What's wrong with "Merry Christmas"? (long)

[Tonks]

Tonks:
> > When a company that I do business with in the U.S. and the U.K. 
both send me the same e-greeting card after 5:00pm on Dec. 24th and 
the one from the U.S. says "Happy Holliday" and the one from the 
U.K. says "Merry Christmas", that says to me that the corportations 
in  the U.S. are going overboard on political correctness. Just 
> > what "holiday" are they talking about? CHRISTMAS! Damn it... 
call it what it IS.
> > 
> 
Susan:
> Except that Christmas is NOT the only holiday celebrated in 
December in the United States. There is Chanukah and the Winter 
Solstice/Yule. That's the whole point!
> 

 Tonks:
You missed my point. Don't wish me a Happy Holiday on December 25th. 
It is no other Holiday that I know of except Christmas. (I thought 
that Yule was on the longest night or something and that was not on 
Dec. 25th. this year.)


Susan:
> What I don't really understand about this ongoing conversation..is 
the lack of charity. When I was brought up as a Roman Catholic I was 
> taught that "the greatest" of the virtues was love or charity. To 
me, compassion and caring is one of the paramount values, and I 
thought that was what the Christian religion purported to teach. 
That would mean the utmost respect for other people. 
Snip) 
> Why insist on YOUR holiday being the norm, enshrined as the MOST 
> IMPORTANT and only REAL or valid holiday..
> 

Tonks:
It seems to me that there is a lack of charity on both sides. That 
is IMO because this is not just a debate about ideas, but about 
things that are near and dear to our hearts.

Also what I think we have here in this debate is a difference in age 
of those on opposite sides of the fence. I am 60 and I know Geoff is 
older and Carol is 50 something.  We remember a different time and 
different customs. I for one grew up in a small town in the Midwest. 
I think that small towns in the Midwest are not too much different 
today as far as celebration of Christmas goes. (I no longer live 
there, but in a larger city nearby.)

The ones on the other side of the fence, such as Alla are younger 
and live in big cities like New York. New York city and a town with 
the population of 3,000 (or even 36,000 where I live now.) in  Mid-
American are too very different worlds. So to some extent, we are 
not even fighting the same battle here. IMO.

I realize that times have changed and that there are more people 
from other religions here in the U.S. and even those with no 
belief.  Maybe there have always been those with no belief, and they 
are free to come out of the closet now. The problem as I see it, is 
the world is different, and some of us don’t want to lose the 
culture that we know and love. 

One of the companies that I work for sent a memo around saying that 
we say "Merry Christmas", that we are not a "Happy Holiday" 
company.  I applauded him for being so bold. Then I realize that I 
have been so brainwashed by society in recent years to say “Happy 
Holidays”, I couldn’t bring myself to say Merry Christmas until two 
days before Christmas.  I even met other people in the street that I 
know are Christian and they know that I am and we both blurted 
out "Happy Holiday", what is wrong with this picture?!! We are being 
conditioned by society. A society that apparently has changed and I 
want it to stay the same as it was in my childhood… at least at 
Christmas. 

 
Susan:

> In terms of the dilution of Christmas? Here in California 
(supposedly home of diversity), I have been to tne or 
eleven "holiday" concerts... for our children. In most of them, 
there has been no mention of the  Yule or Solstice....usually a 
token Chanukah mention (but not always), and a TON of Christmas 
carols, including specifically religious one such as "It came upon a 
midnight clear.." or "We three Kings of Orient are..." I see this as 
oblivious and disrespectful of other traditions...but frankly, it's 
not a battle worth fighting for me right now.
> How is it repressing Christmas?
> 

Tonks:
I rest my case!!  This was a CHRISTMAS concert, but they felt they 
could not call it that. It was not an all inclusive Holiday concert, 
and you were offended by that. That is just my point. Something that 
is a Christmas 'tree', or concert can not be called what it 
obviously is, because the PC police feels it will offend someone. 
And you were right to be offended anyway, because it was not 
a "Holiday" concert. If it were really a "Holiday" concert it would 
have been more inclusive. It should have been called a Christmas 
concert, because that is what it was! I am not saying that I am 
opposed to a "Holiday" concert, but don't take one thing and try to 
call it something that it is obviously not.

Tonks_op