Why We Say Merry Christmas

I can see from the few who responded to my poll (thanks, guys) that overwhelmingly "Merry Christmas" is the preferred greeting over the generic "Happy Holidays". In a time when we brush over or deliberately omit things for fear of giving offense, it is this conscious decision that stands a better display of culture and festivity.

Imagine for a moment one is in Japan. As Japan is a country with a homogeneous population, culture and language, one would be hard pressed to observe the things one usually observes. With the exception migrant workers, everyone is Japanese. The Japanese have three writing systems and a unified language. People are usually Shintoist. In the past century, modern Japanese culture lent itself to the juvenile but, by and large, it's still a culture of self-effacement and adherence to strict mores. Though the Japanese don't usually observe Western holidays, they make up for it by having some rather colourful and stylish festivals. New Year's Day (Shogatsu) is massively fun with cards, hanetsuki (badminton), decorated entrances, auspicious murmurings, visits to shrines and temples and eating soba noodles symbolising long life. Setsubun, held in the first few days of February, is marked with the expulsion of evil spirits and bean-throwing.

Now imagine a single individual, foreign in origin, who declared that he (or she) spoke for everyone and demanded changes to these long-standing festivals. Hiragana is lovely to look at but there's no way anyone can master it in a day, and you can forget about kanji so everything would have to be conducted in English (and in French in Canada). Not everyone in the world is Shintoist. Perhaps those elements in the festivals that are particularly Shintoist can be eliminated to suit a more Christian audience (though when I was in Japan I cannot recall Christians behaving in such a way but we're imagining here). The idea of driving away of evil spirits is just too much for some to understand so that will have to go. Throwing beans could injure someone's eye so that will be given a miss. Fortune-telling is wrong in some cultures so that's out. Spaghetti could easily replace the nutty texture of soba noodles because noodles are noodles are noodles (sidebar: I don't really mean that, food purists). There might be room for compromise by listing other holidays with Shogatsu and Setsubun even though they might have absolutely nothing to do with each other.

So, with a little rearranging, two of the biggest festivals in Japan have become more palatable to other cultures. Should the Japanese acquiesce or should they root themselves firmly into the ground and say: "This is who we are and this is what we do"?

Herein lies the quandary. For some, it might seem the essence of fairness and "multiculturalism" to change Christmas or omit entirely. Is that the case? Christmas is a Christian holiday as neither the Romans, Druids nor the Vikings celebrated the birth of the Christ-Child. Christmas has incorporated many of its more familiar aspects such as the Christmas tree and card-sending (even, unfortunately, consumerist aspects). Whole swathes of people celebrate Christmas in one form or another. Even the Japanese find room in their busy schedules for Christmas.

Back to the original dilemma: why say "Merry Christmas" as opposed to "Happy Holidays"? There is a problem in denying an event or holiday the specificity and uniqueness that it possesses. By lumping Christmas in with other holidays, you make Christmas generic, not special or with a purpose. "Holiday" could mean anything. Would it be amiss to say "Happy Holidays" for St. Valentine's Day? It is a holiday of sorts.

As it goes without saying, holidays aren't the same in every respect. Is Setsubun the same as Christmas? Is Hanukkah the same as Christmas? Obviously not. By not mentioning Christmas, you (to put it dramatically) rob it of its identity. Christmas has various rituals and memes all with significance. If Christmas was not omitted but diluted to something barely recognisable, that which made it special would fail to resonate with its observers. Any celebrations would be menial task for those accustomed to the holiday in its original form and a confusing, even belittling experience for those unused to such a holiday. Do we assume that by celebrating Christmas that those of other cultures cannot follow along? Do we trust them to be active in the celebrations if they so want? What must be going through a Hindu or Buddhist's mind when they are invited to a "winter holiday" party minus the Christmas tree and carols they've been apprised of in some fuzzy photograph in a magazine somewhere? Making assumptions on someone else's behalf is- well- offensive. Isn't it better to simply live or celebrate something than to hide it?

Has anyone determined that Christmas itself is exclusive or could it be a vehicle for inclusion? As was mentioned before, Christmas is observed by many people in many ways. It is a time of great ease and celebration. By refusing to celebrate it all or in traditional ways, how do immigrants become aware of the predominant culture (or a minor culture, for that matter)? Has anyone asked them if such celebrations would bother them? I would suggest the assumptions on what is or is not offensive can only be seen as insults to their intelligence.

The greater insult might very well be on the general mind-set. Are we so bereft of cultural and intellectual maturity that we would deprive even ourselves of Christmas? It is- for the most part- who we are. In the West, we adopt cultural plurality, even see it as one of our assets. We pride ourselves in not having a state religion or culture. No one is forced to celebrate one holiday or another. It's simply a matter of population. More people than not observe Christmas. Why not say "Merry Christmas"?