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Randy Cassingham's BlogHistorical Details and Author's Notes from This is True®
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Happy Politically Correct Holiday
Last week's issue included this story, which naturally brought an incredibly whiny complaint by someone who clearly didn't understand the concept at all:
Free Weird Newsletter
Happy Politically Correct Holiday
There's a war raging between those who want a Merry Christmas and those who don't want to offend anyone and wish "Happy Holidays" instead. The rift is "related to a whole series of moral and religious issues," says church history professor Bill Leonard of Wake Forest University's Divinity School. Christians have long lamented the commercialization of Christmas, and "Happy Holidays" is the result, he says. "If they want to put Christ back in Christmas, they should skip the mall and give that money to the poor." (St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times) ...Yeah, but who wants to put their money where their mouth is?
Just a bit of the rather lengthy diatribe from Joey in Tennessee:
- "Christmas is about Christ, and His birth into this world, God's gift of eternal forgiveness of sins and a way for man to be reconciled back to God. That the rest of the world wants to make it a Winter Holiday Season or any other such nonsense is without merit. For these people to tell me that I can no longer call it Christmas is an outright affront and an attempt to paganize a very important spiritual holiday."
So here's a guy who demands that the world acknowledge Christmas is "holy" (and there's "no merit" to any other beliefs held by the majority of humanity), yet he has no clue whatever about how the day that's So Very Important to him came about. I'll bet he wonders why people laugh at him, roll their eyes, and move away from his church, instead of join it? He has no idea that December 25th was selected for "Christ's Mass" (later simplified to "Christmas"), and not "Jesus's birthday".
Why choose such a date, when Christ was clearly not born in December? Because there was already a winter festival around that time -- the winter solstice -- that was heartily celebrated by (yes!) the Pagans, whom early Christians were trying to convert. Pagans were celebrating the birth (ah ha!) of their sun god since, from the Winter Solstice on, the days were getting longer again. And Joey wants to rant about how terrible it is for some people who (in his opinion) want to "Paganize" Christmas?! Why not take a megaphone out on the street and scream "I'm ignorant! You all must follow my way!"? But then again, that is what he's doing, isn't it?
No doubt I'll get some rants on how "Christmas is NOT Pagan!" (Correct, it's not; it's simply a Christian twist on an already celebrated Pagan holiday.) I wonder if Joey would spend time on acting like a Christian, he'd get more people interested in his beliefs? Which, of course, is precisely what the story was about in the first place.
For much more detail into the history of Christmas, Wikipedia is your friend.
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Posted by Rae in Rural SoCal (yes, there _is_ such a place!) on May 21, 2008:
Like Ayesha alluded to, "Merry Christmas" just refers to one day. When I wish someone "Happy Holidays" I am wishing them good tidings not only on December 25, but for the entire season from Thanksgiving through New Year's Day. And frankly, though I am Christian and not Jewish by any stretch of the imagination, were someone to wish me "Happy Hannukah" I wouldn't be offended in the least. Quite the opposite, I'd be quite thankful that they are wishing me happiness on a day that they hold in high regard.
Posted by David, NYC on June 2, 2008:
I realize that not everyone celebrates the same holidays in the Winter, and I tailor my greetings accordingly. Merry christmas to my christian co-workers, Happy Channukah to my fellow Jews, Happy Kwanza, Happy Solictice, etc. as the situation demands. If my co-workers wish me a Merry christmas, I respond with a simple 'thank you'; after all, why get offended that they are providing me with well-wishes according to their belief system - in an absolute worst-case scenario, they're just words, and "sticks and stones...".
Posted by Stephen, Idstein Germany on April 19, 2009:
Perfect answer Randy!
If you look at many "Christian" holidays you will find a pagan holiday that was there first. All Saints Day which is the day after Halloween and Easter are two of the big ones.
Easter was named after the Saxon goddess of fertility "Eostre" and was celebrated every spring.
Halloween is on the the Celtic Samhain festival which celebrates the end of the harvest.
Early Christians tried to convert pagans and in their effort to do so, they converted the holidays as well.