Although the onslaught of Christmas merchandise that begins appearing in October might have you thinking December started weeks ago, it’s only been here for three days. It is officially the holiday season.
However trivial I think it is, this question pops into my head this time of year: Merry Christmas or happy holidays?
The American Civil Liberties Union takes the stance that the government should say happy holidays in order to avoid promoting any particular holiday or religion due to separation of church and state. This is reasonable.
The ACLU’s stance has been slightly misinterpreted by those who believe that the group is trying to eliminate the phrase “merry Christmas” altogether. The ACLU believes Americans should be able to say “merry Christmas” all they want, but the government should use more inclusive terminology.
Happy holidays is undoubtedly all inclusive. Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Year’s — they are all included in the greeting. Happy holidays shouldn’t be seen as an offensive term, and statements suggesting the phrase creates a “war on Christmas” are a little absurd.
A year ago, Bill O’Reilly, a political commentator for Fox, spoke on the topic. O’Reilly said the ACLU’s stance encouraging merry Christmas to be removed from advertisements and public displays is uncalled for. O’Reilly poked fun at a Macy’s ad that said Santa could help children with their holiday wish lists. O’Reilly said, “So here’s my question to Macy’s: What holiday is Santa celebrating? Winter solstice? The birthday of a reindeer? What?”
His questions are funny and make a point. However, the larger issue is that Americans should be able to say both happy holidays and merry Christmas without fear of upsetting someone. For the most part, I don’t think people have that fear. However, media coverage would suggest otherwise.
Christmas is celebrated by Christians and non-Christians alike. According to a 2013 Pew Research Center survey, 90 percent of Americans celebrate Christmas, and 51 percent say it is a religious holiday. That means the other 39 percent celebrate Christmas in a secular fashion.
For those 39 percent, Christmas doesn’t have a religious connotation anyway, making merry Christmas vs. happy holidays a nonissue.
A different 2013 Pew survey found that 42 percent of Americans preferred merry Christmas, 12 percent of Americans preferred happy holidays and 46 percent of Americans didn’t care.
Jason Linkins and Katla McGlynn of the Huffington Post made a humorous video about the issue called ‘‘The Political War On Christmas And Its Arch Enemy, ‘Happy Holidays.’’’ In the video, Linkins asks how happy holidays can be offensive — after all, the phrase’s operative word is “happy.” It’s hard to get much friendlier than that.
In August 2013, Texas passed House Bill 308, the Merry Christmas Bill. State Representative Dwayne Bohac, R-Texas, said his son came home from school saying he decorated a holiday tree with holiday ornaments.
It’s a Christmas tree, just like a menorah is a menorah and not a “winter candelabra.” McGlynn points that out in the “War on Christmas” video.
Bohac said Christmas is a federal holiday, and therefore, Americans should be able to call it by its name.
Saying happy holidays and merry Christmas does not need to be a controversial issue. If you want to be all inclusive, say happy holidays. If you want to say merry Christmas, which is relevant to 90 percent of Americans and really not all that exclusive, then say merry Christmas.
However, don’t just say happy holidays for the sake of being politically correct. Although it may be a minor semantic issue, giving in to this kind of pressure represents inadvertent self-censorship of your First Amendment rights.
Be sensible and thoughtful with your holiday greetings, and remember that the intent of any happy fill-in-the-blank greeting is never to upset. A greeting in itself is meant to welcome and acknowledge, not to exclude or ignore.
Lindsay Alexander is a UF journalism sophomore. Her columns appear on Wednesdays.
[A version of this story ran on page 6 on 12/3/2014]
[The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the Alligator.]
