This is my personal pet-peeve, so feel free to disagree, but I don’t wish people “Happy Holidays!”
Why? It doesn’t make any sense to me to do this. Let me give you my reasons.
1. I don’t believe that “Merry Christmas” is an offensive thing to say.
Of course I know Christmas is connected to Jesus (it is “Christ’s mass”), but it has morphed into a non-religious holiday with Santa (loved believing in him as kid), reindeer, etc.
My family personally celebrates both Jesus and Santa during this time of year, but I know many people don’t. They just celebrate Santa, gift giving, and treating people better.
Wishing someone “Merry Christmas” nowadays is not a religious declaration. It just means “Have great time celebrating this season of giving!” That’s why I say it.
2. “Happy Holidays” just seems kind of funny to say when we are surrounded by Christmas elements. We have Christmas trees, Christmas wreathes, Christmas stocking as decorations in our homes and in the stores, but somehow we’re supposed to pretend it’s not Christmas when we address each other?
I don’t know ANY atheists who don’t actually celebrate Christmas or don’t have these items in their homes. If you ask them what kind of tree they have, they’d say a “Christmas tree.”
In fact, Christmas is so not connected to any religious meaning anymore that I’ve had Jewish friends who celebrate it (and Hanukkah).
So I my question is: why should I pretend it’s not Christmas? 🙂
Imagine these scenarios…
- It’s February 14th, there are heart decorations everywhere, pictures of little cupid, etc. Someone comes up to you and wishes you, “Happy Strong Feelings Day!”What is your response going to be? “Thank you for not offending me by mentioning the holiday of Saint Valentine. I’m not religious.”Or would you reply, “Thank you for not mentioning Valentines Day. I’m single and don’t have someone special in my life.”No. You’re going to think…. “Huh? ‘Strong Feelings Day’? What are you talking about? You mean Valentines day, right!?!”Even if you’re not religious, or not in a relationship, you don’t expect people to stop using the phrase “Valentines Day.” (Maybe if you’re single you don’t want to hear about Valentines day every 3 minutes, but you don’t expect everyone else to stop celebrating it because of you.)
- It’s March 17th, people are wearing green, you see leprechaun decorations, etc. Someone comes up to you and wishes you, “Happy Green Day!”What is going to be your response? “Oh, thank you for not offending me and wishing me ‘Happy St. Patrick’s Day,” since I’m not Irish.”Or would you think,“I’m so glad they didn’t mention St. Patrick. I’m not religious and hearing the that would offend me.”(You might actually have a totally different response and wonder if the band “Green Day” now has a national holiday, but that’s a topic for a different blog post.)
But the reality is that your response would be, “Don’t you mean, ‘Happy St. Patrick’s Day? “You wouldn’t be thankful they didn’t try to offend you. You’d wonder why they question your intelligence with the generic, ‘Green Day’ thing.
If you think I’m exaggerating with these examples, check this video out…
That’s why I say “Merry Christmas,” because it’s Christmas!
3. It seems silly to say “Happy Holidays” when Holiday is short for “Holy Days”.
How can that be less offensive to atheists? Christmas at least can mean Santa and other things.
Ultimately it’s just too generic for me to say “Happy Holidays.” It would be like me going around saying, “Happy Christ-kwan-ukah!” (Christmas-Kwanzaa-Hanukkah)
It’s so universal it doesn’t offend anyone, but it also doesn’t make sense to anyone!
If I say, “Merry Christmas!” to someone who is Jewish and IF it bothers them, I know they’ll say, “Oh I’m Jewish. I don’t celebrate it.” Then I’ll say, “Oh sorry. Happy Hanukkah!”
I understand why businesses need to use the phrase “Happy Holidays,” but as an individual if I ever bump into you during this time of year expect to hear me say, “Merry Christmas!”
I hope you all have a great Christmas this year.
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://recessionsolution.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/photo1.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Scott Aughtmon is a “business recession solution expert“, a “content creation expert” , and a speaker. He’s spent over 12 years studying effective marketing and business methods (both online and offline).
You can read some of his content marketing articles for “Content Marketing Institute” here.
He’s the author of two e-books called “How Your Business Can Survive And Prosper In A Recession” in which he interviewed 38 top business, marketing and sales experts and got them toreveal their methods to help business owners survive and prosper in a recession. Scott has also been interviewed on radio shows and asked to share his wisdom to help business owners survive and prosper in a recession. Read more of Scott’s insights on his blog. Follow Scott on Twitter @rampbusinesses or on Google Plus at +scott aughtmon, +content creation methods, or +recessionsolution.com [/author_info] [/author]
I’m a business strategist, consultant, content creation specialist, and speaker. I’ve been studying effective marketing and business methods (both online and offline) since 1999.
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I totally agree with you Scott,
there is also another solution, why not saying both of them in the same sentence :
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays !
That’s a great option!