Do ‘Christmas’ people actually know the origin of the word ‘holiday’?
Our local newspaper had a feature today about some women who created big buttons for people to wear which say something like, “It’s OK to Tell Me ‘Merry Christmas’.” All part of the bizarre notion well-meaning people have obsessed over that saying “Happy Holidays” diminishes the religious value of the greeting.
Do these people understand anything at all about the origin of the world “holiday”? It’s a contraction of the words “holy” and “day.” It originally meant a religious observance, then expanded to include all the modern meanings we have associated with it.
Good grief, folks. Get a life! Why do you persist in this silly notion that “holiday” somehow cheapens the “Christian” value of the season? For that matter, why do you persist in the misguided notion — if you’re truly doing all this because you are a Christian — that a special season or dates on the calendar really connect to serious “biblical” Christianity. Are you aware that actual laws in America back in the founding days of this “Christian” nation — made Christmas celebration illegal?? If you are clueless about this, check out this story about the legal prohibitions on Christmas celebration by the Puritans.
Oh, I forgot, the “Christmas war” people insist this nation was founded on Christian principles. “Christmas war” folks insist that “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays” is absolutely vital to their faith. Therefore, this nation could never have made Christmas celebrations illegal. Thanks to such reasoning, we have just rewritten actual history to conform to 20th-21st century “Christian political correctness.”
Ah, well, what do I know? I’m just a guy who reads the papers
Technorati Tags: Christmas war, definition of holiday, just a guy who reads the papers
December 23rd, 2007 at 11:44 pm
I never thought about the ‘holy day’ thing, but you are right. I think all sides need to chill out just a touch. I’ll celebrate anything that means I get a festive meal.
December 24th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
Wow! I never even thought about it this way. I was just irritated that it was becoming uncool to say Merry Christmas. Thanks for the great post.
December 24th, 2007 at 10:51 pm
[...] I thought it was funny or maybe enlightening to read a fellow bloggers post on the subject. Gary has a few words to say in his post titled Do “Christmas People Actually Know the Origin of [...]
December 25th, 2007 at 12:26 am
Great post! I’m glad I’m not alone in realizing the meaning of “holiday”! So, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
February 4th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
on the same token, why do atheists offended by “Merry Christmas” say “happy holidays” at all if they don’t believe in anything “holy”
February 4th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
I just think the ‘Happy Holidays’ thing, was a way of taking ‘Christ’ out of the Christmas Holidays.
February 4th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Meg that would be an application of logic. It also uses there logic against them. At this point they usually take there ball and go home.
February 4th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Maybe I’m ignorant, but didn’t the Puritans only have control in certain areas, not over all the American colonies? By the 1660′s and 1670′s when the first generation of Puritans in America were beginning to die, the entire group starting dissolving. The witch trials didn’t help either. To me, this is the same as arguing that because the Mormons formally accepted polygamy in the Utah, the entire United States is based on these ideals. This was just a small group with views that later changed.
December 18th, 2008 at 5:25 am
The funny part to me…
——————————————————————————–
…is that most people who say “happy holidays” have no clue about the origin of the word “holiday”…so I agree with you.
Of course, those who trip all over themselves to be “politically correct” and use that term so as to not “offend” others, are in fact unknowingly acknowledging that Christmas is a holy day (see definition below)….and thus, that perhaps would be even offensive to use to those who reject Christianity.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/holy
Hmmm….
Anyway, I absolutely do say “Merry Christmas” and/or “Happy Holidays” to others…even my Muslim friends. After all, even they claim that Christ was a “great prophet”, so why not?
I have to assume that those who get bent out of shape about the use of “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” are doing so because they understand the motives of those who are doing this…and are not thinking of what the word “holiday” means.
January 26th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Thank you Jake for bringing that up, I was hoping someone would provide a counter to that ignorant argument.
Many will agree that December 25th is not the actual day of Christ’s birth, Using the 25th of December was the first Centuries Christian’s effort to usurp the influence of the pagan’s festivities of that same week.
Christmas is holy, but since Holy has different meanings to different people, Merry Christmas has special meaning to those that follow the Christian Faith.
This is a FREE SPEACH country and I dare anyone to prevent me from using that phrase
or praying in school.
The term “Separation of Church and State, was not meant to remove religion from the State, but to remove State control from Religion.
February 3rd, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Interesting take on that. I actually knew what holiday meant and was thinking why athiests or other religionous people used the saying when it meant “holy day” as means to not offend people. Genuine Christians aren’t making it out to be a “war” nor do they think it’s “vital” to their faith if they say Merry Christmas. Christians probably say “Merry Christmas” to make a point because saying “Happy Holidays” is the same thing, and to most non-religious people those two sayings are taken differently.
December 8th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Definitions change. Of the nation’s 10 federal holidays, only Christmas would be considered by anyone to be a Holy Day. Of the 60+ holidays that fall in December (including Barbie and Barney Backlash Day), only a handful would be considered Holy Days. Neither wishing someone Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas should be seen as offensive or a cause for war. If either is offensive to you, remember that December 26 is National Whiners Day.
December 12th, 2009 at 11:54 am
The whole premise of your argument is that Christians came along and insisted that the phrase “Merry Christmas” should/must be used. In fact, Christians and non-Christians alike have used “Merry Christmas” as well as “Happy Holidays” for eons.
It’s not that Christians suddenly came along and insisted on the use of “Merry Christmas.” It is that certain non-Christians came along and insisted on NOT using “Merry Christmas.” You are attempting to turn the table on the whole matter and suggest that Christians created this debate.
Your point regarding the origin of the word “holiday” and the ignorance of many regarding the origin is probably correct. In fact, those that are against the use of “Merry Christmas” and in favor of “Happy Holidays” are within that group. After all, the majority of those complaining about the phrase “Merry Christmas” do so on the grounds that the phrase promotes a particular religion, etc. So, if they were aware of the origin of the word “holiday,” then they would also be against the use of that word since “holy” suggests a deity, etc.
The bottom line is not in the use of a particular phrase or the ignorance of a word’s origin. The bottom line is the INTENT of those attempting to remove certain phrases. These are the individuals needing to “get a life” as you say. If these individuals do discover the origin of the word “holiday,” then they will be advocating the use of “happy xdays” or just “happy days.”
December 12th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Thanks for your comments and thoughts on this.
It’s amazing to me that a post I put up originally almost two years ago is still drawing attention — both agreement and disagreement. That’s gratifying.
I would suggest that the truth about all the feelings regarding “Christmas v. Holiday” is probably somewhere in between my original comments and your suggestions here. I agree there is “fault” on both sides.
I doubt, however, that the folks who seem to be replacing “Merry Christmas” with “Happy Holiday” are not nearly as intentional as you imply. Although I think some are motivated by PC in doing this, I doubt many are doing it out of some motive to replace or eliminate the use of “Christmas.” There may truly be a few zealouts out there who are, but for the most part I don’t think people using “Happy Holidays” are all that intent on eliminating “Merry Christmas.”
Having said that, I DO know of Christians who definitely DO want to eliminate “Happy Holidays” as though it were somehow evil or wrong. (I was flipping through TV channels the other day and came across a television evangelist/talk show host who had a pile of shopping catalogs he’d gotten in the mail. His wife was going through each catalog one-by-one and pointing out those which had “Merry Christmas” on the front and those which had “Happy Holidays” on the front. She carefully pointed out those with “Happy Holidays” as merchants Christians should avoid. The studio audience literally clapped and cheered each time.)
Very interesting issues involved here, I agree.
Gary
December 14th, 2009 at 10:19 am
Great post!
December 17th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
All I can say, and all I need to say, is THANK YOU for posting this!
December 18th, 2009 at 9:35 am
Lets be real since Holiday means Holy Day what is the big issue. Lets lay aside every weight that so easiley besets us. Lets enjoy this holiday season for whom it is really intended the birth of our savior Jesus. By the way Merry Christmas to all.