“Merry Christmas” and Political Correctness - Give Me a Break!!!
December 20, 2007 6:50 am Random Gripings
So I hear that a lot of stores out there aren’t allowing their employees to say “Merry Christmas” to their customers because they might offend someone that isn’t Christian or it just isn’t politically correct. I know that this has been going on for a number of years, but I didn’t have this blog before now so I can finally speak my opinion on it.
This is ridiculous. I’m seriously so sick of this stupid “politically correct” stuff. Is every one out there just waiting to be offended so they can whine about it? If someone walked up to me and said “Happy Hannukah” would I get all offended and start to cry that I’m not Jewish, so why would someone wish me a happy Jewish holiday? NO! I’d just be polite and say “Thanks, same to you!”
I just don’t understand the whole thing. Historically and currently we have been a predominantly Christian nation, that’s why we take Christmas as a Federal Holiday. If I lived in the Middle East I would expect they do the same thing for their religious holidays. Same thing if I was in China or Japan. But for some reason here in the US we have to try to appease every single person that walks through our doors. So when does this mean that we lose our own identity?
Is anyone else with me on this? If so, I hope you’ll happily wish everyone you see a Merry Christmas and not worry about them getting offended. That’s their choice, and most people wouldn’t be offended anyway.
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tags: annoyances, Christmas, holiday, opinion
I’m with you! I’m Jewish and when it’s Chanukah I wish everyone a happy Chanukah, just like I wish everyone a happy Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and so on… On Christmas I wish everyone a merry Christmas, and I have a good Christmas even without a tree! You are right, the “P.C.” movement IS getting out of hand. People need to lighten up and get a sense of humor.
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You are completely right. It is just too much these days. Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas? Who wants to say or hear happy holidays? Nobody… I am flabbergasted that anyone is actually offended by another religion’s holiday. I’m not.
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I have to agree with you 100%. When you say Merry Christmas to someone, it’s a gesture of good will - regardless of faith. Honestly if that offends anyone, they need to evaluate their life because they obviously just aren’t happy.
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I actually saw something on MSNBC a few days ago where one store was giving discounts to people that said Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays because Merry Christmas was more proper and Christ like or some such. Watching this woman try and explain her logic was like having someone teach me the finer points of advanced trigonometry.
The PC movement got out of hand a long, long time ago.
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What is so wrong with wishing other people Merry Christmas? We all share our joy with each other. I don’t mind people wishing me happy diwali, or chinese new year or any other sort of celebration. Those are celebrations so, we celebrate them together! =)
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I guess I can shed some light on this being the only one that has somewhat of a different opinion on this matter. I am agnostic and believe in being kind to others and expecting the same from them. I dont need to go to church or believe in something that in my opinion does not exist in order to make myself feel secure in my world. Religion is a choice and in my opinion one that is usually made for personal reasons by those who chose to be religious. Christmas is apparently a “holiday” where everyone is supposed to be happy and in a joyful mood because of the lights and the music and the spirit of mankind during the holidays. I ask you this…..what is so relaxing about turning on the radio and having some annoying disk jockey yelling at you to BUY BUY BUY! Or going into a mall parking lot and watching all the people honk their horns and finger one another because someone took their parking spot that was closer to the main entrance? Or being shoved around in an over crowded line up at the till? My wife loves the holidays and therefore makes me get involved by crawling in the attic once year to retrieve about 15 rubber totes of christmas decorations just so we can set it all up for a couple of weeks, then tear it all down and put it back up for next year. I have to go out in the freezing cold to hang up 300 light bulbs around my house and trees because she like it. For me its a waste of time and I could live with out it. I dont ask for gifts and I dont want to give them. Christmas is not so much a religious holiday as it really is a corporate holiday. Think about this for a moment. December is cold dark and rainy usually in canada, and its a time when people dont generally leave the house. So that means no shoppers no big pay for the malls and stores and so on. With this great end of the year holiday, they can all rake in a mass amount of cash before the next year begins. Its run by corporations who use it to drive up sales in their business’. As for people saying merry Christmas versus X-mas or happy holidays, i think people dont even know they are saying it. Its a learned robotic response to the lights an the atmosphere. Its simply consumerism and corporate brain washing scheme to make you believe you have to buy things and say things in order to be excepted and not be called a “Grinch”. if you really want o celebrate christmas, gather the family around a fire and drink egg nog while carving a stick into a hand made gift for the whole family. If you want to say merry christmas then so be it but dont expect others to say it back to you if they dont believe in it. The same way that people get upset when they say it and dont get it back, its also as upsetting to those who are stressed out by it not all because of religion but also because its stressful. Too much money being spent on useless meaningless gifts that you dont really need or want to buy, but feel you have to. Its more of an obligation now a days to have to buy gifts for one another then it is to do it because you really want to. People should buy each other gifts all year round because they care, not because WALLMART or FUTURESHOP says you should everytime you turn on your TV or radio. If you want to say Merry Christmas, except the fact that you may be saying it to someone who does not think its so merry.
There is nothing “Holiday” about busting your hump and running around like a chicken with no head spending hundreds of your hard earned dollars!
Happy CORPORATE-mass
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You are right.Let’s celebrate together all holiday!Merry Christmas!
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Think the same! good new year!
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Yep Same Here. Happy Holiday and A Very Happy New Year.
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I have to disagree. You wrote:
“But for some reason here in the US we have to try to appease every single person that walks through our doors.”
The answer to that question is because we’re a capitalist country. We want money from every person who walks through our doors, and we’ll treat them with some amount of dignity to get it. Most employees of most retail stores aren’t allowed to express their political views while working at Nordstrom … if the bosses think there’s more profit to be had this way, I don’t see how it’s different than any other profit-motivated choice they make?
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I agree. You are right, but when it comes to religion there’s no ending discussion. I think all we need to do is to respect each other.
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I would have to agree with you there!
Everything has to be politically correct these days but when it comes to Christmas its going a bit far.
I even started second guessing writing Merry Christmas in emails in case the recipient wasnt a christian! Its a sad world its turning into.
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I rang Salvation Army bell this year and I was pleased to see that on the sign it said “Merry Christmas” rather than the lame “Happy Holidays”.
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Great Article and Comments!
The whole political correct crap has gotten out of control!
What’s next, when someone sneezes you can’t say “God Bless you?”
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You made a good point, and a lot of those people aren’t really offended, they just do it to start problems.
And those that are offended, should relax and instead be glad that someone is attempting to show some kindness. However, being politically correct is still important with other issues.
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You are soo right, “Merry Christmas” too you
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i know it is a little after the fact, but this is one of my gripes. I’m going to take the contrarian view here. I do get offended by the Merry Christmas comment. Not because of my religion (which in my case is none) but because it has almost become a an aggressive statement. Merry Christmas no longer means “Merry Christmas”, it means “I am a Christian and you better deal with it.” At least to me.
I do agree that the PC language police in the past made it into something, but it has come 180 degrees. Just my .02
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I had to buy holiday cards this year at work and stuck with “Season’s Greetings.” There’s just too many people who will make a big deal out of it for no good reason.
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Season’s Greetings has now become the norm until somebody finds a way to get offended by that as well.
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Political correctness is ruining this country. You got people running around being fake and phoney to each other. Like Glenn Beck says, I want to let the person who hates me be able to tell me lol! That way I will know.
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You are right, Merry Christmas to all of u out there reading this lonely persons comments !
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Obama gets elected, and political correctness goes out the window. … Let me wish you and yours a Very Merry Christmas, counselor.
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