Monday, December 22, 2008

Here & There Column 12-23-08

Be Polite But Firm In Christmas Greetings

In two days Sullivan /County and the Christian world will celebrate the 25th of December, commonly known to Christians as Christmas which is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.
While Christmas shopping recently we decided to take time out for dinner and we went to one of our favorite restaurants and following a delicious meal and as we got ready to pay the bill. the waitress said "Happy Holiday." I remarked to her that she was being politically correct in her holiday greeting or that the restaurant manager instructed her to say the greetings the way she did. I informed the waitress that as a Christian I was wishing her a Merry Christmas....she hesitated for a second, smiled and then thanked me by saying Merry Christmas.
I'm firm and polite when I say Merry Christmas and I'm just as firm when I say Happy Hanukkah to my Jewish friends and Happy Kwanzaa to those who celebrate this holiday.
Many major retail merchants who tried to take Christmas out of their holiday greetings learned the hard way when sales dropped and letters and emails sent to corporate officers informed these folks that if they were eliminating Christmas from their advertising and greetings then they were offending many people who would take their shopping elsewhere.
It was somewhat amazing to see the way some folks tried to get around saying Merry Christmas or even Happy New Year and this is just a small sampling which can be be accomplished by using two very different types of statements or written words.
Some today are saying......"please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, our best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non addictive, gender-neutral celebration of your holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to observe calendar or secular traditions at all.........we also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of this holiday."
The above is the so-called "Politically Correct" way to send Christmas and other Holiday greetings.........we prefer to say Merry Christmas and may God bless you and yours during this Christmas season .....and remembering that for Christians Christ is the reason for the season.

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