As we get closer to Christmas, we are bombarded with Holiday sales and posters and TV commercials...and with these seasonal signs there is debate that happens every year...a debate of Political correctness...to whether stores should say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays"....to the point I woke up to the radio that other morning and heard a conservative comentator saying that because we are Christian nation the businesses should say Merry Christmas instead of giving into Political Correctness....and to be honest...I'm sick of hearing this stupid and pointless argument EVERY FREAKING YEAR....I could care less what the stores put in their windows greeting-wise....
First of all...any time should be throws the whole "We are a Christian Nation and therefore Christianity trumps all" is ridiculus and arrogant....We are a majority Christian nation with an incredibly diverse cultural/religious roots...and while this season is largely dominated by the Christian Holiday of Christmas, the holidays of Hanukkah and Kwanzaa are also observed by millions of Americans...over the years some have complained that Merry Christmas was too exclusive and this need for political correctness and businesses realising they could make more money that way, they changed to Happy Holidays or Seasons Greetings as we see today.
So is there a fairly valid argument for "Merry Christmas" only advertisements? Kinda...but there is another side to this point..
Some make the observation that the use of religously neutral phrases like Seasons Greetings or Happy Holidays are perfect examples of the seemingly Secular takeover of Christian holidays/events and that the holiday has been hijacked by corporate interests out for making money and caring very little for the religous significance of the season...this is a much stronger argument and I do agree with it mostly...but I find one major flaw in this argument...We are a Secular Nation...from a Governmental standpoint (and these in theory) and for the most part many Americans are quite secular in their everyday lives...so whether we like it or not, most Americans just don't care enough to get concerned about trivial debates over political correctness or secularism...and for this disregard of the religiousness significance of this holiday many Americans do get rather annoyed this time of year and I do agree with them...Christmas, much like other holidays (such as Valentine's Day) have been exploited by Corporate America and the religious content is largely marginalized to our Churchs and local festivities...
So what should we as Americans do about this constant and yet seemingly important argument...should we demand businesses change their signs and advertisements to Merry Christmas and to hell with political correctness? Or should we just go about our business as if nothing is amiss? To be honest, a bit of both is best. Business have legal right to make advertisements of their choice and no one has the right to tell them to change it just because they don't like it...there's nothing I hate more than people who attempt to force change via the Mob...it is best for everyone to just remember the true meaning of Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate) and just leave it at that...because if I remember correctly this is supposed to be a season of good will towards our fellow man isn't it?
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