Christmas Greetings From a Non-Christian
The war on Christmas isn’t in wishing others joy
No, Virginia, there is no “war on Christmas.” That idea arose in 2005 thanks to conservative political posturing. (Not that I’m anti-conservative. I’m just anti-falsehood.) Among the weird claims promulgated by promoters of this divisive campaign was this: wishing people joy at Christmastime by saying “happy holidays” is a way of removing Christ from Christmas.
False.
The phrase “happy holidays” is neither some new politically-correct obfuscation nor a modern left-wing battle cry. As a phrase used by Americans, it’s over a century old, dating at least to an 1863 usage in the Philadelphia Inquirer. It doesn’t deny the religious character of Christmas, although it does suggest the incorporation of Christmas into a holiday season that includes New Year’s Day and possibly even Thanksgiving. Conveniently, it can also embrace other religious celebrations that fall at this time of year. It’s a good, useful phrase.
Besides, etymologically both “Christmas” and “holiday” are religious terms: “Christ’s Mass” and “holy day” respectively. If we want to gripe about “holiday” being misused, it should not be with reference to Christmas, which definitely is a holy day. It would make far more sense for religious people to object to…
