Thanksgiving is over and now we can concentrate on the next holiday, Christmas. Yes,  I use the word Christmas because that is what I celebrate. In my household I will be preparing for Christmas. I also greet people with “Merry Christmas.” I am not offended when people wish me a “Happy Holiday.”

We spend so much time arguing over words. If someone wishes me “Happy Holidays,” I don’t think they are trying to take my Christian holiday away from me. I don’t feel threatened by it. They have a right to their beliefs too. But if someone tells me I can’t say “Merry Christmas” then that is a different story all together. That is where things get a little sticky.

I have contemplated the changes taking place in the country I live in with the controversy in the greetings “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Holidays.” At first I didn’t understand why we couldn’t celebrate as we did in the past in our schools, but gradually my views have changed.

When my Catholic grandparents moved to the United States they were free to celebrate their Christian holiday. They weren’t so free to celebrate it in the country they came from. I would imagine it was a breath of relief to be able to go to church and practice their faith without fear of repercussions.

When my Protestant grandparents moved to the United States I would imagine the same thing happened, although with them, I never had any conversations about faith, but I knew they believed by their actions. Their religious faith might have been different than mine, but I saw their faith in the reading of the Bible and the way they treated people. The problem at that time was a division between Protestant and Catholic.

I was raised Catholic and I never went to church on Christmas with my father because it was not permitted by the Catholic church. I can’t imagine how that made my father feel, but he never let me know that. He didn’t go to church with us either. As I celebrated Christmas and the church service, I always missed going to church as a family.

Our country in the ’50s and the ’60s consisted of different religions, and there was controversy as to who worshiped God the right way. The United States is still a melting pot of different faiths and different faith practices. Yes my viewpoint has changed. I am fine with not celebrating the Christian Christmas holiday in schools and in our public institutions. I would be fine with it if we gave equal time to other religions and celebrated their holidays so we could learn about each other’s beliefs and not feel threatened by them.

I do not feel threatened if we do not sing religious songs in schools. I do not feel threatened if we cannot have manger scenes on public city property. I would feel threatened if I couldn’t worship in my church, couldn’t worship in my home and couldn’t worship or pray with friends on neutral property out in the open, or couldn’t put a manger scene on my property. That is something my Catholic grandparents did not have in their homeland.

I do think communities should have the right to display Christian symbols in the way they want and to sing whatever they want at concerts if no one in the community protests. Those outside the community who come in and cause havoc from states and miles away should have no say. It should be the people living there who should make the rules.

So much time is wasted bantering words and trying to be right. We worry about one manger scene in a city hall or a few songs that are taken away from us during the Christmas season. The news media grabs hold of the story and we are all protesting they are taking away our Christian rights. We can still exercise our belief by everyone that believes putting a manger scene on their lawn. We can exercise our Christian beliefs in the way we live our lives and treat others.

I had an interesting conversation with a barista at a Starbucks recently. I ordered my yummy drink, and I asked her if all the commotion over Merry Christmas made her job more stressful. She laughed and said, “Look around, we have Christmas coffee, we have other things with the word Christmas on it, and we have the cup controversy?” She went on to tell me that many people asked her to physically write Merry Christmas on the cups when they got their coffee and she did. She added, “We never did have Merry Christmas on our cups, but I’m happy to write Merry Christmas on their cups if it makes them feel better.” I thanked her for answering my question, and I wished her a “Merry Christmas.”

Instead of screaming that we can’t say “Merry Christmas,” say “Merry Christmas.” No one is stopping you, and treat those kindly who feel “Happy Holidays” is the way to go. It shouldn’t be an argument. That argument takes away from the meaning of the season, whatever anyone believes, and that is peace on Earth, good will to men. And perhaps that is what those who stir the pot want, to steal your sense of peace and joy in the season of “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays.” Will they succeed?

 

Wells resident Julie Seedorf’s column appears every Monday. Send email to her at hermionyvidaliabooks@gmail.com. Her Facebook page is http://www.facebook.com/julie.