Happy Holidays - A Non Offensive way to say Merry Christmas? WRONG!

What is "holiday" day for you then?

Not everyone is religious, and as such shouldn't they be using Happy Holidays?

But saying "Merry Christmas" is not saying "Hey, convert to my religion!". It's actually better to say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Hanukkah" because then people know which holiday you celebrate, whereas saying "Happy Holidays" could mean anything, including "I'm too ignorant to care what religion you have, so I'm going to be lazy and say something universal instead!"

Long story short, I completely agree with Justin.

I understand what you are saying Justin (and SWagner) but there is far more to the "Happy Holidays" saying than just whether you follow a particular religion.

Happy Holidays or Seasons Greetings are nice, neutral ways of saying "have a good time off" to anyone who will receive the same "work-free" days as yourself. Essentially to expect everyone to say Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah is to expect everyone to be segregated into these two religions. (Christian/Jewish)

Take an example of a Buddhist who lives in Australia.. The elightenment (in May) recieves no public holiday in the Australian calendar but buddhists will still mark the occasion according to their faith. During the Christmas period, there are no signifigant Buddhist holidays. Would you expect a Buddhist to go around wishing everyone a Merry Christmas? I would not and most people would not. What a Buddhist can do however is vocalise a desire for everyone to have a good holiday period and enjoy the time allotted for the population, have a breather and relax. For a Buddhist, it is not Christmas, nor should we say it should be.

I am more than happy to wish people a Merry Christmas even though I consider myself an agnostic with no religious tendencies, rather a belief that there is more than humanity and the Earth. I can understand though that those with non-christian/non-jewish beliefs do not want to mark an occasion of a contradicting faith and instead appreciate that their country allows time for all residents (religion non-specific) to take some time away.

If I were to travel to Saudi Arabia where the prominent religion is Islam, I would be a fool to think that the Christmas holidays will appear on the Islamic calendar. I would wish those marking the occasion a merry christmas during the time but I would not be granted a holiday. During Ramadan though? I would not understand, or try to understand the dynamics that Islam is marking throughout this time but the public holidays of Ramadan would be available to me and thus I would wish those around me have a happy holiday and enjoy the time that their national religion has set aside.

Happy holidays is a great way to say to anybody "On these days that we are about to have off work......relax, I hope you have a great time" To expect everyone in your country to celebrate and understand/agree-with the religious holidays of your nation is not politically or ethically correct and this is why it is accepted to use a more populace-friendly phrase defining -- as basically as possible -- what is going on. "You have some days off! Have a great time"

You cannot expect people to contradict their belief system just because the country they reside in marks it as a special occasion.

That's my $12.50

Hmm, good point! What I meant above was that people that celebrate a holiday should be able to go around wishing people a "happy/merry [holiday]" without worrying about the other person's religion. But I see what you're saying, Luke.