In the Month of December there are about 14 holidays that are celebrated around the world and across different religions. A few of these holidays include Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and the most known of all, Christmas.
With this has come controversy and confusion on how to greet someone around this time to not offend anyone. So, is it Merry Christmas? Or is it Happy Holidays? Some SAU students gave their opinions on this topic.
Sophomore Maddie Schuh is someone who says Happy Holidays while the vast majority of people say Merry Christmas. She elaborated saying, “Christmas is a holiday, but Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and others are also holidays. By saying Happy Holidays it acknowledges all holidays, not just the most mainstream of them.”
Schuh also has no issue with people greeting her with a ‘Merry Christmas’, “No, I love Christmas and I celebrate it, but there are those who take materialistic Christmas and actual Christmas as different holidays.”
This has been the sentiment between most people as well, they may say either Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays but have no issue with either phrase being directed towards them. Also they have no ill-will towards anyone when they say one phrase or the other, just like Freshman Stephen Schroeder.
Schroeder says Merry Christmas around the holiday season, “That’s just what I grew up hearing,” says Stephan explaining himself.
“I usually say Merry Christmas, sometimes I’ll say Happy Holidays,” said Sophomore Sydney Shapkauski. She went on to elaborate as to why stating, “A lot of people celebrate Christmas, but I also find that people who don’t celebrate Christmas aren’t necessarily offended or somebody else would usually say it first.”
Most people did not know people who genuinely cared or got offended when someone greets them with Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays or vice versa. One student, Senior Hannah Knowles, says that some people do in fact care if someone says Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas, “I’ve met some older people, that if you say Happy Holidays they get offended.” This was interesting since other students did not know anybody who got offended or cared about which phrase they heard.
Understanding why someone would be offended is a part of understanding why this topic is important in the first place. Reasons why someone would be offended vary, “They assume it’s someone that’s an Atheist greeting them, and they don’t like that it’s not Merry Christmas because it’s not Jesus oriented,” says Knowles.
Another perspective came from Shapkauski, “I get why people would care about hearing Merry Christmas because if you don’t celebrate it, it’s like how people who celebrate Hanukkah to each other. I get wanting to hear that rather than Merry Christmas.”
Most people nowadays don’t care if they are told Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays, but understanding is always needed when it comes to why someone would care. Using your own discernment is also important in determining which phrase to say at which time. At the end of the day being kind and greeting someone when you see them, meet them, or are leaving is a small act of kindness that doesn’t go unnoticed and can help better someone’s day. Regardless of if you think it will or not.
Here is a list of holidays throughout the month of December.
- Dec. 6: Saint Nicholas Day — Christian
- Dec. 7 to 14: Hanukkah — Judaism
- Dec. 8: Immaculate Conception — Catholic
- Dec. 8: Rohatsu (Bodhi Day) — Buddhist
- Dec. 12: Advent Fast begins — Orthodox Christian
- Dec. 12: Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe — Catholic
- Dec. 16: Posadas Navidenas — Christian
- Dec. 21: Solstice — Wicca/Pagan
- Dec. 23: Mawlid el-Nabi — Islam
- Dec. 25: Christmas — Christian
- Dec. 26: Zarathosht Diso (Death of Prophet Zarathustra) — Zoroastrian
- Dec. 27: Feast of the Holy Family — Catholic
- Dec. 28: Holy Innocents Day — Christian
- Dec. 31: Watch Night — Christian
