A CHRISTMAS Message in an Intellectually Disintegrating World

A CHRISTMAS Message in an Intellectually Disintegrating World

I posted this last CHRISTMAS in my personal blog, but I'm posting it here again... for EMPHASIS.

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Some people are actually offended when people greet them Merry Christmas! I can't believe it. So in an effort to be "politically correct", the preferred greeting is now "Happy Holidays."

How can you possibly be offended by something like Merry Christmas? Don't you realize that it is NOT an attack on you or your personal beliefs? It is NOT an effort to in any way try and convert you into another person's way of thinking. It's simply a greeting, given to you with no other intent but GOODWILL. It is a person who wishes to share with you some happiness that he is feeling at that moment. It doesn't matter if you don't believe in Christmas. It is nothing but a greeting that's meant to share some happiness with YOU.

Before Christmas, there's usually Thanksgiving celebrated by Americans. Once in a while an American friend of mine would greet me Happy Thanksgiving! I don't celebrate Thanksgiving, but I realize that it's a holiday that means something to Americans, and to many Americans, it's something that has deep meaning. I respect them enough to accept the greeting because I know it was offered to me with the best of intentions without any malice intended towards me.

If someone greeted me Happy Hanukka! or Happy Kwanza! I'd gladly accept the greeting even though they are holidays I do not celebrate. I know that they are greetings offered with the best of intentions and nothing else. So I'd accept them and I'd accept them gladly. I'd even be flattered that these people thought well enough of me to wish me well.

THIS IS CALLED RESPECT. Respect for the belief of other cultures. Respect for other people's beliefs.

Would it kill you to say "Thank you." when someone greets you? Saying that doesn't mean you believe in Christmas. It's acceptance of a goodwill that was freely offered to you. That's ALL it is. To lash out at goodwill freely offered is deeply hurtful to the one who offered it, and it's utterly selfish, inconsiderate, insensitive, and worst of all, intolerant.