Long Overdue, But Happy Holidays Anyway

Greetings Blogosphere & Curious Intellects:

I have been offline for far too great a period of time. Still, I am endeavoring to make better use of this (virtual) space. To wit, I have one pleasant discovery to share and one slightly embittered critique. As for the discovery, I direct my dear readers' attention to XM Radio's World Radio Network: http://www.siriusxm.com/worldradionetwork

As a confessed Europhile, I have to appreciate XM for giving me access to all manner of interesting newscasts from around the Continent. There are even a few offerings from Asia and the Pacific. Of course, one must acknowledge the contributors' tendencies towards nationalism and cultural reputation burnishing, but there is still much to love beyond America's rather insular news offerings.

Today's criticism relates to the discourse surrounding the Christmas season. More specifically, I am becoming fatigued with the cultural backlash against respect for other religions and traditions found in the phrase "Happy Holidays". Just this week I was told by a friend that she received a correction via e-mail telling her that the sender "celebrates Christmas" when the phrase "Happy Holidays" was employed as a closing statement. So, in order to be very clear, I want to offer the following statement to the God fearing, Christian alarmists: Get over yourselves. There are other people out there who may not share your feelings on what the holidays mean and whose traditions they should acknowledge foremost. If you want to delude yourself into thinking that Christmas is really solely about Christ then I suggest you do your homework and examine the history of the holiday. Not only is the date inaccurate but the pagan elements that have been incorporated into this winter celebration are what make it most appealing to someone like me and seemingly many others. And finally, the phrase is "HOLIDAYS"--note the use of the plural here; there is also a New Year's Eve celebration to consider. Thus before someone becomes sanctimonious and ignorant again, let's just resolve to stick with the more inclusive phrasing and try to acknowledge the various others in our well wishes. If not, please remove yourselves from our pluralistic society and celebrate your historically inaccurate tradition amongst other like-minded fools. Oh, and Happy Holidays.