Stupid People bitching about holiday greetings!

[Flyndaran]

I'm stealing this quote for the season I just tend to go with 'Happy Holidays' from before Thanksgiving 'til after New Years..Applies to 'em all, and means I can celebrate most

Oooh, it makes me so warm inside when the words come out of my brain skillfully enough for someone to want to quote them. That happens so much more rarely than misunderstandings.

[Evandril]

Happiness is too rare in this world to actually lose it because someone wishes it upon you.
That's silly.

I'm stealing this quote for the season I just tend to go with 'Happy Holidays' from before Thanksgiving 'til after New Years..Applies to 'em all, and means I can celebrate most

[Flyndaran]

I'd suggest "Turkey Day", but think you Americans already call Thanksgiving that. XD

Or election day since we keep electing them.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Works for me. It's all good when it comes to the holidaze, IMO.

I'd suggest "Turkey Day", but think you Americans already call Thanksgiving that. XD

[anriana]

Nevermind, not worth it.

[Amethyst Hunter]

How about..."Happy Consumerism Day"??

Works for me. It's all good when it comes to the holidaze, IMO.

[Lace Neil Singer]

• Lace was born into and lived in a society that preaches Christmas.
• Lace was not born in a region where Christmas is considered "odd" (such as much of the Middle East, East Asia, etc).
• Lace was born into a household which would have allowed Christmas to be the norm, including the possibility that Lace was born into a Christian household.
• Lace later stopped following the practices of the parents, and became an atheist independently.
• Lace's parents were not atheists.

As it happens, I was raised a Christian; my mother is Christian and my father allowed my mother to raise my brothers and I as Christian rather than as Jews. I went to church and Sunday School as a child; I celebrated Christmas as a religious festival up til the time when I stopped believing in God, and therefore, after that, it became a secular family occasion for me. However, I don't see why ariana felt she had to make an embittered and spiteful attack on me; maybe she just got out the wrong side of bed that day. I manage to peacefully co-exist around my Christian mother, older brother and sister in law, and my Jewish father, without any problems so yes, it is pertinent to the discussion.

Happy Present Day, everyone.

[Rapscallion]

How about..."Happy Consumerism Day"??

I prefer 'commercialmas'.

Rapscallion

[Slytovhand]

AH - yes, this is true. I wasn't trying to defend those idiots who make massive big deals about such things to everyone who comes along - especially about the "Happy Holidays" line - I mean, that'd be more of a 'persecution' (ha!) to only say "Merry Christmas" is an accepted greeting. "Holidays" is more encompassing - "Christmas" isn't.

How about..."Happy Consumerism Day"??

[Amethyst Hunter]

everyone has a right to get offended at any damn thing they want. That's the nature of being human. Whether you agree with them or not is a completely different, and irrelevent, issue.

You (generic you) may have the right to be offended at whatever you want; however, that doesn't necessarily always give one the right to act like an asshole about it. That's the type of idiot we're talking about who freaks out over "Happy Holidays" versus "Merry Christmas." Wouldn't the Christian thing to do be a simple "thank you" and/or friendly greeting in return, instead of claiming persecution (where there is none; sorry, you aren't being persecuted when you're still the dominant religion in this country) and playing the martyr card?

[AFPheonix]

Besides, Christmas has moved away from its religious roots, both Christian and Celtic. It shouldn't be any more insulting to a random person to wish them a Merry Christmas than wishing someone a happy President's Day, as both are secular holidays.

[Flyndaran]

I'm a born atheist, so no religion makes sense. I still respond in kind to those wishing me a happy anything. I will respond with a happy holidays, kwanza (no matter what I think of intentionally made up holidays less than 100 years old), and merry christmas. Happiness is too rare in this world to actually lose it because someone wishes it upon you.
That's silly.

[Slytovhand]

My 2 cents is being spent on saying that I got lost in the thread of argument (or lack thereof).

I believe that Anriana was trying to say that Lace wouldn't get the hang of "Happy Holidays/Festivus/Winterville" because that's not a part of her cultural reference... just as those born and bred as atheist wouldn't get the hang of Merry Christmas... and those in Islamic countries wouldnt' either. How would "Happy Hannukah" go down with christians? Muslims??

Also, everyone has a right to get offended at any damn thing they want. That's the nature of being human. Whether you agree with them or not is a completely different, and irrelevent, issue.

I'm not a Xtian type person. Nor Jewish. I am pagan. Saying 'Merry Christmas' to me I take as a well wishing from someone who is ignorant of my beliefs. But if my friends do it... watch out! (especially since most - if not all - of my friends aren't christian either -and some celebrate the Solstice... and I really don't like hypocrisy).

Anriana's post makes perfect sense given her sigline.... (and "my friends are X, but they Y - thus everyone must Y as well" fits nicely into that saying).

[Boozy]

Oh, I love arguments made by people who feel that personal attacks are the easiest and most reliable way to discredit a person. And yes, what you wrote there very much sounds like a personal attack.

And *I* love it when no one bothers using the report button.

Oh, wait -- that's right. I don't love that. It drives me batshit insane.

Don't call people out in the thread, please. If you feel there has been a personal attack, please report the post and let the moderators deal with it.

On a related note, sarcasm is best used very sparingly. It sets an antagonistic tone, and has the tendency to make arguments seem personal whether that was intended or not. If you have something to say, say it clearly and respectfully.

[anriana]

Oh, I love arguments made by people who feel that personal attacks are the easiest and most reliable way to discredit a person. And yes, what you wrote there very much sounds like a personal attack.

A personal attack would be something like "you're a condescending asshole incapable of communicating in a polite manner." Sarcastically expressing my dislike of people who rudely roll their eyes at me and then paraphrasing their argument is not a personal attack.

But, being an atheist, Lace will obviously "get the hang of" Christmas. Right. I like how many assumptions can be put into that statement, so let's list them out, shall we?

• Lace was born into and lived in a society that preaches Christmas.
• Lace was not born in a region where Christmas is considered "odd" (such as much of the Middle East, East Asia, etc).
• Lace was born into a household which would have allowed Christmas to be the norm, including the possibility that Lace was born into a Christian household.
• Lace later stopped following the practices of the parents, and became an atheist independently.
• Lace's parents were not atheists.

That's the list I could think of quickly. I'm sure there's quite a few others packed into that sentence of yours. I wasn't sure it was possible to pack so many assumptions into so small a thought. Impressive.

Did you read anything in this thread other than my reply?

I'm an atheist; and I wish people "Happy Christmas." I see it as a family occasion more than anything. I never really got the hang of "Happy Holidays/Festivus/Winterville" XD

She specifically said that she sees Christmas as a family occasion, so, yes, it is reasonable to assume all of these things, except for the last two, which I did not assume.