Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Joyous Kwanzaa! Happy Solstice! I know there are a lot of people out there that are fighting for it to be Merry Christmas, ONLY MERRY CHRISTMAS.
There are several problems with this line of thought. First and foremost, Christmas is a celebration of Jesus’ birth, but his birthday is in April according to Biblical scholars. They chose to put the celebration of Jesus’ birth in December to take the holiday from the Pagans, Jews and other supposed heretics (keep in mind that Christianity is derived from Judaism (Jesus was a Jew) and therefore they tried to place all the Christian Holy days on or near Jewish holidays). The original cultural appropriation, in my opinion.
Secondly, there are multiple Holidays being celebrated in December. It’s not just about December 25. When I say Merry Christmas, I say it because it’s the holiday that I celebrate, but if you were to respond with Happy Holidays, or a more specific reference, I still appreciate that you are wishing me a blessing in whatever you celebrate.
I am the furthest from being politically correct or culturally sensitive (you should have heard my conversation with my wife a few hours before I wrote this, you’d be appalled). I do recognize though that there are more people out there besides me, and they may celebrate something else, and I respect that. I am not so closed minded as to assume that everyone has to agree with my point of view or beliefs. My apologies if the term “Jew” is derogatory. I find the term “Jewish” meaning that your sort of a Jew, but not really, you know, Jew-ish.
All I do know is that when it comes to celebrating the holidays this month (or January if you are Orthodox or Ukrainian) the celebration isn’t complete until you get the surprise of the obligatory Mandarin Orange in your chosen vessel.