Happy Holidays? Why you little...!

Happy Holidays: the American equivalent of "I don't know your religious beliefs and don't want to offend you, so I'll just say something generically genial and seasonal."  We hear this everywhere now.  Leaving a store?  Happy Holidays!  Eating out?  Happy Holidays!  Gave money to charity?  Happy Holidays!  Now "Happy Holidays" has become offensive to many, so let's talk about this for a minute.  'Tis the season, after all...

Many businesses require their employees to say Happy Holidays instead of making any references to a specific winter festivity.  I understand why they do this: money.  Businesses do not actually care about their patrons' feelings.  Business owners and managers might care, but businesses themselves do not.  Businesses care about money, and patrons don't spend money where they feel they've been offended.  Rather than risk saying Merry Christmas to a Jewish person, the hostess or salesman must say Happy Holidays to all to wish all a good night.  But why?  Why are we offended by good wishes, even if we don't celebrate that particular holiday?

Americans have become a nation of individualists that expect others to know, respect and obey our personal wishes.  Why is saying Merry Christmas to a Jewish person bad?  If that person wished a Christian Happy Hanukkah in return, would the Christian be offended?  What if you say Merry Christmas to an Atheist?  Are you likely to get a diatribe of anti-religious sentiment?  Why did we start taking these things so seriously?

I have a crazy idea that I think might alleviate this problem.  If someone wishes you well, even referencing a holiday you don't personally celebrate, say something absurd, like "Thanks!  Same to you."  If you're feeling really spunky, you might even wish them your own seasonal blessing.  Imagine it: people saying things like "Merry Christmas" and hearing "Happy Kwanzaa" in return without a big argument afterwards!  I don't know if my heart can take it, but I'm absolutely positive our society can.

We need to start accepting our fellow citizens as we find them, religious beliefs and all.  I'm not personally a Christian, though I was raised in a Christian household and share many of the same values.  I celebrate many Christian and non-Christian holidays throughout the year.  These are my beliefs, and I expect my fellow citizens to respect them, whether they understand or agree with them.

I do not, however, expect the people I meet each day to know by looking at me that I'm more likely to say Merry Christmas than Happy Hanukkah.  This brings me to my point: when someone wishes me a happy holiday, no matter what their holiday of choice may be, I assume this is the equivalent of saying "peace be with you" or "fare thee well".  Yes, each of these expressions has their own histories, but the point is that they are nice things to say.  So is wishing someone a good Ramadan, even if they're not Muslim.  Getting angry is like taking offense to someone saying "gesundheit" to a sneeze because you're not German.

So the next time someone wishes you a Merry Christmas or a Happy Hanakkah or a Happy Ramadan, return the favor with your own holiday greetings.  If we all start to recognize the niceness and goodwill behind these sentiments, we can start working our way toward a nation that truly has freedom of religion instead of an egg-shell-walking semi-religious minefield of half-greetings.

Assalamualaikum, friends.
-MK