Do We Say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays?

Judging from the decorations in most shopping districts and seeing the street light poles decorated with bright lights gives a hint of this being a special season.

All of the retail outlets and most online shopping venues are running specials designed to entice shoppers to spend money for special gifts during this season of the year. The news is filled with events that will attract people to enjoy special programs depicting the events that celebrate this season of the year. Much is being written about towns, cities, hamlets and states that conduct a special tree lighting ceremony during this season every year.

Along with all the shopping, special events, and other gatherings, some communities display important scenes reliving a very special birth remembered during this time of the year. Now, in the midst of these great times of celebration, along come folks who no longer want to celebrate that special birth or make any reference to the birth of Jesus. For most of us who have been blessed to be born in an earlier generation, we remember a time when every store clerk and all of the people who would be involved in special events or programs would greet others with a cheerful “Merry Christmas.”

In our sophisticated lifestyle that has developed over the last few years, we seldom hear that greeting from years gone by. Most times, if there is a greeting at all it is “Happy Holidays.” In our desire to seem to be inclusive of others, we have pushed aside the real reason for any celebration. We have bowed to the demands of a few who believe they are picked to educate others and force others to leave behind their old outdated concepts of life and celebration.

Towns that have always set aside space to allow for the depiction of the Nativity have been intimidated or sued into removing the remembrance of the birth of the Christ child. We have become so politically correct that we have lost the real meaning of all that is taking place during this season of the year. It seems that out of fear we will offend certain people, we have chosen to submit to their wishes and if we say “Merry Christmas,” we do so in hushed tones and as if with a whisper for fear of being rebuked or drawing the ire of someone that is offended by our expressions of joy.

It is not enough that materialism has taken over the majority of this celebration, but now we are being told that to utter a greeting as we wish for someone else a “Merry Christmas,” is so offensive we must stop saying it. With tree lighting ceremonies and special events being pulled from public view, one cannot help but muse as to how much longer it will be before we are required to say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.” From where I stand, I truly wish for you a “Merry Christmas,” this year.

Which greeting do you hear more often, "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays?" Tell us in comments. 

Follow Ray Newman on Twitter — @RayNewmanSr.