Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas?

[cartoonchaos]

Sorry guys, gotta bring this up. What the heck is with all this Christmas cock blocking going on? Suddenly, there are certain “forces” that refuse to use the word “Christmas” and say “Happy Holidays” or that funky Christmahaunakwanzakah gobbledygook. What is so wrong with Christmas? So what if it’s the heavyweight champ of the holidays? It’s not like anyone is ignoring Hanukkah… or Kwanzaa….

And who named Christmas trees “Holiday Trees”? Like that was gonna stick or something.


I think that, of course, Dr. Seuss gave us the proper parable for this situation. I think that all these “politically correct” people need to sit and watch or read “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and see how it properly applies to the state of affairs.



Merry Christmas. There. I said it.

[Harvey Human]

Originally Posted by cartoonchaos

Suddenly, there are certain “forces” that refuse to use the word “Christmas” and say “Happy Holidays” or that funky Christmahaunakwanzakah gobbledygook. What is so wrong with Christmas?

This one's really easy.
By saying "happy holidays," organizations are simply trying to be all-inclusive. "Happy holidays" covers all the winter solstice holidays including Christmas. This way they aren't slighting anyone who doesn't celebrate Christmas: Jews, Muslims, Hindus, etc.

If anything, Grinch is about how we don't need all that crap like trees and presents. We just need each other. "Happy holidays" is more like the Seuss fable in that is sends warm wishes to everyone, not just Christians.

Originally Posted by cartoonchaos

And who named Christmas trees “Holiday Trees”? Like that was gonna stick or something.

That sounds like taking it a little too far, but - really - who gives a flying f&%#?
Maybe some of them want to make the tree tradition appealing to all faiths; and why not? It's not like there was a Christmas tree next to the manger. Christians swiped the tree tradition from Druids and other "pagans" only a few hundred years ago. Maybe Jews and Muslims can swipe it as well.

I wonder if the pagans threw a fit when people began calling their beloved "Druid tree" a "Christmas tree."

[Ken Davis]

Because someone else says it, or doesn't say it does that affect your usage?

No.

Do the choices of someone else, or another group in choosing to renamed the greeting into something less "offending" for their own reasons affect the usage, meaning or enjoyment of the phrase for you?

No--I can safely say....

This is why its a non-issue.
If someone else chooses to use a different term to describe the same thing, and both terms used are accurate in their intent then what's the harm??

Honestly, I file this one under nit-picking.

[blinkmetoys]

im not even religious and i celebrate christmas.

its just a holiday time to be with family and GET STUFF!!!! oh..and give stuff too.

[sajdera]

Originally Posted by Ken Davis

Because someone else says it, or doesn't say it does that affect your usage?

...If someone else chooses to use a different term to describe the same thing, and both terms used are accurate in their intent then what's the harm??

Honestly, I file this one under nit-picking.

Where were you when the "Puppetry Thread" was going down!?

In case you missed it, when other people use words in a different way it's the end of the &%$#(*&^% world as we know it!!!.

Crappy Holidays!!!

[Harvey Human]

Originally Posted by blinkmetoys

im not even religious and i celebrate christmas.

Yeah, Christmas isn't really Christmas anymore, unless you actually go to a Mass at that time of year, which is usually the last thing that people associate with Christmas. Since "Christmas" is just a word and means nothing to most people besides greed, gluttony, partying, and pretty lights, what does it matter what you call it?

If people were to truly celebrate the holiday in a Christ-like manner, they'd give all those presents to the poor instead of to their middle-class families.

This thread is probably in response to that paranoid "War on Christmas" foolishness that's pushed this time of year, as if jack-booted thugs are going to storm into your house and burn your tree down.

[Harvey Human]

Oh yeah, this is relevant:

O'Reilly: "War" on Christmas part of "secular progressive agenda" that includes "legalization of narcotics, euthanasia, abortion at will, gay marriage"

http://mediamatters.org/items/200511210003
(There's a video, so you don't have to read nothin'. )

[madmanmarco]

It sounds overboard...but im not sure if its actually nit picking, were talking about a billion dollar month here(besides, there is plenty of animation that is affected by Christmas...or Holiday month). I dont think that mixing religion and state is fair or constitutional to anyone and that has been happening for years.No one minds the time off from school or work, and we all love giving and getting presents.Moreover I am no Ameriphobe by any means, but we tend to bastardize iconic events. How many of us celebrate the rising of a corpse Jesus on Easter, or give up something during lent...I think if you dont sack up to everything Christianity means than you should celebrate holiday day (sounds silly) but the word Christmas means Christ Mass. Im not Jewish and I dont celebrate Rosh Hashanah, so how is it O.K. to celebrate Christmas, im not a devoted worshiper of Christ...I think im going to hell with all of you,I gotta go repent!

[tehfuzzbomb]

Originally Posted by Harvey Human

Since "Christmas" is just a word and means nothing to most people besides greed, gluttony, partying, and pretty lights, what does it matter what you call it?[/img]

I don't understand what you're trying to defend. Do you want to change the name of Christmas because you're intolerant of Christian faith and culture or do you not want to change the name of Christmas and simply change the meaning of the word to something else (in which case the word can no longer be Christmas).

The moment you change the word Christmas, you change its meaning. Just like if you make up a word, or if you try and define a word differently, it's not the same word so make up a new word for what you're trying to define. An all inclusive Happy Holidays may seem like its tolerating and including other cultures or religions but it's also changing the purpose of Christmas. So naturally as America has changed the purpose of Christmas into a materialistic shopping free-for-all (why not include all cultures in such a profitable actvity?) it's going to sugar coat the purpose for the season by ignoring the ever-haunting term Christmas which reminds people of the true meaning of the holiday. Christians can give presents both to their families and the poor as well because they love their families and also want to help needy people. What point are you trying to make?

[Ken Davis]

Originally Posted by tehfuzzbomb

I don't understand what you're trying to defend. Do you want to change the name of Christmas because you're intolerant of Christian faith and culture or do you not want to change the name of Christmas and simply change the meaning of the word to something else (in which case the word can no longer be Christmas).

The moment you change the word Christmas, you change its meaning. Just like if you make up a word, or if you try and define a word differently, it's not the same word so make up a new word for what you're trying to define. An all inclusive Happy Holidays may seem like its tolerating and including other cultures or religions but it's also changing the purpose of Christmas. So naturally as America has changed the purpose of Christmas into a materialistic shopping free-for-all (why not include all cultures in such a profitable actvity?) it's going to sugar coat the purpose for the season by ignoring the ever-haunting term Christmas which reminds people of the true meaning of the holiday. Christians can give presents both to their families and the poor as well because they love their families and also want to help needy people. What point are you trying to make?

Not to speak for harvey, but I think what's being defended here is the privilege to celebrate a traditional holiday without the attachment of religious significance.
What we call "Christmas" is actually a derviative of the winter celebration of Saturnalia, which existed WELL before Christ's birth.
The date of Dec 25th was formally adopted in 500 AD by the Vatican, and there's still a great deal of speculation that Christ might have been born on the same calender date that he died on--sometime in the spring.
With that all said, the Christian elements are tacked onto traditions that have evolved and mutated over the past 2000 plus years. No single element can claim the sole reason for the tradition as so many varied cultures now come into it. For most of the world's cultures, its simply become a time for family and fellowship

THAT may, in the end, be the onlytrue, and ultimately most preferable, justification for celebrating it.