In a recent story in the Canadian publication, the
Ottawa Sun, a group of residents marched on parliament hill to protest having to use the politically correct salutation of "Happy Holidays" rather than "Merry Christmas". One resident was quoted as saying, "“When you tell me I can’t say Merry Christmas, you’re taking my Christ out of Christmas and you’re excluding me, so how about me?" Canada is known around the world for it's inclusiveness and its pride in being a tolerant multicultural nation. In recent years, in response to the influx of immigrants from the world over, the government has adopted a culturally sensitive policy towards the religious overture that Christian holidays like Christmas portray. There are a plethora of cultural groups that are not only not Christian, but do not celebrate Christmas, and you don't necessarily need
a career in psychology to understand that it is undoubtedly a controversial issue that has historically been, and continues to be, a hotly contested issue in several different circles. It begs the question, whose cultural rights take precedence over whom? In this particular case, it has been put forth that Canada was founded on Christianity in several forms, heck, even our current Prime Minister is an evangelist, and therefore, Christianity should set the precedence. Should we be fighting to preserve traditions, or should we be more sensitive to our ever increasing ethnically diverse, non-Christian populations who enthusiastically embrace a life of freedom, choice and tolerance? And how to we ensure that we don't offend all groups. The standard "Happy Holiday" greeting seemed to placate a few for a while, but now it seems this is no longer the case. It would seem that everyone is fighting to be heard on this issue. I am not entirely sure that the energy put into this is at all worth it. Perhaps rather than getting all wrapped up in semantics, we all just learned to recognize that in many cultures, this holiday is not celebrated nor recognized. So what! The whole world does not, nor should, revolve around Christian celebrations. There's 7 billion of us, how about we toast to peace on earth to all. Have a Merry Christmas, happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa and best wishes to everyone the world over no matter who you are or what you believe in!
In a recent story in the Canadian publication, the Ottawa Sun, a group of residents marched on parliament hill to protest having to use the politically correct salutation of "Happy Holidays" rather than "Merry Christmas". One resident was quoted as saying, "“When you tell me I can’t say Merry Christmas, you’re taking my Christ out of Christmas and you’re excluding me, so how about me?" Canada is known around the world for it's inclusiveness and its pride in being a tolerant multicultural nation. In recent years, in response to the influx of immigrants from the world over, the government has adopted a culturally sensitive policy towards the religious overture that Christian holidays like Christmas portray. There are a plethora of cultural groups that are not only not Christian, but do not celebrate Christmas, and you don't necessarily need a career in psychology to understand that it is undoubtedly a controversial issue that has historically been, and continues to be, a hotly contested issue in several different circles. It begs the question, whose cultural rights take precedence over whom? In this particular case, it has been put forth that Canada was founded on Christianity in several forms, heck, even our current Prime Minister is an evangelist, and therefore, Christianity should set the precedence. Should we be fighting to preserve traditions, or should we be more sensitive to our ever increasing ethnically diverse, non-Christian populations who enthusiastically embrace a life of freedom, choice and tolerance? And how to we ensure that we don't offend all groups. The standard "Happy Holiday" greeting seemed to placate a few for a while, but now it seems this is no longer the case. It would seem that everyone is fighting to be heard on this issue. I am not entirely sure that the energy put into this is at all worth it. Perhaps rather than getting all wrapped up in semantics, we all just learned to recognize that in many cultures, this holiday is not celebrated nor recognized. So what! The whole world does not, nor should, revolve around Christian celebrations. There's 7 billion of us, how about we toast to peace on earth to all. Have a Merry Christmas, happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa and best wishes to everyone the world over no matter who you are or what you believe in!
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