Christian Consevatives are hot about this year's White House Christmas card
 

Card Controversy

What's wrong with having Happy Holidays on there? Not everyone celebrates Christmas, some people celebrate Haunakah or Kwanzaa. I think that the President is trying to be politcally correct on the hoiday season, because not everyone celebrates Christmas.

If you were Jewish, would you get upset if the card read Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays?

Who really cares?

Start by reading the title of your thread - that should give you your first clue.

As a practicing Christian, I send Christmas cards to my Christian friends. Even though I rarely - very rarely - receive cards from my non-Christian friends, I do send them cards which say Happy Holidays or Season's Greetings.

Seeing as how 84% of the people in this country are Christian, they would probably be happier receiving Christmas cards. The other 16% could receive Holiday cards.

It should be that easy.

Btw, they're beautiful - much prettier than last year's!

= winnAR of thread.

I think the cards are lovely, but then again I'm a sucker for cute doggy and kitty pictures. :)

There are multiple holidays in December, I'm sure the cards go to more than just Christians, so what's the big deal?

At the paper where I used to work, I sent cards out to my clients. I sent general season's greetings or happy holidays cards - in most cases, the cards were going to more than one person at a company, and I didn't know what religion everyone was...I covered everything. :) (I did send Chanukah cards to a couple customers whom I knew were Jewish. :) )

I'm Jewish and I don't get offended if someone says "Merry Christmas," or "Happy Kwanzaa" or anything like that. I have several neighbors who put up Nativity scenes in their yards. As long as they don't put one up in my yard it's fine with me. :) The only way I'd get offended at a Christmas card someone sent me would be if someone knew I was Jewish and sent me a super-religious Christmas card and wrote a message trying to convert me.

Ditto.

I liked their cards, myself. Although this year, my cards will be the traditional "Mary and the Baby Jesus" theme. I think I am officially over my snowmen/winterwonderland phase.

Re: Christian Consevatives are hot about this year's White House Christmas card
 

One of my best friends is Jewish and she always sends me a Christmas card. It's kinda funny. She also went to the biggest Baptist university in the world, I tease her that she's a closet Christian.

I think it just bothers people because the holiday is Christmas, whether you celebrate it or not. Just because you're not a Christian doesn't mean the holiday Christmas does not exist! I can see where it would upset both sides.

That, Plante says, has some Christian conservatives, who are pushing retailers and schools to call this holiday "Christmas," very upset.

The White House is trying to save money. Instead of acknowledging every separate holiday,happy holidays covers them all.

It's funny that the writer of the story didn't name names just a branch of Christians instead.

As a late Southern Colorado Cowboy friend of mine used to say, "Some people would bitch if you hung 'em with a new rope."

The card has a Biblical message, and it certainly comes from a Christian President and wife.

It just doesn't have the message the want.

I always say happy holidays out of respect for people who may think differently from me.

I'm pleased that the White House does as well in this case.

I really don't get it myself - basically Happy Holidays is saying Merry Christmas, because the holiday season includes Christmas... so to me if you have a problem with someone saying "Happy Holidays" you're compounding your intolerance with stupidity - or more insidiously you are someone trying to work an angle... (ala. FOX)

xmas and xahka are on the same day this year. Can't this be a season of peace? seriously, chill out. of the i guess 84% of xians in in america, how many are the crazy ones that get offended by some one saying happy holidays? I thought happy holidays=new year if I don't see you again before then and whatever you might celebrate, have a good one.

Why does everyone in this country have such a stick up their ass?

xahka=hannukah, festival of lights

Basically, isnt Christmas a Christian Holiday? I always thought it was nice being Jewish and could have more than one Holiday!

If it isnt, then why does Santa fly all over the world leaving goodies for good boys and girls?:D Maybe, He is non-denominational after all!:cool:

If The Christmas Tree isnt that anymore will there not be a Yule Log gone soon also!

PC is getting so out of whack!:mad:

Question: why did you abbreviate hannukah as "xahka"? I know that Christmas can be abbreviated "xmas" because "x" stands for Christ (source: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mxmas.html), but why the "x" in hannukah?

I think one of the reasons that some people are getting their feathers ruffled is because this is happening in a lot of other areas too.

There was a big thing on the radio the other day about Target and Walmart stores "strongly encouraging" their employees to NOT say "Merry Christmas" but instead to say "Happy Holidays".

Do non-Christans really get offended if someone told them "Merry Christmas" though? If I were non-Christan, I would probably just smile, nod, and be on my way. I wouldn't be so offended to boycott Target or anything.

I've also noticed that more and more schools go on "winter break" instead of "Christmas break" (maybe it's just the area I live in, but when I was younger it was always "Christmas break").

I guess in a way they are trying to seperate the state from religious-type stuff?

This is just my opinion as a non-Christian.

Using "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" is better for me because its inclusive of everyone, and its an acknowledgement that everyone isn't a Christian, and that they still be will celebrating a holiday important to their faith at this time of year, and hat you wish them well (I think that was a run-on sentence).

I'm not so offended, but I do get a little irritated that people constantly assume that I'm celebrating Christmas. "Happy holidays" to me is more respectful of everyone's differences and realizing that there are those who are not Christian, so Christmas has no significance to them. For me, its just another day on the calendar, nothing special.

That's what I was thinking. Its just a card.

And I hope that the White House's 2006 card simply reads, "Festivus! For The Rest Of Us!"

:) :)

This time of year does encompass more than 1 holiday.

The 4 "usual" of Christmas, Kwanzaa, Yule and the New Year

This year it also happens Chanukah (not a high holiday....we had October for that this year). Chanukah and Ramadan (in October if I recall correctly) are always moving based on the Lunar calendar as opposed to the Gregorian calendar.

So I see on problem saying Happy Holidays because, December has a lot more than just Christmas. There are also A LOT of religions out there than just Christians...


/begin rant
hey fundies....get over yourselves :rolleyes:
/end rant

On another note, because I'm black, some people assume that celebrate Kwanzaa, of which I don't. So when someone say "Happy Kwanzaa" i don't get offended or irrated and go off the deep end. I just smile, nod and say I don't celebrate that (or something to that effect) and keep stepping.

No hard feelings and its given not a second thought.

holidays=holy days

what's the big deal?

Just an FYI - neither the White House nor the Government pay for the White House Christmas Cards, although I don't know about the postage. They paid for by whichever party has "their" President in office.


I am curious as how Christmas is different from Yule, though. Is Yule covering the Druid end of things?

Scandinavian.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule

-Rudey

Thank you! I rarely use wikipedia, so wasn't sure.

The Druidic festival/holiday is the Winter Solstice which falls usually on Dec. 21st or 22nd - if you want to check out something cool Druid/Winter Solstice wise check out Newgrange:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newgrange

During the solstice, and only during the solstice, the length of the tomb is lit up by the rising sun; which illuminates the carvings and engraving in the deepest chamber - not bad for something over 500 years older than the Great Pyramid.

Somewhat relates to this thread - Holiday trees
 

I have noticed also this year (and maybe it has happened in past years, but I didn't really notice it until now) that small city goverments around where I live are using the term "Holiday tree" (in leiu of "Christmas tree"). Even UNT is using that this year.

Is this common? Has it been happening for awhile?

Personally, I am pretty indifferent on the whole "Christmas"/"happy holidays" thing. I'm just curious to see what other people think.

Do other faiths decorate a tree similar to a "Christmas tree" and call it something else (hence the term "holiday tree")? Or are the small governments and universities like UNT just calling it a "holiday tree" for the same reason as the "happy holidays"/"Merry Christmas" arguement? I'm just wondering b/c I don't know a lot about what other religions do at this time of year (i.e. decorate a similar tree, etc)

Re: Somewhat relates to this thread - Holiday trees
 

In my honest opinion, I think retailers are calling anything related to Christmas "holiday" is simply because they think it will sell more merchandise and increase profits, but yet the general public is suckered into thinking its because they want to be "politically correct" (and who doesn't want to be that nowadays). Shoot, the other day I was in a national retail store and they were selling......"Holiday Menorahs"! :eek: And they also sold "Holiday Mangers" (formerly known as nativity scenes).

I mean really.......Call stuff what it is....if its been popularly known as a Christmas tree call it that....if its a Jewish Menorah, then call it that. If the song is called "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" don't change the lyrics, just pick a different song. There are plenty with no references to Christmas/religion (ie Jingle Bells, Winter Wonderland, etc.).

Sorry for getting on my mini-soap box but I seriously think all this hoopla was started by retailers in hopes of increasing profits, but its backfired on them. Now people are caught up in the Christianity vs the world agruments, while they sit back and just watch (to see what terms will sell next year).

How about they just send this to everyone:
http://jbittner.com/images/happy_everything.jpg

While I have no problem with the noble preoccupation with not offending the delicate sensibilities of all those who are not Christian, it seems to me that the last few years have been more about the deliberate exclusion and expulsion of anything of a Christian nature from the "Happy Holidays". That is in and of itself intolerant.

The only thing I have little tolerance for is the tired "Christians are stupid and intolerant" canard.

How is saying "Happy Holidays" excluding Christians or Christianity? Or are you actually buying into the Bill O'Reilly/John Gibson ratings grab that somehow states there is a war on Christmas or Christianity? So holding a Holiday Party is somehow insulting to Christians because it doesn't single them out for more special treatment?

I'm sorry I just don't get the whole problem with people being aware or considerate of other faiths ~ but then again I come from one of those "evil" secular societies :rolleyes:

Re: Somewhat relates to this thread - Holiday trees
 

Well lets see the Druids/Neo-Druids celebrate with a decorated tree... but it has to be a live one; cutting one down to bring inside is a blasphemy for them. The Asturu(sp?)/Heathens (seriously they call themselves that) celebrate outside with a tree as well - of course they don't decorate with dead animals and blood offerings to Odin like in the old days... other Pagans that follow the Greek or Roman tradition also celebrate with an evergreen tree use in the celebrations of Dionysus/Bacchus around this time too.

Of course there are Christian denomonations that actually prohibit Christmas Trees... or at least the attachment of the birth of Christ to a Christmas Tree... something to do with the Bible.

LOL - Shoot and I just mailed my Christmas cards this weekend. ;)

Bill O'Reilly is an idiot - a cabdriver with a microphone. That doesn't change the fact that the "Holiday Party" used to be called a Christmas Party.

I see a distinct difference between being considerate of other faiths and the active effort to remove all vestiges of the Christian faith from the season. In other words, I won't get offended as a Christian if someone says "Happy Holidays" as long as I can say "Merry Christmas" with impunity.

How are all vestiges of Christianity being removed from the season?


Are Chruches being banned from celebrating Christmas? Are Churches prohibitted from displays of faith? Cause that's the only way I see it being removed...

I'm not sure how we went from a "Holiday Party" to church worship, but when Wal-Mart employees are not allowed to say "Merry Christmas" to their customers, it strikes me as more of an active campaign to eliminate all references to the Christian holy day of Christmas.

The best analogy I can come up with at the moment is that of the "Just Married" shoe polish tradition on cars. A couple who has just gotten married want to share their happiness on their occasion by announcing it to everyone else. In return, most people who see the car are not offended by it but rather are happy for them.

The same can apply to Christmas. If a Christian says "Merry Christmas" to a non-Christian or invites them to a Christmas Party, the only thing the non-Christian has to do is be happy for the fact that the Christian is celebrating an important event. There is nothing else that needs to be done.

OK to satisfy you, then you should say "Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, and may you have a blessed Festivus" to cover all areas while not stripping the message of the whole Christian reference.

-Rudey

So you are advocating that Wal-Mart instead of promoting an inclusive and respectful message, instead promote an exclusively Christian one? But what about those denomonations that don't see Christmas as celebratory but as solemn or sad?

As for your analogy, well it's a pretty empty arguement as the "just married" tradition is varried and practiced by many faiths.

Of course my entire point is that the message seems to be becoming exclusively anti-Christian.

Again, the analogy was not to suggest that it was faith-specific, it was only to point out that if one person chooses to celebrate something, the other person can react with tolerance instead of recoiling in horror.

All these non sequiturs are making my head spin.

There is a huge difference between not being exclusively Christian and anti-Christian... and saying Happy Holidays or having a Holiday Party isn't anti-Christian - because it includes Christianity.

Besides in the Mediaeval tradtions this was known as the Holy Days or Holidays with Christ's Mass being but one aspect of the celebrations.

I thought it followed - or at least was all tied into the central arguement... which can be a little hard to follow when come from two related but different perspectives.

Do you realize that the last arguement you made is actually somewhat supportive of the reasoning behind "Happy Holidays"? Basically the fact that others celebrate this season differently should cause some Christians to be so reactionary or horrified by it - different denomonations and faiths all have Holy celebrations now; so why not react with tolerance instead of horror, or decrying the fact "it's anti-Christian"?

The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster uses a pasta tree decorated with eyes, ornaments, and lights.