No, I’m not wishing you "Season’s Greetings" instead of a "Merry Christmas." It turns out that the season’s greeting that many Americans prefer is "Merry Christmas." Imagine that!
"In the cultural battle over whether to use the seasonal greeting ‘Happy holidays’ or ‘Merry Christmas,’ the latter appears to be winning, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll released Tuesday.
"In the poll, which surveyed 1,003 adult Americans by phone, 69 percent said they prefer ‘Merry Christmas’ over ‘Happy holidays,’ which garnered 29 percent.
"Compared with the 2004 Christmas — or holiday — season, the number of people who said they use ‘Happy holidays’ has dropped 12 percentage points, from 41 percent to 29 percent."
Google is using happy holidays on their main search page right now (the 22nd.)
Of course, they really DO have to cater to a larger percentage of atheists and non-Christians as well as people outside of the US, so I think that’s fair.
I actually prefer Happy Holidays. After all, it ain’t Christmas yet. Though, a “Happy Advent” would be nice. Watch the look on people’s face when you wish them a Merry Christmas on January 1st.
Or a Merry Candlemas on February 2nd.
If you read the CNN story and follow the link to Test Your Holiday Spirit I found it interesting that 5 out of 6 questions show you the percentage of people who chose each answer, after you answer the question first. The last question however, takes you straight to the results of the quiz. The last question is:
What would you change if you could?
Choices:
1.Bring back the religious significance of this time of year
2.Have more time to spend with family and friends
3.Cancel the whole season
This is the question that I would like to see a breakdown on. What percentage of people chose number 1? I might be stretching here, but why doesn’t CNN want us to know?
I greet Merry Christmas to people I am sure celebrates Christmas–that is -Christians. But to those I am not sure–then I greet Happy Holidays.
I think the cultural war on Christmas is manufactured.
I really think the issue is too much commercialization of Christmas and we need to bring back the Christ in Christmas.—It is not the greetings or semantics but gift-giving, parties, Santa Claus overshadows the real significance of Christ Birth.
I think it depends on what you give and what kind of parties you go to and who you tell your children Santa Claus is. In my family, Santa Claus is just St. Nicholas in another language. No he doesn’t live at the North Pole and work with elves! He lives in Heaven with the full Communion of Saints. We have a party on Christmas Day were we go to Church and then come home and place all of the Baby Jesus figures in the creche before we open any gifts we have for each other. And how does giving my son a staute of St. Michael overshadow the real significance of Christ’s birth? Or even a lego set? God made him to be a creative, imaginative child and I am celebrating that. I am sick and tired of people in these blogs telling me that I am not celebrating Christ’s birth unless I reject all customs and go spend my Christmas in a silent retreat, on my knees until they bleed with only stale bread and lukewarm water to sustain me. I believe you can celebrate Our Lord’s birth in a multitude of ways but you have to work harder to make him the focus if you choose to live in the real world. I say to those people who swear off all forms of festivity that have even the shadow of the secular world, go ahead, through up your hands and say I quit… it is the easier way out!
Oh and I refuse to say Happy Holidays because even though I know it comes from the words Holy Days, unless you are passing that information along with your greeting, all you appear to be doing is giving into the same PC world that tries to commercialize Christmas.
Stepping off the soap box now.