Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas may sound like simple salutations, but they have now become a part of the “war on Christmas.” Just a decade ago, people were greeting you with Merry Christmas, decorating schools with Christmas trees and garland, and some even had Christmas concerts where kids would sing songs such as “Oh Holy Night,” and “Joy To The World.” But now, in 2016, saying and doing all these things is no longer politically correct.
Christmas is a Christian holiday. It is a day commemorating Jesus’ birth, hence the prefix Christ. But if you could imagine, that might offend some people of different religion. Well, I could say the same thing about “Happy Holidays.” It offends me because this holiday is meant for Jesus. Disrespecting that to change the name and greetings is offensive.
America is one nation, under God. At least, that’s what it says in our pledge of allegiance. We pledge to this country to be one nation, under God. We pledge to stick together, under God. This is an American tradition. You cannot simply change that because you are offended. If you don’t like the way America is, that it’s a Christian nation, don’t live here. You can’t change thousand year old traditions and ideologies simply because they are “offensive” to you.
Elvis didn’t sing about “Blue Holiday,” and people don’t say “I’ll be home for the Holiday.” It’s I’ll be home for Christmas. If you can’t say Christmas around Christmas time when 85% of the nation is Christian and 96% celebrates Christmas, something is wrong.
Governor Rick Perry says, “I’m not afraid to admit that I’m a Christian, but it doesn’t take sitting in a pew every Sunday to know there’s something wrong with this country when a gay can openly serve in the military, but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas in school.” Schools across American are no longer allowed to openly celebrate Christmas. We cannot hold “Christmas Parties,” but can hold Holiday parties. We are allowed to decorate with things like reindeer or sleigh bells, but anything that symbolizes Christ is prohibited. Christmas caroling is allowed, but songs celebrating and commemorating Jesus’ birth is prohibited.
America is a Christian nation. “I pledge allegiance to the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands one nation, under god…” Our own pledge to America states we will serve American as one nation under God. Does that mean banning the use of the word Christmas in schools and public places? The constitution’s first amendment states we have the freedom of religion and the freedom of speech. So, why is it OK to tell someone they can’t say Merry Christmas because it offends someone else’s religion? It’s not OK. That is taking away a person’s constitutional rights and technically, that is breaking the law.
