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As some of you may already know, some Christian conservative groups have taken offense to the multicultural aspect of this holiday season, and have started efforts to take back Christmas. They're insisting that cashiers at stores wish their patrons "Merry Christmas" and not "Happy Holidays". I am troubled by this.
( We always had holiday concerts, and nobody complained about it. Until recently. )
Now, if someone wishes me a Merry Christmas, I won't take offense. I won't look them in the eye and proclaim, "How dare you presume I'm Christian!" Instead, I might just say "Thank you", or "Thank you, but I don't celebrate that holiday." But I don't think people should be foreced to stick with one greeting. Nobody has a monopoly on the season.
In fact, many of the European Christian traditions we've come to know and love have their roots in pagan celebrations. We celebrate Christmas on December 25th only because some Pope in the 4th century decreed that the birth of Christ be celebrated on that day. I have a hunch that that the winter solstice occured on or near that day, back in that century. (This was centuries before the Gregorian calendar was adopted, and the correction factor applied.) And that's when the Romans celebrated Saturnalia.
( Something else bothers me. )
( We always had holiday concerts, and nobody complained about it. Until recently. )
Now, if someone wishes me a Merry Christmas, I won't take offense. I won't look them in the eye and proclaim, "How dare you presume I'm Christian!" Instead, I might just say "Thank you", or "Thank you, but I don't celebrate that holiday." But I don't think people should be foreced to stick with one greeting. Nobody has a monopoly on the season.
In fact, many of the European Christian traditions we've come to know and love have their roots in pagan celebrations. We celebrate Christmas on December 25th only because some Pope in the 4th century decreed that the birth of Christ be celebrated on that day. I have a hunch that that the winter solstice occured on or near that day, back in that century. (This was centuries before the Gregorian calendar was adopted, and the correction factor applied.) And that's when the Romans celebrated Saturnalia.
( Something else bothers me. )
