Happy Something?

The time long debate about which phrase is "Politically Correct" has been around for ages but has taken the forefront as of late.
Personally, I'm a Christian, so Christmas is THE holiday we celebrate at this time of year. However there are many faiths that follow their own beliefs and thus celebrate different holidays around the same time.

So what DO we say to people?
Happy Holidays? or Merry Christmas?

What's your take on the "correctness" of the holiday greeting?

My parents made sure I had some understanding of Religion, by giving me a Roman Catholic upbringing. I rejected the RC at about 15 yrs of age, in favor of not believing at all. To me God is just nature. We're born as a result of the natural processes of all living beings before us (made by God, in a sense). And when we die, we once again will be one with the pool of resources (reunited with God, in a sense).
Also, I don't think it's right for people to try and be jolly, friendly, caring and giving for their neighbors for two days in the year, and then play the "Me, me, me" game the rest of the year. People should love their neighbors all year long, so Xmas didn't have to be so special.
In addition to the above, there's not much joy in such holidays, if you're spending them alone, like every other day in the year.

Hence and as such, X-mas means nothing to me at all, regardless what name one gives it. However, I don't want to force anyone to take my stance. I believe in the freedom of every person to choose their own set of beliefs. As a result of all this, I'll wish everyone happy holidays, and they're free to take or leave it, regardless of what they believe in. Just like I wish everyone a Happy Day every day of the year, even if I don't say it in so many words.

Clearly, that has nothing to do (for me at least) with PC, just that I recognize them as some kind of holidays with (for me) not much special significance.

So, hereby, I wish everyone Happy Holidays!

(Oh, I always wondered what that would be like, but now I know what it looks like to others, when I'm not online... The system considers me offline, even as I'm typing this )

I always wish people a merry Christmas, it's traditional and you can't beat tradition!

One can always try to introduce something new that, if enough others copy it, can become a new tradition and even replace - or render completely obsolete - an older one

I wish you all Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas with joy and good cheer for the coming new year!

BoilingOil;2255 Wrote:Also, I don't think it's right for people to try and be jolly, friendly, caring and giving for their neighbors for two days in the year, and then play the "Me, me, me" game the rest of the year. People should love their neighbors all year long, so Xmas didn't have to be so special.
In addition to the above, there's not much joy in such holidays, if you're spending them alone, like every other day in the year.

I totally agree with this - we should try to be kind and thoughtful to others all year round, not just because its a holiday. I TRY - but I have a bit of an angry streak, so yeah, sometimes I might give that inconsiderate driver the finger and a bit of aggressive horn honking - but most of the time I try so I think its ok that I'm not perfect....

Of course, we all have our quirks; me too, I must confess. We're only human, so there's no shame in occasionally failing, as long as we at least try.

A perfect human being probably doesn't exist. And if (s)he does, they're probably the most boring character to know. And if we were all perfect, life wouldn't be worth the effort.
Because I think that's our purpose: to thrive and to try being the best person we can be.

I always say Happy Holidays (in German of course). Not out of PC-ness, but I'm an atheist .. I can't identify with "Merry Christmas" or "God's greetings" ("Grüß Gott", which is the standard greeting where I live .. it's like "hello") -- if I'd say that it'd feel a bit fake, as if I didn't mean it. But I still want to wish people a good day, so I simply say "good day" instead .. or "happy holidays" when there's any official holiday, religious or not. Of course if someone just told me what they're planning to to for christmas specifically, as in christmas tree and stuff, then I'll also say "merry christmas" like I'd say "good luck for your exam" or whatever. But not in general.