Personally, I'm offended (aesthetically/logically, anyway), by "Happy Holidays", which I find bland and meaningless (not everyone has a holiday, for starters. Having a sister in the police force and a brother who works for the BBC, I'm always very conscious that plenty of people have to work over Christmas!)
As someone who no longer regards themselves as a Christian, I think what I'm really celebrating these days is Yuletide; a reminder in the depths of winter darkness that the world is turning and light will return. The takeover of Yuletide by Christmas as Northern Europe Christianised, of course, led to many of the features of Yuletide becoming associated with Christmas (feasting, singing, Yule logs...) I do, occasionally, have a devil's-advocate moment, when I hear commentators complaining about the overindulgence which often goes on around Christmas, and think "if Christians didn't want those things associated with Christmas, they should have left Yule well alone in the 4th century and picked another date to have Christmas on..."
;-)
But I agree with your take on wishing someone a Merry Christmas; just as I wouldn't dream of being offended if someone of another faith wished me a happy [insert relevant festival] at their special time. They're wishing me a happy day on a day which is special to them. How curmudgeonly would one have to be to be offended by that?
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branchandroot
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Date: 2012-11-24 05:18 pm (UTC)As someone who no longer regards themselves as a Christian, I think what I'm really celebrating these days is Yuletide; a reminder in the depths of winter darkness that the world is turning and light will return. The takeover of Yuletide by Christmas as Northern Europe Christianised, of course, led to many of the features of Yuletide becoming associated with Christmas (feasting, singing, Yule logs...) I do, occasionally, have a devil's-advocate moment, when I hear commentators complaining about the overindulgence which often goes on around Christmas, and think "if Christians didn't want those things associated with Christmas, they should have left Yule well alone in the 4th century and picked another date to have Christmas on..."
;-)
But I agree with your take on wishing someone a Merry Christmas; just as I wouldn't dream of being offended if someone of another faith wished me a happy [insert relevant festival] at their special time. They're wishing me a happy day on a day which is special to them. How curmudgeonly would one have to be to be offended by that?