Syndicated Columns

Celebrate each holiday

Posted November 25, 2006

Q. How do you feel about the Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas issue? -- E.R.C, Delray Beach

A. Personally, I'm not altogether happy with the extent to which Christmas has been commercialized, politicized and downright, right-sized.

Yet, in the cultural battle over whether to use the seasonal greeting "Happy Holidays" or "Merry Christmas," the latter has won.

Wal-Mart will put Christmas back into the holidays this year; a year after religious and other groups boycotted retailers for downplaying Christmas. Macy's will do the same.

In a Gallup poll, which surveyed 1,003 adult Americans by phone, 69 percent said they prefer "Merry Christmas" over "Happy Holidays," which garnered only 29 percent.

Religion is something deeply personal, and we have the constitutional freedom to expresses our beliefs both privately and in public. Putting the holidays in a one-size fits all package diminishes religion, destroying the very thing that makes it sacred.

Throughout America, we celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Pancha Ganapati (Hindu gift-giving festival), Winter Solstice and New Year.

How can we lump them all together? Wouldn't it be great to celebrate our diversity and to recognize and enjoy the true gifts of the season?

And better yet, maybe we can restore the genuine meaning of Christmas and embody the holidays with tangible acts of giving. In this way we can make the most of the opportunity afforded to us by our holidays, pointing unabashedly to the intrinsic significance of these miraculous and holy days.

Return to Syndicated Columns Page