Herald Column: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

This week's Calgary Herald column from yours truly looks at the bickering over "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Holidays" and urges both sides to take a step back:  

...It is Christmas -- or, the Christmas season. There is no point in denying this or fleeing in terror from it. Therefore, it hardly seems offensive to wish someone well in conjunction with the season: "Merry Christmas," for example.

 

True, many do not celebrate Christmas, but even if one is to take the most narrow religious interpretation of the holiday, "Merry Christmas" is still a gesture of goodwill. I am not Jewish or Muslim, but were I offered a greeting of Happy Hanukkah or Eid Mubarak, I would appreciate the sentiment behind it.

It is true that both of those occasions fall more or less within the Christmas season, so if one is motivated by a sense of inclusiveness, then "Happy Holidays" is not unreasonable. Further, "holidays" would seem in many cases to be quite literal -- as in "enjoy your time off and your time with your family."

 

Or, for some, "Happy Holidays" may simply be a pushback against those who are demanding they say something else. That would be the "Merry Christmas" crowd, which refers to those who take offence to "Happy Holidays" because to them it is too secular -- that is, those who view Christmas in strictly religious terms and see it as an opportunity to push and elevate their religion.

 

The fact that Christmas is a statutory holiday is seen as one foot in the door: If the state tacitly accepts a holiday with religious overtones, why not make it as religious as possible?

 

It's far easier, for example, to push to have Christmas carols in public schools than it is to push for prayer in public schools -- for many, though, the objective is the same. There is certainly nothing menacing in having Christmas trees and Santa pictures in public schools, but singing praises to the purported Son of God born of a purported virgin would seem highly inappropriate in such a venue.

 

Ah, but Jesus is the "reason for the season" we're told. If Jesus is the reason for your season, then celebrate it accordingly. But for many Canadians, it is not the reason and there is nothing untoward about that.

 

Of course, much of Christmas has little to do with Christianity anyway, even the season itself. It is highly improbable that Jesus was born on Dec. 25 or anywhere near that date. For many Canadians, Christmas is simply an embodiment and celebration of values we all share: goodwill, generosity and the importance of family.

 

Religion does not have a monopoly on those values, nor should it have a monopoly on this season. In that sense, there is no need to phase out or marginalize what has become a western holiday tradition.

It is not Christmas which poses a threat to our secular, pluralistic society, but rather those who would use the holiday to further blur the lines between church and state. It is also not an attack on Christianity or western society to wish someone "Happy Holidays" or to celebrate a non-religious Christmas.

 

Let's stop obsessing over how people celebrate the season or what greetings they offer. Perhaps then we'll truly have a Merry Christmas.