that they feel good for a little while, with no substantive change in their situation; whereas Happy Holidays means you want them to be happy, something that happens at a more fundamental level.
ReplyDeleteOr as we say in Hebrew, Chag sameach!
kishnevi, you make a very good point. Chag sameach!
DeleteIt's the Santa that made me giggle helplessly. Let's all defend Christmas by sending a card that quotes scripture and portrays Santa.
ReplyDeleteIs he in the Bible? No, he is not. Nor are his beautiful reindeer. But I still love him, and I think giving a reprimanding, pedagogic holy day greeting earns one a place on his "naughty" list.
Laurel, the card showed various Christmas scenes, including the Nativity, but also the pagan Christmas tree, Santa, and the risen Jesus in a transparent globe. It just seemed all wrong in its intent to keep Christ in Christmas in the spirit of peace and good will. It made me giggle, too.
DeleteI'd tell your friend that being rude makes the Little Baby Jesus cry....
ReplyDeleteOur friend acted without thinking, following the paranoia of the day. She means well, too. Perhaps I make too much of the card.
DeleteSorry, Mimi--I'm just really grumpy about this whole business. I think being rude to someone who is simply trying to be nice brings the faith into disrepute.
ReplyDeleteBut, then again, I also think it is time for the Western version of Christianity to die because it has become so corrupted and vicious. So maybe I should be glad for people like your friend--in my view, she's helping to kill what I see as a malignant offshoot of the faith....
Doxy, the Christmas tree stayed on the screen for a very long time, much longer than the Nativity scene. Tom couldn't quite understand my dismay. I guess he gave the card more superficial attention, but the first words alerted me to what was likely to follow, and I watched with growing amazement and disbelief.
DeleteI was reminded me of the signs protesting Obamacare: "No government health care. Don't mess with my Medicare."
It is the slow death of an imperial Christianity (wherein their version of faith dominates culture) that troubles folks. But making an issue of this reveals so many levels of ignorance and intolerance that I am tempted to despair. In whatsoever form someone wishes me well they do not infringe on my ability to celebrate the Incarnation or sing all the hymns and carols I want in church or at home. I match my wishes to those I receive when I can. But trying to establish one's narrow view of religion on society is wrong on many levels and I can hardly wait to see that version of "Christianity" buried. OK, I'm grumpy about this. Happy Solstice, everybody!
ReplyDeletePaul, you sum up the present state of the season quite well. I stay in a state of semi-shock and amazement at what I see around me, about people who want to "kill" Christmas and the "persecution" of Christians here in the US, all of it based on ignorance. The Puritans who settled here did not celebrate Christmas at all, which bit of history seems to have disappeared permanently into the memory hole.
DeleteHappy Solstice!
I blame Bing Crosby and Irving Berlin for this sad state of affairs.
ReplyDeleteWell Rmj, we have to blame someone, so why not Irving and Bing?
DeleteI can't figure out the cause, actually. Declining Xianity? Been declining since I was in Sunday School. Imperial Xianity? Even the extremely right wing RC priest FauxNews keeps on retainer laughed at their "War on Xmas" on air this year. I can only connect it to fear of a brown planet, because I see it coming, more and more often, from people I'm sure are viscerally upset at the black man in their White House (I saw a sign a few years back asserting "We say 'Merry Christmas'" outside a shop in East Texas; not exactly the most racially harmonious place on the planet).
ReplyDeleteAnd maybe that's going too far. I just don't get it, honestly, except to want to blame the elderly who, thanks to modern science, are still with us. (Sorry, Mimi, but I'm remembering all the gray heads at the Tea Party rallies.) But my Dad is not complaining about "Happy Holidays." And Bill O'Reilly isn't that much older than me, and most of the screaming crowd on FauxNoise is younger. So that ain't it.
Really, I don't get it. What has changed so massively to make such a large portion of the population so vocally bitter? Maybe it's that they were always there (they were) and cable TV finally gave them a voice we all had to listen to.
So maybe Rupert Murdoch is the root of all evil......
Madalyn Murray O'Hare's successful campaign to stop prayer in public schools was such a shock that some folks are still reeling - witness the blame for the tragedy in Newtown on "God" not being allowed in the schools. Perhaps the traditional greeting and the creche in the town square are seen as something to hang on to after losing the battle to keep "God" in the schools.
DeleteAs though God wasn't present in the holy innocents who were killed in Newtown...
I can't explain the phenomenon, and I view it with the same sort of amazement that I view the supposed clash between faith and science. I've been a person of faith with varying degrees of fervor for my whole life, and I've never been able to understand what the conflict is about.