In recent years, every time December rolls around, the same political correctness debate gets brought up about whether people should say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays." The thing that I don't understand is, why is it such a big deal? Are people nowadays so easily offended that we have to keep religious holidays out of everything? I think the problem is not what we say, it's who we say it to.
People today have become too sensitive when it comes to the holidays. If someone said "Happy Hanukkah" to me, even though I don't celebrate this specific holiday, I wouldn't say, "Excuse me, I don't celebrate Hanukkah, and I am offended that you would force your religion on me." Why? Because the people saying these holiday greetings are doing it as a happy gesture, not a malicious one. When I say "Merry Christmas" to someone, I'm not trying to force my religion on anyone or trying to disregard any other holidays occurring at this time, I'm just being festive and polite. I think that there is such a thing as being too politically correct. I shouldn't be scared to say "Merry Christmas" because I'm afraid I will offend someone. Would that person rather me not say anything at all? Because therein lies the problem. If we're all too afraid to speak because of possibly offending someone, we as Americans are completely denying ourselves the right in our Constitution, Freedom of Speech.
An example of taking political correctness a little too far is New Jersey councilwoman Charlene Storey, who resigned after lawmakers voted to call the New Jersey town, Roselle Park's Holiday Tree, a Christmas Tree. This infuriates me because a tree that has red and green decorations and lights on it is a Christmas Tree; no other holiday has a decorated tree as one of its symbols, so that makes it a Christmas Tree. No one would call a Menorah a Holiday candleholder because those candles are symbolic of Hanukkah, not of any other holiday. This is not a case of exclusion. Christmas now is such a secular holiday that you don't have to be Christian to celebrate it. In fact, according to a survey done by Pew Research Center that surveyed 2001 American adults, while nearly all Christians celebrated Christmas, only two-thirds view it as a religious holiday. This study also found that 80% of non-Christians that took part in Christmas said they celebrate Christmas as a cultural celebration instead of a faith-based one.
Personally, I say "Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays," but if people want to say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas," they have every right to, I'm not saying that everyone should say "Merry Christmas," even if they don't celebrate it. I also think that people should not avoid calling things what they are in fear of possibly offending someone, like a Christmas tree. I just think that we should be aware that these controversies and arguments are unnecessary headaches during this festive and usually merry time of the year.
