Happy Hanukkah!
Happy Kwanza!
Happy Winter Solstice!
Let's be clear. It's okay to say any one of these AND exclude the others if you wish -- to anyone, regardless of yours or other's preferred celebration or beliefs. Really, it is. I promise.
It's true. Everyone has to lighten up -- just a bit. That's the only way we're all going to live in peace and harmony. For example, if someone says Happy Kwanza to me -- and I barely know what Kwanza is -- I'm not about to get upset or indignant because the person was 'insensitive' to my personal set of beliefs. Instead, I will thank them handily and wish them back, 'Happy Kwanza!'
It drives me nuts (and I'm probably not the only one) when some people get soooooo uptight about various seasons greetings. They think that being culturally sensitive means being culturally neutral. That is NOT true.
Instead, the way to cultural sensitivity is through cultural acceptance. That means that we embrace different cultures and revel in the brilliance of diversity they offer. It does not mean that we ignore those differences and treat others as though their cultural make-up is some ambiguous hodge-podge of innocuous thoughts worthy only of the most generic well-wishing. Nor does it mean that we should be fearful of expressing the joys of our own preferred celebration.
As long as our religious/cultural icons and celebrations aren't forced upon others or instituted as any part of government, then we should take pride in our cultures and have fun with our celebrations. We should feel free to wish others 'Merry Christmas' or 'Happy Hanukkah' or 'Happy Kwanza' or 'Happy Winter Solstice' as we see fit -- and there should NEVER be any guilt associated from any such well-wishing.
So everyone PLEASE lighten up and enjoy one-another rather than live in fear of offending one-another.
It is only through acceptance of diversity, not fear of offending others, that we will some day bring the global peace and love that we all seek.
So I say to you all, 'Merry Christmas' since that is what I celebrate. I also wish you all a 'Happy Hanukkah' since my wife is Jewish and my family celebrates that as well. If you don't celebrate these, then I ask that you please accept the general well-wishing that is implied by these greetings anyway.
And I leave you with this little bit of hilarity that pokes fun at the pitfalls of what I think can be the unnecessary self-censorship that results from being 'over-politically correct'.
Love, Peace, Prosperity!
For My Democrat Friends:
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2007, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.
By accepting these greetings, you are accepting the aforementioned terms as stated. This greeting is not subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for herself/himself/others, and is void where prohibited by law and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.
For My Republican Friends:
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!