What's wrong with "Merry Christmas"?

[dumbledore11214]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "susanmcgee48176" 
<Schlobin at ...> wrote:
>
> Well, not everyone celebrates Christmas. As JKR said, even though 
> she's a Christian, Hogwarts is a multi faith school.
> 
> If someone wishes me a Merry Christmas, I assume their intent is 
good 
> and smile and say the same to you. However, I feel it is far more 
> courteous to say "happy holidays" or even "happy holidays if 
you're 
> celebrating."
> 
> However, I'd never wish someone a Merry Christmas unless I was 
sure 
> they celebrated Christmas. Not even everyone in the U.S. is a 
> Christian. There are pagans who celebrate the Solstice, and Jews, 
and 
> Buddhists and Hindis...and people who practice no religion at all.
> There are people who celebrate Christmas as a secular holiday....
> 
> I understand everyone's intent is pleasant, but I personally don't 
> understand why anyone would want to insist that "everyone" should 
> celebrate Christmas -- feels a bit ethnocentric to me...
> 
><SNIP>


Alla:

Agreed, and to go a little bit further - I totally do not mind and 
acknowledge strangers and people who do not know me well wishing me 
Merry Christmas, really.

But I do feel a bit annoyed - not offended, but annoyed if people 
who KNOW me well would wish me Merry Christmas instead of Happy 
holidays or happy new year. 

Again, I would expect it ONLY from my closest friends, I certainly 
do not expect everybody to remember that.

I am jewish, I do not celebrate Christmas, at the same time I am 
jewish person who grew up in soviet union, so as many jews there I 
was not practicing judaism basically  ( NOT all, definitely, there 
were jews who practiced and went to jail because of it, etc, but 
many did not practice) and only started learning about it when I was 
an adult.

So it is not correct really to say that I celebrate Chanukkah 
either. I mean, I like it, but this is not the holiday I grew up 
with, so tradition is very new.


But another reason why I do prefer to receive Happy holidays is 
because I do LOVE New Year, it is my favorite holiday ever since I 
was a child and always will be. I do put a tree, but it is a new 
year tree for me and it bears no chrismas associations for me.

So, yeah, Happy holidays :)

Alla