Expression Of Peace, Hope

Editorial - Decmeber 17, 2005 - R-C News-Herald

A lively, often heated debate has emerged this December over the greetings Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

One group of people believe saying “Merry Christmas” is insensitive and wrong. This group argues many people are not Christians and by saying “Merry Christmas” you are assuming someone is a Christian and celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ.

This is an interesting editorial. I lived for a short period in the community of West Los Angeles, a heavily Jewish community. During the one holiday season I was living there, on the streets and in the stores you would hear "Happy Hanuka" as a regular greeting. They were just as friendly if you responded the same, or responded with "Merry Christmas". Both expressions were simply considered a positive form of hello or good bye in the spirit of the season. It told you something about the person if they took offense at whatever you said. I only remember a couple of frowns during that season.

In fact, if someone said "Happy Hanuka", I would normally respond the same way as a courtesy to their religion. I noticed that if I said my greeting first, "Merry Christmas", I would normally get the same greeting back from people that I knew were Jewish. No one made a big deal about either.

I think a more interesting question to ask might be, what motivation is there in the soul of someone who takes offense or publicly criticizes someone for either statement?