All I did was simply wish our secretary a Merry Christmas... and she absolutely freaked. She stared at me for a second and said, "What?" in this voice that said, "How dare you speak that babble to me!"
She got up from behind her desk and stormed over to me, her red-dyed hair looking like flames from the Devil, Himself. She poked a fat finger at my chest and told me if I ever uttered those words towards her again, she would file a harassment suit against me and my ass would be out on the street...
I found it kind of amusing that this normally gentle Jewish yenta would blow up over an attempt to spread a little joy for the holidays. Would it have really been that difficult to politely correct my mistake? I mean, after all, its not like my intent was to get her panties in a twist or make that vein on her forehead stand out. I'm not the kind of person.
Its become rapidly apparent to me, talking with my fellow co-workers about my encounter, that some people are so into their religion, that they will almost consider it a personal attack against them if you say something that goes against their belief. (including the spelling of their holidays)
I respect the fact that people have religions and they believe in them. What I don't respect are people that have religions and are so closed-minded, that any utter of another belief or religion will set them off. Those people need to chill the hell out.
Call me crazy, but I doubt their chosen god would be very happy with them going off on someone else with opposing views...
Would you believe that after I came back to my desk, an hour after I wrote this node, five messages from angry Jews were waiting for me?
My self, I would have probably not reacted like this, but. Christmas is a rather difficult time in some cases. Last week I wanted to get all my friends nice holiday cards before I left campus. I went to the bookstore at the fine institution for clinically insane that is University of Maryland. I looked around for one of those packaged card deals, and hmmmmm... I found one Hanukah card set, about 20 Christmas card sets and NO "HAPPY HOLIDAYS" CARDS! I was slightly offended, I am not very religious, but I am very Jewish. And I am proud of being that. I am not about to wish people Merry Christmas; however, I am not going to wish my non Jewish friends "Happy Hanukah". Now, what am I supposed to do? I went back to my dorm very upset. Christmas is a wonderful holiday, and though I don't have anything against it, I just don't believe in Christ, like I said, I am very Jewish. Christmas is so widely celebrated that sometimes it makes us feel left out. When you wish a Jewish person Merry Christmas, you are implying that we believe in Christ, we don't. That is the reason why my ancestors were kicked around all over Europe. Christmas makes us feel alienated, not part of the big picture. While everyone is putting up Christmas trees, we light candles; Christmas morning is just another morning to us. Perhaps wishing Merry Birth of Christ, you brought up painful memories of having to explain to all your friends when you are little why your house lacks Christmas lights, and there is no tree. Next time, do what I do, wish everyone Happy Holidays, it's a little anal, but more politically correct.
Oh, and by the way, 'yenta' is a bit of an offensive term for a Jewish woman, especially coming from a non-Jewish person.
To the various minority religions out there, have pride in your religious holidays, be it the festival of lights, or the simple winter solstice. Be proud that your holidays have not fallen to the great devourer - secular capitalism.
The reverse of this happened to me today. I am Catholic, as is my boss. We were off at a client's, and at the end of the day we all were discussing when the next time we could get together for the next portion of the job. I made a comment that I wouldn't be here next week (as I'm heading home for the holidays, then off to college), and my boss said something to the effect of "Oh yeah, for Hanukah" and we finished our meeting. As we left, the client wished me "a Happy Hanukah."
Now, I am fairly open to many religions and actually would wish my friends back in high school a happy/merry just-about-every-religious-holiday each year. In fact, my best friend and I used to compete on who could name more holidays than the other. I've been wrestling with my own beliefs for a while now, and am starting to get to a point where I could explain what I believe, and also think myself a rather tolerant person.
All I could to was turn around and walk out. I was too stunned to do anything else.
Christmas as we know it is really noting more than an amalgamation of many secular and pagan holidays. It was standard procedure around the turn of the last millenium, for the emerging catholic church to kind of shuffle their observances to coincide with the local pagans. It's a nice bloodless way to increase the rate of conversion.
The holiday that most americans and europeans now celebrate as christmas has very little to do with the actual birth of christ, and more to do with the observance of the themes that the birth of christ may have introduced.
While you may feel justified in a militant response to a "merry christmas" if you aren't christian, you are in fact, only amplifing the sort of unjustified unpleasentness that you are accusing others of. It would be just as easy, as RimRod pointed out, to reply with a quiet "Happy Channukah."
Christmas really isn't about christ anymore. Ask any group of toddlers who christmas is about, Santa or Jesus? I would bet money that most would answer Santa and would be unaware of any relationship at all to christ. Christmas is about presents now, christmas is a season, not a holiday. A "merry christmas" is tantamount to wishing a happy new year, which by the way is a holiday in many places and doesn't always fall in the Julian January.
The christians are the ones who should be offended, it was their holiday that was perverted.
Let's have a look at why the majority of people wish other people Merry Xmas. I for one am not religious but I still wish people Merry Xmas - why? Because the Xmas is that time of year when people think about other people more, it is a time of celebration, when families come together, when people show a little bit more charity, there are holidays, people are in good spirits (for whatever reasons) - ie good things (tm). Sure, there are the religious overtones - ie the birth of Christ - but I think that to many people, and more and more in recent times, Xmas is losing that significance.
When I wish people Merry Xmas, I am saying 'I hope you have an enjoyable, fun and relaxing Xmas break.' I'm not saying 'Listen you stupid Jew, it's Xmas, a Christian religious holiday, I hope you like it shoved down your throat - ha ha ha ha'.
I can understand how Jews (and other religions for that matter) can feel left out and I would think that frustration would be the appropriate description of that feeling.
However, to fly off the handle and act offended and threaten harrassment suits seems way way over the top. What about explaining the concept of 'Hanukah' to the other person? I for one have never heard of it. If I did, I would start saying Happy Hanukah to Jewish people instead of Merry Xmas. To act all pissed off smacks to me of religious intolerance and stiff neckedness (if there is such a phrase).
One's response to supposed insults should be with the same intentions that the 'insulter' made the comment. ie in this case, the 'insulter' had good intentions behind his Merry Xmas and so a polite reminder that the person was Jewish should have been the response.
Merry Xmas (in a non-theological way) to all E2ers!!
And guess what--they wish me a "Merry Christmas." And a few months later, I tell them gong shi fa tsai on the Chinese New Year. Maybe we don't have a perfect understanding of each other's faiths and cultures, but there is a lot more tolerance, even mutual curiousity.
Now, I wouldn't say it, but I think that an appropriate response to the secretary in question is that she wouldn't be so defensive if she hadn't killed Our Lord. Okay, it wouldn't be appropriate, but it is about as tolerant and mature as her own response. "Merry Christmas" is a blessing. Yes, it does have religious connotations. If that offends you, perhaps you would be more comfortable in a country like Stalinist Russia, or Castro's Cuba, or Mao's China, or Hitler's Germany, where religious display of one sort or another was not permitted. Or you could emigrate to a comfortable, tolerant, Jewish country like Israel, where "proselytizing" is a crime.
Famine in Africa, abandoned kids roaming the streets in South America, Wars everywhere, violence, urban chaos in the big cities, dirt poor kids selling drugs, incurable diseases, people getting killed for nothing, stupid guerrillas, serial killers, rapists, racists, wife beaters, child molesters...
And some people get upset because someone, in good will, wished them a Happy Chanukah or a Merry Christmas.
If you get upset easily, my congratulations: You are living a life away from really serious problems.
If there's such a thing as reincarnation, I want to come back as a sponge.
Sorry for the rant
My solution to the whole problem is to not even bother. I consider the issue of holiday greetings, and holidays in general, to be moot. That's because in my own mind I have rationalized for myself that they are.
Rather than punctuate my life with moments of cruelty intersparsed with moments of exaggerated kindness, I cruise mostly through the polite middle. Noone cares that I didn't wish them a Merry Fucking Christmas because they already know I give a shit about them. Each day I ask how the people I care about are doing. I am happy for their triumphs, and offer consolation for their problems. That combined with polite behavior, tolerance for others, and a concerted effort to be nice and considerate to everyone I can leaves me content in my human interactions. I see no point in putting additional emphasis on such activities around holiday times. I feel no need to convince people I care. If they still doubt I care after the rest of the year, then oh well; in my mind that means they still have some personal issues to work out. It's not my fault.
Esentially, if you wished everyone a good day each day, all year long, and never tried to make anyone feel sad...then there's no need to do anything special to bolster people's feelings during a holiday. It seems like a straightforward solution to me. Instead of grappling with the problem of how to give that greeting, just remove the need to give a greeting at all. Just wish everyone a happy life all year round.
I do wish I'd stop running into broken people who doubt my sincerity, though. When I say "I'm sorry, that sucks," I mean it literally. Gawd! And the more broken a person is, the more I want to be good to them. But, I digress...
On the other hand, I'm also very devoid of sentiment for traditional things. Graduations aren't important to me. I don't really care about getting presents on Christmas or my birthday. One of my best friends brings me a shotglass from each exotic business trip he makes, regardless of the time of year he goes. That's more important to me because it proves he actually likes me as a friend, and it's more genuine. Holidays to me seem like everyone just collectively going through the motions. I feel the same way about most traditionally sentimental moments. They're artificial and too disingenuous for my tastes.
Well, I didn't get where I am today by reading a bunch of pussy-assed anally-politically-correct / tediously-politically-incorrect waffle, so here's my opinion:
Nailbunny says : "When you wish a Jewish person Merry Christmas, you are implying that we believe in Christ, we don't." WTF? When I wish anyone a Merry Christmas (and let's face it, with my temperament it's not going to happen very often) I am not making any implication about that person's beliefs. I'm an atheist. I always celebrate Christmas not to make any commitment to Christianity, but as a public holiday where I can get presents and enjoy myself. If I was to say "ENJOY YOURSELF DURING THE FEAST OF OUR LORD'S BIRTH, PAGAN," and shove a Midnight Mass flyer at you then sure, I would need a kicking. However, I'm saying "Enjoy yourself while you don't have to go to work! Have fun."
Although, I do often substitute the term "Happy Holidays" if I'm not sure of the person's religious beliefs. In general though, I think the term "Holiday" for the winter vacation is a sappy, arseholish invention of GAP and other corporate scumbags. If the TV channels are going to call it Christmas, then fine, it's Christmas. Or rather Christmas/Hanukah/etc. but Christmas is just the generally accepted abbreviation for a non-denominational winter festival in the UK.
Also, look on the bright side : if you don't celebrate Christmas you don't have to lug around a decaying pine tree (something which I recall is not mentioned in the Bible anywhere...) and have it fall on you at inopportune moments. Thousands of tiny pine-needle stabbings are far more deadly than a sword, as medieval torturers were well aware, I'm sure.
TheLady : If you're pissed off that Christmas Day is a bank holiday, you seriously need to find more important things to be pissed off about.
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