how am I supposed to know peoples religion?

I don't see what is wrong with wishing Jews and Muslims "Happy Christmas". After all, don't we all worship the same Jesus?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm just going to leave this here.
http://www.joeydevilla.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/holiday-greeting-flowchart.jpg

+1000 for getting it right.

I'm an atheist. When a Christian says, "I'm praying for you," I say "Thank you" because they are doing something meaningful to them on my behalf. Many of them know that I don't believe as they do, but that doesn't change the fact that they wish me well and are praying for my well being.

When someone says, "Merry Christmas," I say it back. If I'm pretty sure the person isn't Jewish, I'll say "Merry Christmas" to people spontaneously.

When I send out cards, they're usually in the "Happy Holidays" vein because I have friends of many different faiths (or lack thereof).

Similarly, if you're a Christian, and someone says "Happy Holidays," you can say, "Thank you, same to you."

Not everything has to be a battle of belief. We can just be nice to each other and recognize the sentiment behind the words.

the mind reels.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Christmas is about being miserable at my in-laws. Get it straight OP.

Are we going to the same place on Christmas Day?

Apparently I will see you two over at my in laws. Bring extra vodka

Anonymous wrote:No, Christmas isn't about Christ, it is about turning a pagan holiday into something agreeable to a fairly young and dogmatic religion that had to appease the common folk by allowing them to continue their traditions in a way that would not undercut said religion.

Thanks you made my day

Anonymous wrote:

People can be fully aware of the origins of the celebration, and yet still be actually celebrating what the holiday has developed into.. I would guess that most folks in the DMV who celebrate Thanksgiving did not actually grown any crops this summer that they need to survive the winter on. They were celebrating what the holiday has become, not how it started.

By the same logic, Christians, then, need to accept that the holiday has become more than a celebration of the birth of Christ and has expanded into flavors of strictly religious, semi-religious and non-religious celebration, and not all people celebrate the holidays in the same way that a specific set of Christians think they should.

And most Christians do accept that. But DCUM would have everyone believe that every Christian in America is rabid, intolerant and constantly proselytizing.

Anonymous wrote:How would you feel at every turn someone said "Happy Hanukkah" not caring or realizing you do not celebrate it? How would you feel about having to listen to non-stop Hanukkah music when you shop? How would you feel if people pretending to be friendly asked if your child enjoyed lighting the menorah and acting like your child is being rude for looking at them funny as they do not know what it is (my child has no clue who Santa is)?

Why not just say Happy Holidays and be respectful to all?

But people do say Happy Hanukkah to me. And I smile and say it in return. My kids in public school sing as many Hanukkah-related tunes as they do Christmas songs in their holiday concert. My daughter raised her hand in school when the teacher asked who celebrates Hanukkah, because we have Jewish relatives and friends, and we do celebrate with them. I was raised Catholic, and we are a Catholic family. Am I supposed to be offended that people think I'm Jewish? Because I really don't care. None of these things bothers me in the least, nor does it bother me if someone says Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. I just try to enjoy the many joys of the season. I do not find it "disrespectful" for someone to mistake me for a Jewish person, nor do I find it "disrespectful" for an atheist to wish me a "Merry Christmas."

Christmas is about family, school closing and gifts. Why make it complicated?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How would you feel at every turn someone said "Happy Hanukkah" not caring or realizing you do not celebrate it? How would you feel about having to listen to non-stop Hanukkah music when you shop? How would you feel if people pretending to be friendly asked if your child enjoyed lighting the menorah and acting like your child is being rude for looking at them funny as they do not know what it is (my child has no clue who Santa is)?

Why not just say Happy Holidays and be respectful to all?

Why don't you just crawl in a hole until January, so you don't risk being "offended?"

Not the PP, but it has occurred to me.

Extra credit to you for saying that the PP is "offended", rather than actually, you know, offended.

Blah, blah, blah.

"So this is Christmas" and what have you done?
Started a DCUM threaded about being offended,
by the old and the young

Have a very merry Christmas
and Happy New Year

Unless you're starting a thread on DCUM
With no sense of humor,
just paranoia and fear

Have a Happy Holiday Season
& Get Over Yourselves!

With apologies to John and Yoko,
from a Happy Christian/Jewish DH & DW

Anonymous wrote:
Not pp, but you don't get it. Not every child knows about Santa and Jesus, so it's a bit rude to go up to a child and ask him what he wants from Santa.

More to the point, it's rude because even if every child did know about Santa and Jesus, how is a child who doesn't celebrate Christmas/get presents from Santa supposed to answer this question politely? If the child answers, "We don't celebrate Christmas," the adult is going to feel reproved, at the very least. Or even consider it a part of the War on Christmas!!!!!!1!!!!!1

Anonymous wrote:Christmas is about being miserable at my in-laws. Get it straight OP.

Are we going to the same place on Christmas Day?

Anonymous wrote:How would you feel at every turn someone said "Happy Hanukkah" not caring or realizing you do not celebrate it? How would you feel about having to listen to non-stop Hanukkah music when you shop? How would you feel if people pretending to be friendly asked if your child enjoyed lighting the menorah and acting like your child is being rude for looking at them funny as they do not know what it is (my child has no clue who Santa is)?

Why not just say Happy Holidays and be respectful to all?

Why don't you just crawl in a hole until January, so you don't risk being "offended?"

Christmas is about being miserable at my in-laws. Get it straight OP.