Sunday, November 22, 2020

Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays

It's that time of year when some people (mostly Americans) get their knickers in an uproar about people who say Happy Holidays rather than Merry Christmas.

 I say cut the bullshit and the arrogance. Religious holidays in December do not belong to Christians alone.

There are many religions that have have holidays during December and there are more holidays for Christians than just Christmas. (see the list from Wikipedia at the end of this blog).

Plus there are hundreds of other religions in the world. (see the list from Wikipedia at the end of this blog).

Christmas, a tradition built on the Pagan Winter Solstice beliefs, has become a major commercial enterprise throughout the Western world. That does not negate that many still treat it as a religious holiday.

I have friends and acquaintances of many nationalities and religions. Because we live in the western world where Christmas is celebrated, regardless of their origins, they usually have time off from work and school. I find it appropriate to wish them well regardless of their religion. I have the concept that good wishes are always in order. I try to find the right language when I can. So I'll say:

  • Happy Holidays to Brits
  • Happy Chanukah to Jews
  • Joyeux Noël to French
  • Boldog Karácsonyt to Hungarians
  • з Калядамі to Belrussians
  • Bon nadal to Catalans
  • Sretan Božić to Croatians 
  • Veselé Vánoce to Czechs
  • Buon Natale to Italians
  • Glædelig jul to Danes 
  • Fröhliche Weihnachten to Germans
  • καλά Χριστούγεννα  to Greeks
  • Feliz Navidad to Spanards 
  • God Jul to Swedes
I will probably mangle the pronunciation, but I will show caring. I do not live in a bubble where my beliefs have to dominate others nor do I believe wishing someone well is an infringement of my beliefs. And if someone wishes me Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays, I will take it in the way it is meant, a sharing of good will.

 


Dec. 6, the feast of St. Nicholas. Some Christians revere the fourth-century bishop of Myra, a Greek province in Asia Minor. His reputation for piety may have inspired the legend of Santa Claus. The tradition of leaving gifts for children on St. Nicholas Day began in the Low Countries and spread to North America with Dutch immigrants.

Dec. 8, Bodhi Day. Buddhists recall that Siddhartha Gautama vowed to sit under a tree in what is now Bodhgaya, India, and not to rise until he was enlightened. The title Buddha means “awakened one.”

Roman Catholics observe this day as the feast of the Immaculate Conception, believing that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was born without sin.

Dec. 12, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Observed by Catholics, especially those of Hispanic descent, the story of Guadalupe recounts a 16th-century apparition of Mary to Juan Diego, a poor Indian, on a hillside near what is now Mexico City.

Dec. 20, the Jewish festival of Hanukkah begins at sunset on this date and continues for seven more nights. It is a remembrance of an effort to restore the Temple in Jerusalem after a period of desecration. Faithful Jews found only enough oil to light the temple lamp for one day, but the flame burned for eight.

Dec. 21, Yalda, the Zoroastrian celebration of the winter solstice.

Dec. 22, Yule or winter solstice, the shortest day in the Northern Hemisphere. Juul, a pre-Christian festival observed in Scandinavia, featured fires lit to symbolize the heat, light and life-giving properties of the returning sun. Wiccans and other pagan groups celebrate Yule.

Dec. 25, Christmas, observed by Christians since the Middle Ages as the birth of Jesus. Some Orthodox Christians follow a different calendar, and Christmas may fall on a different date.

Dec. 26, Zoroastrians observe the death of the prophet Zarathushtra, known in the West as Zoroaster. Tradition says he lived in what is now Iran in about 1200 B.C. His teachings include the idea of one eternal God; seven powerful creations: sky, water, earth, plants, animals, humans and fire; and that life is a struggle between good and evil.

Confucianism

 Confucianism

Shinto

Main article: Shinto
See also: Shinto sects and schools

Shinto-inspired religions

Main article: Japanese new religions

Taoism

Main article: Taoism

Other

Chinese

Korean

Manchu

Vietnamese

Indic religions

Main article: Indian religions

Religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent; namely Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism, and religions and traditions related to, and descended from them.

Nāstik (Heterodox Indian)

Buddhism

Main article: Buddhism
See also: Schools of Buddhism

New Buddhist movements

Global variants of Buddhism

Charvaka (Historical)

Main article: Charvaka

Din-I Ilahi (Historical)

Main article: Din-i Ilahi

Hinduism

Main article: Hinduism
Further information: Hindu denominations
Bhakti movements
Main articles: Bhakti movement and Contemporary Sant Mat movements
Neo-Vedanta
Main articles: Hindu reform movements and Neo-Vedanta
Hindu philosophy major schools and movements
Main article: Hindu philosophy

Jainism

Main article: Jainism

Meivazhi

Main article: Meivazhi

Sarnaism

Main article: Sarnaism

Sikhism

Main articles: Sikhism and Sects of Sikhism

Nepalese religions

Middle Eastern religions

Main articles: Abrahamic religions and Iranian religions

Religions that originated in the Middle East; namely Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and religions and traditions related to, and descended from them.

Bábism

Main article: Bábism
See also: Baháʼí divisions

Christianity

Main article: Christianity
See also: List of Christian denominations

Eastern Christianity

Main article: Eastern Christianity

Western Christianity

Main article: Western Christianity

Other

See also: Gnosticism and Christian mysticism

Certain Christian groups are difficult to classify as "Eastern" or "Western." Many Gnostic groups were closely related to early Christianity, for example, Valentinism. Irenaeus wrote polemics against them from the standpoint of the then-unified Catholic Church.[18]

Druze

Main article: Druze

Islam

Main article: Islam
See also: Islamic schools and branches, Ilm al-Kalam, Ahl al-Hadith, and Islamism

Khawarij

Main article: Khawarij

Shia Islam

Main article: Shia Islam

Sufism

Main articles: Sufism and Islamic Mysticism
See also: List of Sufi orders

Sunni Islam

Main article: Sunni Islam

Other

Judaism

Main article: Judaism
See also: Jewish religious movements

Haymanot

Main article: Haymanot

Karaite Judaism

Main article: Karaite Judaism

Kabbalah

Main articles: Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism

Noahidism

Main article: Noahidism

Rabbinic Judaism

Main article: Rabbinic Judaism

Samaritans

Main article: Samaritanism

Subbotniks

Main article: Subbotniks

Historical Judaism

Mandaeism

Main article: Mandaeism

Manichaeism

Main article: Manichaeism

Rastafari

Main article: Rastafari

Black Hebrew Israelites

Main article: Black Hebrew Israelites

Shabakism

Main article: Shabakism

Yazdânism

Main article: Yazdânism

Zoroastrianism

Main article: Zoroastrianism

Indigenous (ethnic, folk) religions

Main articles: Ethnic religion and Folk religion
See also: Paganism, Animism, Totemism, and Shamanism

Religions that consist of the traditional customs and beliefs of particular ethnic groups, refined and expanded upon for thousands of years, often lacking formal doctrine.

Note: Some adherents do not consider their ways to be "religion," preferring other cultural terms.

African

Main article: Religion in Africa

Traditional African

Main article: Traditional African religions

Diasporic African

Main article: Afro-American religion

Altaic

See also: List of Tengrist movements

American

Main article: Native American religion

Austroasiatic

Austronesian

Chinese

Main article: Chinese folk religion

European

Uralic (Eurasian)

Japanese

Main article: Religion in Japan

Korean

Main article: Religion in Korea

Tai and Miao

Main articles: Tai folk religion and Miao folk religion

Tibeto-Burmese

Other Indigenous

 


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