Happy Holidays?

Holiday by itself derives from "Holy Day". Holiday is a very good neutral term to celebrate every religion which has its holy days between December 20th and January 8th.

Either way, as Skaw said, Christmas has nothing to do with religion anymore. Santa is red because Coca Cola painted him that way. You give gifts because that makes the stores go wit ha profit. From their point of view, having several religions buy gifts is a plus for them, thus "Holiday" instead of "Christmas" or what-have-you.

Really, it isn't only Christmas. Easter is the same way, as is Halloween, Valentine's Day etc. Its all about buying things to make the stores go with a larger profit. I can assure you that within the last 10 years, most stores will start advertizing for Muslim holidays as well. Muslims is, right now, a large group of people to whom stores don't directly go after. It is in their best interrest to make those commercial holidays as well.
 
Uzor said:
Santa is red because Coca Cola painted him that way.
Click to expand...

Wrong.

Wikipedia; Santa Claus said:
Images of Santa Claus were further popularized through Haddon Sundblom's depiction of him for The Coca-Cola Company's Christmas advertising in the 1930s. The popularity of the image spawned urban legends that Santa Claus was in fact invented by Coca-Cola or that Santa wears red and white because they are the Coca-Cola colors. In reality, Coca-Cola was not the first soft drink company to utilize the modern image of Santa Claus in its advertising – White Rock Beverages used Santa to sell mineral water in 1915 and then in advertisements for its ginger ale in 1923. Furthermore, the massive campaign by Coca-Cola simply popularized the depiction of Santa as wearing red and white, in contrast to the variety of colours he wore prior to that campaign; red and white was originally given by [Thomas] Nast.
Click to expand...


You give gifts because that makes the stores go with a profit.
Click to expand...

No. As stated before, it is an homage to the Wise Men of the Orient, and an homage of Saint Nicholas, whose gift-giving charity work is still, at least hopefully, world-renown.
 
What ever happened to just enjoying the holidays in general? It doesn't have to be about Santa, Presents, money, or religion. It should just be about being kind to those around you.
 
Malagra said:
Certainly isn't that way in Calgary. There's no Menorahs everywhere, or anything really any other religion has at this time. Maybe on some poster in a store, but there's lots of Christmas trees everywhere, but not really anything else. Sure there's some Jewish community centers and such, but you'd be stupid to think everything is "celebrated equally".
Click to expand...


It's the number of believers A vs number of believers B really. Stores owned by a Jewish couple probably have their decorations up, unless they LIKE the look of a Christmas Tree too lol.
 
Myrrh said:
What ever happened to just enjoying the holidays in general? It doesn't have to be about Santa, Presents, money, or religion. It should just be about being kind to those around you.
Click to expand...

Agreed. To me, honestly... I don't give a rat's ass about the presents. They're nice, and I've had some really memorable gifts, absolutely. But to me, the holidays are and always have been about the people I love. It's spending time with the ones who mean the most to me... hearing them laugh and laughing, playing games and having a good time, eating Mom's home cooking and appreciating that they are all with me and that I've been given the great fortune of having them in my life. It's what it should be about no matter what faith (or lack thereof) you subscribe to.
 
Tristam Green said:
Wrong.
Click to expand...
I know Coca Cola wasn't the first ones to paint him red. If it wasn't for Coca Cola painting him red, though, he likely would't be red.

No. As stated before, it is an homage to the Wise Men of the Orient, and an homage of Saint Nicholas, whose gift-giving charity work is still, at least hopefully, world-renown.
Click to expand...
I know how it STARTED. However, that's not the case anymore. Atheists don't celebrate Wise Men of the Orient, nor Sait Nicholas. They give gifts because its a commercial holiday and a tradition.

Its pretty much the same way for Christians. Its a tradition done on a nowadays commercial holiday. The stores themselves doesn't care about the holiday itself, they just care about earing a profit, hence the whole "Holiday" instead of "Merry Christmas" thing. By reaching a broader audience, they earn a greater profit.

Thing is, Christmas in itself isn't about religion for most people anymore anyway. They couldn't care less about the religious reasons behind it.

Edit: Also, there's A LOT of other reasons for Christmas. Every country probably have their own history for Christmas. Sweden, for example, knocked on people's doors and threw in hand-made presents through the door, and then ran away. Additionally, a lot of countries had a goat to which they tied regrets, bad memories etc. and then sent the goat out by itself, as a way for their sins, bad memories etc. to "go away".
 
Last edited:
Myrrh said:
What ever happened to just enjoying the holidays in general? It doesn't have to be about Santa, Presents, money, or religion. It should just be about being kind to those around you.
Click to expand...

Peace on Earth, and Shaman's Cloaks to all Limecats.
 
Halifirien said:
In my experience, the only people who complain about "Happy Holidays" are Christians who treat respect as though it's a zero sum game where respecting the sensibilities of other groups and religions can only happen by taking away the respect and privilige Christians have enjoyed for decades.

This thread may as well have started with "Remember the good old days? When Christians were always dominant and the other faiths had the sense to keep their traps shut about it?"
Click to expand...

Wow, where did you even get the slightest idea that this was referring to?

It's not "zomg I miss Merry Christmas", it's me saying that it's a load of crap that people can't directly wish each other some happy holiday without people getting pissed. Stop stomping on Christianity as if people don't miss saying Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa (etc) as well.

A "catch-all" saying, as it was put, I'm perfectly fine with. However being disallowed to name a specific holiday makes it sound like the entire holiday season is some dark dirty secret that people need to keep to themselves because whatever they celebrate is apparently abhorrent and disgusting to others...which is just saddening to think of.

If someone really wanted to, you could simply trade religious praise. Wishing someone a [second] happy whatever in correction shows humbleness and humility, which also expresses tolerance - something that also makes the holiday time so much better. To bury such things in a blanket statement "Happy Holidays" works in a way, but at the same time waters down the value of the statement in it's entirety since it's showing minimal humility and respect.

Lastly, way to go with the dumping on Christians because of my OP. I've not even celebrated Christmas in years.
 
Last edited:
Mishaela said:
Wow, where did you even get the slightest idea that this was referring to?
Click to expand...

I think it was when you complained that nobody was saying "Merry Christmas" and that you were upset that people seemed to be castrating "the meaning of it."
 
I don't care what people say. I'll be saying Merry Christmas unless I know that whoever I'm speaking to celebrates a different holiday, in which case, I would use that holiday.

Would I get mad if someone jumped all over my balls because I said "Merry Christmas" rather than something else? Yeah, I probably would get mad. Not because I'm a Christian, but because it's pretty stupid to get mad over trivial things like that in the first place.

Say whatever you want, for whatever reason you want. But there's no reason whatsoever to get all pissy about it to the point of filing lawsuits just because someone doesn't please you with their words 100% of the time.
 
I think anyone who would actually be upset that someone was wishing them a good day is a moron, period. I'm not jewish, but if someone wished me a happy hanukkah I would say "thank you, you too!". It's not the day or the religious undertones that matter, it's about being nice to another human being. It really is that simple.
 
Somehow I doubt a court would have you pay someone because you wished them a merry christmas if they are Jewish, unless the USA legislation system is more retarded then I thought. Then again, if you can sue someone because you got hurt breaking in to someones house, then its possible.

I doubt it would even get brought to court in most other countries.
 
I'm atheist and I don't really care what you wish me. I'll wish it right back and move along my merry way D:

In fact I'm gonna be exchanging my first ever christmas gift this year with my best friend. I think its fun :P
 
Halifirien said:
I think it was when you complained that nobody was saying "Merry Christmas" and that you were upset that people seemed to be castrating "the meaning of it."
Click to expand...

You mean when I said
"For a while I noticed stores will begrudgingly say "Happy Holidays!" rather than "Merry Christmas", "Happy Hanukkah", or something silly such as "Christmahanukawanzakah". Why? Apparently people are offended and consider it "forcing religion upon one another"."
Click to expand...
?

Yet you seem to shrug this off and throw some huge Christian-bash simply because I said the "-mas" word first, or what? Let alone the fact that I don't celebrate such holidays anymore anyhow (which you ignored) so that whichever greeting I hear makes no difference and that I simply miss people being more open-minded about the world.

The saying "Happy Holidays" castrates the meaning of ALL OF THE HOLIDAYS because as I said before (and you also completely ignored), it simply blankets and hides all of the holidays as if they're something to be ashamed of or some crap. I don't give a shit about which was, is or will ever be said more or less than some other one, what bugs me is that people are expecting it to not be said at all as if any and every holiday (including the ones you don't obsess about ;3) are some kind of horrible thing.

Anyhow, enjoy your bigotry. Everyone else, thanks for the conversation.
 
Mishaela said:
Let alone the fact that I don't celebrate such holidays anymore anyhow (which you ignored) so that whichever greeting I hear makes no difference and that I simply miss people being more open-minded about the world.
Click to expand...

I couldn't ignore what you didn't say. It's nowhere to be found in your original post. It's great that you finally popped in to explain what you meant; however, I stand by my statement about a blanket "Happy holidays" not being a bad thing. You're just widening the net and being offended on other religions' behalf, and I apologize for not realizing it.

I still don't see this huge "Happy Holidays" conspiracy to treat Christmas and the other holidays like some dirty secret. I would think saying "Happy holidays" and recognizing their existence would be proof enough of the person's good intentions.

The next time you want to start a discussion and exclude dissenting opinions, please make it clear from the start so the heathens don't waste their time.
 
I'm a Jew and I've never been offended by someone wishing me a "merry Christmas." Come to think of it, the only thing people whine about is the use of "happy holidays" instead. And I would love to see an article or something proving that someone tried to sue over it. Like everyone said, it's largely from retailers reaching a broader audience, or just plain awareness that other religions observe holidays during this time. Whatever.

The only thing I really whine about this time of year, is when I walk into a department store or Target or something the day after Halloween, I usually only find a silly little endcap with blue themed junk. And the fact that no Jew could've designed the creepy inflatable dreidel man that my mom found... But stores are getting a bit better about it every year.
 
I very much take the "puppy dog" approach to this issue. When someone tells me something, anything, I listen to how they're saying their words. For me, this is where the meaning comes through, and they can say pretty much what they want, but when they're smiling, and you can hear the warmth in their voice, the point quickly gets across.

For me, I say Merry Christmas. It's simply what I've said all my life, and that's what I do. That being said, I take the time to notice things about the folks I'm talking to. If I see a woman wearing a star of David, I'm going to sincerely wish her a happy Hanukkah. I think when you acknowledge someone as a person, that's good, but when you identify them as an individual and compassionately engage them, you can tell them that you "hope that they don't step in a dog turd today", and they'll understand what you're really saying.

The brevity of life maintains my perspective on this issue. Being grateful I made it through another year, as did the rest of you who are reading this post. A heartfelt Merry Christmas, everyone. If Merry Christmas doesn't meet your fancy, then my wish for you is get a little strange ass this holiday season. Everyone wants a little strange. . .
 
Halifirien said:
I couldn't ignore what you didn't say. It's nowhere to be found in your original post. It's great that you finally popped in to explain what you meant; however, I stand by my statement about a blanket "Happy holidays" not being a bad thing. You're just widening the net and being offended on other religions' behalf, and I apologize for not realizing it.

I still don't see this huge "Happy Holidays" conspiracy to treat Christmas and the other holidays like some dirty secret. I would think saying "Happy holidays" and recognizing their existence would be proof enough of the person's good intentions.

The next time you want to start a discussion and exclude dissenting opinions, please make it clear from the start so the heathens don't waste their time.
Click to expand...

Mmm...to explain further on a particular point of view I have, if I may since I didn't clarify this bit - while [to me] it devalues the meaning of the statement, the devaluing of the statement also impacts other religions much more than Christianity. There's still dozens of Christmas-themed commercials and TV shows but very few on Kwanzaa, Hanukkah and such. Removing the direct well-wishing potentially hurts more than it helps since it removes a good deal of what little footing they had to begin with. =\ The public was much more diverse with well-wishing than the media is, seems as though they were aiming at the wrong thing if they didn't want to offend anyone.

I don't care which greeting is given, it still just seems to me that it's a step in the wrong direction. Anyhow I'll hush, sorry for getting worked up.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top