To prefer Merry Christmas to Happy Holidays!

[kittya]

Its too American isnt it? Its just something my friend told me about her workplace, that they arent allowed to send Happy Christmas cards to clients anymore but, Happy Holidays.

Maybe I just need to move with the times

Yes. And you're going to have to wear a uniform and grow correctly proportioned vegetables. Didn't you know?

I do prefer Season's Greetings, being an atheist & fully aware that wintry celebrations around the solstice considerably pre-date Xtianity, but no, I don't take offence at 'Merry Christmas'.

I like the idea of Winterval, though. Even if it is pretty much an urban myth. Here (Yorkshire) the Diwali lights go up, then gradually more & more lights in the town centre, with those explicitly linked to Christmas going up in December. It looks very pretty & it's nicely inclusive.

I say Happy Christmas because it's mostly Christmas.

I'll wish ravenAK a fabulous Sol Invictus though

I didn't know that. But I'll take your word for it.

I say Merry Christmas because i like to drink myself into a G&T haze for a few days,, call it a coping mechanism.

Happy Christmas and for DS (who shares a birthday with Jesus) it's also Happy birthday - perhaps we can ban happy birthday for being ageist and potentially discriminatory.

Cheers PerEggnog! & a good Modranecht back atcha!

These noticeboards for cards, Claig. Anything to stop people putting up Christmas cards? Or was it just a case of inviting/allowing non-Xtian colleagues to send good wishes, too?

Perhaps they worry unneccessarily that if people are given a choice of holiday they'll somehow forget about the traditional English one?

Do you know onceamai, I actually think we should reconsider the whole happy birthday thing just because, well, it's so damn obstetric.

As I said, if individuals in charge of arranging the Christmas cards make the choice to go with neutral all-rounders and not specific Chridtmas cards, it's up to them. When you show me the government legislation saying "ban Chrismas" I mighht listen.

Also, surely the toning down of Christian influence in this country simply reflects the more secular nature of its inhabitants, and not some overarching scheme? It's not like we have anti-missionaries out in force.

(Darn, several typos sliped through the net there..)

Is there a public holiday on Christmas Day? Why not talk about Christmas? Isn't it Christmas time. Aren't they Christmas cards? Nobody is stopping people putting up Diwali cards. But there is no public holiday when Diwali falls.

Also, don't other faiths also send Christmas cards? Who is it who objects to Christmas cards? I don't think it is other faiths, just as Christians don't object to the festivals of other faiths.

'When you show me the government legislation saying "ban Chrismas" I might listen.'

No government would do that or they wouldn't be reelected. Read the words of the Archbishop of York.

So none of us are aware of any objections to people who celebrate Christmas, celebrating Christmas, then?

It's just that some employers or local councils have occasionally tried to be welcoming/inclusive out of courtesy to those who celebrate other winter festivals.

That's OK, then. Isn't it?

Yes, but the Archbishop of York was wrong - how is having Christmas lights and banners up eroding it from the public view?

Yule was before Christmas.
In a certain bank today, i was told 'Happy Seasonal Holidays'! not heard that one before..And the assumption everyone's on holiday?!

I am not aware of any other faiths being offended by Christmas or objecting to Christmas cards. It is only some progressive officials who institute these policies. I have never heard of any other faith asking for the courtesy of not mentioning Christianity. It only seems to be an issue for politically correct officials, and not for other faiths.

TottWriter, I think you have to give the Archbishop of York a bit of credit. He does know a thing or two.

Well, so do the people who actually organised Winterval - yet no one seems to listen to them.

And no one is talking about covering up Christmas (except the red tops). What people are doing is simply letting other faiths into the circle. There are a lot of Jewish people in Britain. Have been for centuries. Why shouldn't they be able to send a card or have some public decorations. Same goes for those who follow the celtic and pagan estivals on the solstices. Same goes for the people of other religions who now live in th UK. It's not about exclusion ata ll, or about not offenind people. It's just being polite and acknowledging other people as being a part of this nation as well.

Arg. One-armed typing stikes again. Sorry for the typos at the end.

But nobody stops anybody celebrating their festivals. We have Diwali festivals and we say Happy Hannukah. Councils mention Diwali. The Archbishop was concerned that some councils seemed to be not mentioning Christmas and he was worried that the purpose was to systematically erode Christianity from public view.

But why would they do that? Think about it logically. If people are going out of their way to accomodate other people, why would they deliberately set about undermining the religion that there is every chance they at least nominally belong to themselves? What on earth would be the point?

The Winterval thing was a misnomer because it was just a collective word to group together lots of different festivals which all occur in winter. Bad press, yes. Eroding Christmas, no.

But I'm not exactly au fait with anything the Archbishop of York has said recently; are there councils now who are mentioning Christmas far less than they used to?

'why would they deliberately set about undermining the religion that there is every chance they at least nominally belong to themselves?'

because they are progressives, it's political, it's got nothing to do with religion.

Yes, but aren't most of the politicians we have right now Christians as well? So what good would it do them?

Besides, what good would it do politically anyway? Why go to all the trouble of papering over Christianity when it's still our state religion as headed by the monarchy?

Good questions. You need to look at communism, an extreme form of progressivism.