to have never heard anyone ever object to someone wishing the a "Merry Christmas"?

[DrSeuss]

Has anyone, ever, heard anyone of any faith or none object to this? Even Richard Dawkins says it! My Muslim friends wish me Merry Christmas, Mayim Bialik of Big Bang fame wishes her FB followers Merry Christmas despite being an Orthodox Jew!
Surely anyone with half a brain accepts that someone is offering you their good wishes and just returns them? Or, if someone says, "Well actually, I'm Jewish/Muslim/whatever and don't do Christmas.", surely you just say, "Sorry, I didn't realise, have a good holiday."

So why the big deal about the fact that we should/shouldn't say it?

It's just that well known American minority namely Evangelical Christians making a fuss about their "persecution", isn't it?

Merry Christmas!!

It’s like the company are too scared to celebrated Christmas.

Or, have a beady eye on the profit line and how to maximise it by sucking up to everybody by being super-bland and inoffensive?

"YABU to suggest it must be a minority, probably evangelical Christians. Why is it OK to suggest this without any proof? "

It's extremely well known in the USA that the only people complaining about this are conservative right-wing christians -Bill Reilly the ex-Fox news host has singlehandedly done more to perpetuate the myth of a "war on Christmas"

www.nytimes.com/2016/12/19/us/war-on-christmas-controversy.html?_r=0

God who cares. Wish what you like and of anyone takes offence tell them to fuck off.

That should do it

I tend to send a card with "seasons greetings" on it if I know the person isn't Christian. But you're not trying to be offensive if you send someone a card, you're being nice, and I think the vast majority of non Christians would take receiving a card in the spirit in which it was intended, rather than being professionally offended by it.

The company I work for has an "End of Year" party instead of a Christmas party which one self-righteous colleague complained about - he brought up the War on Christmas crap until I pointed out to him that since the founder and CEO of the company is Jewish he certainly doesn't owe his employees a specifically christian based celebration.

I wonder what happens more often?
Someone being offended by being wished "Happy Christmas" (or similar),
or someone being offended by being wished "Happy holidays" (or similar)?

It's extremely well known in the USA that the only people complaining about this are conservative right-wing christians -Bill Reilly the ex-Fox news host has singlehandedly done more to perpetuate the myth of a "war on Christmas"

Absolutely. And now we have this:

www.cnn.com/2017/10/13/politics/merry-christmas-donald-trump/index.html

laughing at the idea of those uncharitable, anti-poor people, leches Bill Reilly and Donald Trump passing themselves off as christians. Well I would laugh if it wasn't so f-ing horrible.

Someone I used to work didn't like to be wished a Merry Christmas as she was a Jehovah's Witness and outwardly homophobic. we just done it all the more to piss her off

It's fairly underwhelming for Brits in America. They make a big fuss over a roast dinner that happens every Sunday in Britain.

If your Thanksgiving meal is like a British roast dinner then you're doing it all wrong.

The turkey should be deep fried in the garage... And let's not even mention the salads.

I enjoy mint sauce with my turkey for Thanksgiving dinner in place of cranberry sauce and roast parsnips, potatoes and brussel sprouts are a must! I've successfully corrupted my American DH to my British tastes on this!

It's fairly underwhelming for Brits in America. They make a big fuss over a roast dinner that happens every Sunday in Britain.

only if you are a bit curmudgeonly by nature. No they are not making a fuss about a sunday roast dinner. Although why not make a fuss about people getting together to eat a lovely meal? They are making a fuss about a day when they get together with family and friends to celebrate a holiday to give thanks for anything good life has given you. If you have small children, they will have been making paper turkeys with things they are thankful for in each feather for the week beforehand.

I've loved this holiday from the moment we arrived. We were invited to spend it with americans from the first year on and now celebrate with extended family/friends but even the years it was just us it was a lovely day - sunday roast dinner or not.

My favorite was a friend, who upon politely rejecting a neighbor's invitation to attend the local church of a fundamentalist denomination that shall remain nameless, on the grounds that she was busy with events at her own Catholic church, was told after a long pause, "well, when you decide to try Christianity, we would love to have you."

Seneca I love this!

It all seems a bit sad, but then as they're both cheerful people, I probably shouldn't worry about it.

You're funny. My Jewish children will be spending Christmas on the slopes at Whistler with our extended family, after eight nights of presents of course. Last Christmas we were at Disney World. Trust me, the last thing you need to do is pity them!

I do find it interesting that my comment has been largely ignored, and people are still saying it's completely made up that some people don't like being wished Merry Christmas. Somehow, I've become more offended by some of the comments on here than I've ever been in real life when someone says Merry Christmas. Despite the many secular traditions that accompany the Christmas season, the fact is that it is at heart a Christian holiday, and there are many people who don't celebrate it at all.

I really don't get worked up about this stuff, but it does irk me to hear that a few people go out and buy large Christmas decorations for the SOLE purpose of rubbing it in the faces of those who don't celebrate. That certainly doesn't sound very Christian to me!

Also I wanted to add, are people aware that Hanukkah is actually a very minor holiday on the Jewish calendar? Its religious significance is certainly way behind Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Passover, and many others you probably haven't heard of. Hanukkah has only become a big thing with presents and everything because of Christmas. We do give our children eight nights of presents (some of them quite small!) and light candles at home, but we don't keep them out of school, travel to visit family, or attend services for Hanukkah. We take advantage of the time off to travel but it's not because of the holiday.

I don't know if it makes a difference or not to the overall question, but I thought it was worth mentioning since it is simething many people don't know.

We used to close the office an awful lot during September/October but never for Hanukkah! That's the reason I know the Jewish Biggies! Plus our Waitrose always gets in stacks of Passover goodies and ends up selling pickles and Matzos cheap afterwards!

Never come across anyone except a Jehovas Witness who refused to partake or watch in DD’s primary school Christmas play (which was sometimes a trad nativity and other times a ‘Victorian Christmas’ or the like). Audience was full of mums in hijab.
On the other hand I have come across people, including family members, who are convinced ‘they’ are trying to ban Christmas. Someone last year shared a ‘share this post if you think schools SHOULD do a nativity every year’.
Should? Or should if they want to?
SMH.

I really don't get worked up about this stuff, but it does irk me to hear that a few people go out and buy large Christmas decorations for the SOLE purpose of rubbing it in the faces of those who don't celebrate. That certainly doesn't sound very Christian to me!

I agree. And it's why all this so-called "war on Christmas" malarkey in the US is really very offensive to non-Christians, as well as to Christians who want to be inclusive and sensitive to other traditions.

No nativity plays in state schools in the US. One of the many nice things about our First Amendment (no establishment of religion).

Aww, no away in a manger as the shepherds stage a battle scene with their light sabres crooks whilst the real donkey poos on the stage, the angels start shoving each other to get to the front of the stage and kids yell 'hi mum!' in stage whispers?

You really don't know what you are missing!

If you want your child to be in a nativity they generally put them on in church, so you can still see weeping sheep and wailing angels if you want :-)

I don't miss them at all tbh.

You really don't know what you are missing!

We do! our church does one every year (complete with dark rumours about just who gets to be Mary every year).

The schools usually do a winter concert too. When my children were in kindergarten (in state school) the teacher took a fairly unusual view of no establishment of religion- so the kids did a concert with a christian song, a jewish song (dreidl dreidl), a kwanza song, and a snowman song. The christian song was "away in a manger" - an interesting choice. I can still see the perplexed look on Cindy Geissman's face as she watched her twins, Aviva and Tamar sing "I love you Lord Jesus" :)

Fekko and it's just priceless when the star decks the shepherd cos he was in her way. Love love love love the Nativity. All those songs. Makes me cry every time. And then Mary will inevitably drop the baby Jesus. And Joseph will pick his nose. And the donkey's arse will fall off the stage. What's not to love?

The star decking the shepherd, or the rear end of the donkey was usually my dd.

She was narrator in latter years. I felt much safer. But my God did she SHOUT OUT HER LINES. God bless her. I think the next parish heard her.