There has been a lot of flap lately about whether people should say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy holidays!" I think this whole issue is silly. Some argue that "Happy holidays" is more PC than "Merry Christmas" because Christmas is a holiday specific to one religion. However, I would argue that the Christmas that most Americans celebrate is not religious at all.
What do Santa, reindeer, the colors red and green, snow, etc. have to do with Christ anyway? Yes, as Christians we officially celebrate Christ's birth on Christmas. However, most of what America does to celebrate Christmas is not exclusively Christian. A Jew or Muslim or Hindu or atheist or whatever can put lights on her house, spend time with her family, give gifts to her loved ones, and be of good cheer just as well as a Christian can with no religious implications.
Christmas is no more a Christian holiday than Thanksgiving is. On Thanksgiving, everyone gives thanks (whether to God, Allah, themselves, etc.) for their blessings, spends time with family, eats yummy food, etc. Just because the original pilgrims were thanking God for the harvest doesn’t make Thanksgiving a religious holiday. Christmas is the same way. The original intent may have been to celebrate Christ’s birth, but now it seems to have warped into being happy and getting/giving presents.
To take it a bit further, the original intent of the celebration we now call Christmas wasn’t even to celebrate Jesus’ birth. Christmas is a co-opted pagan holiday. Jesus was not born in December; scholars think he was actually born in the spring. (Because the shepherds were living out in the fields keeping watch over their flocks by night, which happened in the spring but not the winter.) Christianity just decided to stick celebrating Jesus’ birth into this pagan holiday so that new converts could still have their December holiday.
What is my point in all this rambling? First, I think anyone of any religion should be able to say or be told “Merry Christmas” without religious awkwardness or controversy. The phrase really just means “I hope you enjoy celebrating the holiday on Dec 25”. If someone told me “Happy Kwanza” or “Happy Hanukkah”, I would not be offended in the least. What is the big deal with “Merry Christmas”? To me, it means exactly the same thing as "Happy Holidays". However, because some people are sensitive about this, I do still try to be careful of what I say. When in doubt, I say "Happy Holidiays".
Second, is this the way things should be? As Christians, should we let commercialism and materialism water down the holiday that celebrates the birth of our savior? No one worries about someone saying “Happy Easter”, which is really the most important holiday for Christians anyway. Is this because that holiday hasn’t been corrupted (yet) as much as Christmas has?
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