You heard me. Not "season's greetings" or "happy holidays," but good-old Christ-centric "Merry Christmas."
There are ass clowns on both sides of this debate: The outraged born-agains who think it's sacrilege to call December 25 by any name that doesn't mention their Messiah, and the PC crowd who are convinced it's wrong to call things what they are for fear someone, somewhere, some time will be offended.
I'm an atheist. Religion is stupid. But Christmas isn't just a Christian holiday. It's a secular celebration, too. The holiday we celebrate in the West this time of year - with Santa, Frosty, Rudolph, Christmas trees and wreaths, stockings, waist-expanding goodies, tons and tons of loot and, for some, a manger baby - is called Christmas. And the historical origin of these celebrations in Western and European nations is undeniable: the holiday formed around the myth of the birth of Christ (and yes, I'm aware of the fact that Christmas wasn't the first winter holiday - that pagan rituals predated it - but maybe we can make a rule that a holiday dating back two thousand years can lay claim to being an established tradition, and that denying its dominance of a season is just disingenuous).
Are there other holidays occurring in roughly the same time period? Sure. And I'm happy to have someone wish me a happy "whatever" day, too. Heck, I don't even mind "Season's greetings." What I object to, though, is the purposeful exclusion of the word Christmas - not because avoiding it is ungodly but because it's illogical and dangerous. It's a manipulation of good intentions, namely the desire to be inclusive, to socially engineer culture and revise history.
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