People that say this are so silly.
You’re not being oppressed. It’s just that saying merry Christmas to a crowd of diverse backgrounds is like wishing your mum a happy fathers day. She won’t be mad or offended, she’ll just think she should have breastfed you.
Maybe it’s different in the US and other cultures, but as an atheist I’ve never seen the phrase as a very religious thing. I say “merry Christmas” and “happy holidays” indistinctly and I’ve never seen anyone offended by the use of either, independtly of their faith (or lack thereof).
I say “merry Christmas” on the actual Christmas day though.
No one is offended besides the hardcore Christians. No muslim or orthodox Christian or whatever would be mad if you wish them merry Christmas if that’s the thing where you both live. As always, it’s fake fabricated outrage.
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Most “traditions”, including holiday traditions, food culture, etc, are incredibly recent things. But people cling to it like they are the totality of their identify.
I’m white. I have blue eyes. And when I was young, my hair was red. I was working retail, and this old lady said “Merry Christmas.”
Me: “Happy Holidays!”
Her: “It’s Merry Christmas. I know your boss doesn’t like it, but you should say it to me. So Merry Christmas.”
Me: “Are you Christian?”
Her: “Yes.”
Me: “Well, I’m not. So Happy Holidays.”
She got so stunned, like I’d slapped her. I was quite ready to get called in for being some kind of way with a customer but I guess she was too afraid of dealing with a heathen. Still, if you’ve ever worked retail, you’d know why this felt like a victory.
Wish them a joyous Yuletide. A cheerful solstice. A felicitous December.
Hopefully you’re young enough that you didn’t have to deal with the christmas cd on repeat
Young enough? You realise that’s still what they play in stores where people work retail?
Happy Christmas and Merry New Year and Merry Hanukkah !!
I prefer to use the real term, not the christian knockoff. Happy Saturnalia everyone!
They chose it to mess with the pagan Yule celebrations tho, and what the fuck is Saturnalia?
True story…
At work in my department they told us we can put decorations in our (at home!) office but to try and stay religiously neutral. Meanwhile in my friend’s department (same employer) they got an email to wish employees a happy Easter back in April, happy Mawlid (celebration of Muhammad’s birth) back in September and happy Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah in October…
I’m an atheist so I don’t celebrate any of these things and to me holidays should just be spread equally to give people long weekends, but I can’t help but laugh at the hypocrisy when it comes to Christmas compared to all other holidays through the year…
That’s honestly refreshing to hear that your friends department encouraged them to celebrate multiple different religious holidays. There shouldn’t be any problem celebrating religious holidays as long as they are all given equal considerations and the company doesnt play favorites.
