War on Christmas? Really?

I will be out of the office this week but wanted to make things as easy as I could for my new(ish) staff. So here’s my two cents for the holiday gap.

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I keep hearing about this “War on Christmas.”

I call BS.

The holy day has come more under fire from people trying to commercialize and greedify it than anything else.

So maybe you can’t get a Starbucks cup or a McDonalds Happy Meal that says “Merry Christmas.”

Big damn deal.

These corporations have customers that service clients that celebrate Chanukah, Kwanzaa, the solstice, Sol Invictus and more.

Why would they want to exclude any group or make them feel uncomfortable?

They wouldn’t.

So “Happy Holidays” fits the bill for most companies.

For Christians, there are two holidays this time of year: Christmas and New Year’s Day.

So “Happy Holidays” works for that too.

Heck, there are even three New Year’s that I know of: Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year usually celebrated in or around September), Chinese New Year (celebrated towards the end of January), and the traditional New Year (based on the Roman Calendar).

I don’t really foresee a “War on New Years,” do you?

Honestly, I am not offended if someone does not specifically mention Christmas in a salutation to me and I really have no idea why you should be either.

Including everyone and offending as few people as possible fits specifically into the true spirit of Christmas anyway. Or so I understand it.

If someone says Happy Chanukah to me I will happily return the greeting.

All I ask is that if I do say “Merry Christmas” to someone who doesn’t celebrate the day they don’t get huffy with me either.

Merely say “I observe Kwanzaa (or whatever)” and I will be glad to wish you a “Happy Kwanzaa.”

I might even want to know more about your holiday.

I’m funny like that.

The simple fact is that if you keep your traditions, no one can hurt them.

Try not to be a bad example of your faith while you are keeping them, though.

I think that if there even is a “War on Christmas” we should try to end it now by being the bigger persons.

With all that in mind, I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and wish you the happiest of New Years.

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Now, because I need to fill some space and I am narcissistic enough to hope this becomes a tradition to more than just me, I bring you “The Week between Christmas.