Radiofree West Hartford - I'M NO GRINCH, BUT SORRY, NO HAPPY HOLIDAYS by Tim Siggia

I'M NO GRINCH, BUT SORRY, NO HAPPY HOLIDAYS

By Tim Siggia

December 09, 2006

You see it on your postmarks. You hear it in stores and other public places, especially federal offices. It's the not-so-traditional, totally non-spiritual, secular and oh-so politically correct greeting that's been in vogue for a few years now among atheists, liberals, and government bureaucrats. You won't hear it this year in Wal-Mart, however. They've gone back to the traditional "Merry Christmas", which gives liberals yet another reason to hate them with a vengeance, but has kept them in touch with regular people. And you won't hear it from me, either.

The bland and sterile greeting to which I refer is, of course, "Happy Holidays".

Granted, it's a small point, but it's a small point which for me and an ever-growing number of others has become an annual irritation. In an age when children are not supposed to pray in public schools, and Ten Commandments displays are outlawed in front of public buildings, along comes this annual holiday with an inescapable Christian theme: Christmas, which celebrates the birth of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. We traditionally celebrate this event every December 25, although, to be accurate, there is no written record of exactly when Christ was born, and the celebration of Christmas itself is based on a long-forgotten pagan observance which was in effect replaced by the commemoration of what is, for most people in the United States at least, a far more relevant event.

So Christmas is, by definition, a Christian holiday, which is exactly the bone of contention I have with "Happy Holidays". What this greeting seeks to do, and, in fact, was specifically intended to do, is to strip a Christian holiday of its Christian significance, and turn it into yet another meaningless day off from work, like President's Day. Ask a liberal what Christmas is all about, and he'll tell you it's all about children, presents, Christmas trees and Santa Claus. Ask the same question to a conservative, and he'll tell you it's about the birth of Jesus Christ. It's sort of like what Lincoln's and Washington's birthdays used to be about. What they were, and what we called them, pretty much said it all. Nobody, even including the liberals who invented it, is quite sure exactly what President's Day is, unless you count it as an annual excuse for bureaucrats to take another day off and for car dealers to sell more cars.

So, I can hear people out there asking, that's all well and good for Christians, whether they be of the Catholic or Protestant variety, but what about the Jews? Well, what about them? If my recollection of history is accurate, it was a Jew named Irving Berlin who more than 60 years ago wrote what still ranks as the best selling Christmas song of all time: "White Christmas". That he himself did not observe Christmas didn't keep him from writing songs about it and calling it by its right name. Why, then, should I, who call myself a practicing Catholic, be ashamed of even mentioning Christmas for fear of offending some atheist who, truth be told, wants to be offended so he can have an excuse to make trouble? And how would I feel if a Jew were to wish me a Happy Hanukkah? Let me say publicly now that I would be honored at the idea that a Jew thought so highly of me as to include me in his holiday. And I, of course, would wish the same to him. And, when you come right down to it, isn't that really what the true spirit of Christmas is really all about: sharing the wishes of peace and good will to all, regardless whether or not they share our particular beliefs?

As a matter of fact, that's exactly what I do when a liberal, politically correct type says "Happy Holidays" to me. I don't go off on a tear about it, although I could with considerable justification. I simply say, "And the same to you, too." Naturally, they practically always miss the significance of what I'm really telling them.

So, at the risk of sounding immodest, I am not a Grinch. I'm not trying to steal Christmas at all. In fact, it's the politically correct Happy Holidays types who are attempting to do that, by taking away that which has meaning and replacing it with nothingness. They are the true Grinches. I might be considered a Scrooge, however: a Scrooge after the three visits on Christmas Eve, that is. So, to all my readers, no matter what your special day may be or by what name you prefer to call it: Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.