I have been a bit silent on here and everywhere else lately. I guess I am going through a bit of a funk. I have been busy of course, with Holiday this and thats but really I have been biting my tongue because some of the statuses I see I just want to smack people for. A friend of mine has a saying, "Stuck on stupid" - well a few are just that and you can't fix stupid. How on earth do you get it into someone's head that what they are doing is wrong and it shouldn't be rocket science. Grrr.
Anyway, I also have a bit of a bone to pick with this whole Happy Holidays thing that people get their panties in a wad about. First of all, I am a Christian, you all know this. I say Merry Christmas because that is how I was raised...if I were Jewish, I would be saying Happy Hanukkah. I am part Ukrainian Orthodox as well and growing up I had two Christmas, if you will. Dec 25 and Jan 6. I was also raised to say Happy Holidays because traditional Christmas had already passed but the "reason for the season" was still going on with the Eastern Orthodox Christmas which is celebrated on Jan 6. What some people don't realize is that the precise date of Jesus' birth is not known, it is argued by several scholars and they gave it a good guess based on the information they have from the Bible. Now i am not an expert on the Bible so I will not try to be.
And you are probably wondering where I am going with this. Well, I guess I am just really naive but if you are Muslim you shouldn't be offended if someone says Merry Christmas to you, if you are living in this country. Same as if they were to say whatever it is they say on their birth of their god's day to us...it is who we are, no matter our race or religion. It's our culture to do as we were raised to do. I think it is a matter of knowing who you are talking to. I have friends of all religions and I mean all religions. I treat them as I would want to be treated. I respect their beliefs and they mine. I learn all I can about their celebrations and culture as it is interesting to me and i want to understand it and them. Not one of them has ever gotten offended when I said Merry Christmas to them, knowing that they do not or may not celebrate Dec 25 the way I do. In fact, they do say it back to me. There's that respect thing!
I think it is narrow minded people not to mention the media making a fuss about them who make this an issue. Think about it...do you really think if you said Happy Holidays or Seasons Greetings you are taking the meaning of the day Jesus was born away? Geez Louise! If you believe in God and all that he said and done, then you know that Jesus is real and you aren't going to be slighting him.
If that were the case, my great uncle who was a Ukrainian Orthodox priest should be in Hell because he rarely said Merry Christmas - it was always, "Happy Holidays, this is the day the world received the greatest gift, Jesus." The birth of Jesus is a Holiday and it is a Happy one, so....yea.
There are a few people on my list (and again it isn't any of you lol) who really get my goat by typing things like Merry CHRISTmas or Don't forget that CHRISTmas is .... etc/ Geez Louise again. I know how to spell and I see that Christ is part of the word. I also know who he is, thankyouverymuch. Sorry, that kinda just came out - off topic.
No matter how you celebrate Christmas or what your greeting is, you know why we are celebrating and the reason for the season...but to be honest, we should be remembering the reason all year long anyway. HE is the reason for all.
Off my soapbox now.
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