Taki Taki

Clash of values

Broadsides from the pirate captain of the Jet Set

issue 17 December 2005

Liberal columnists, especially in London, New York and Los Angeles, can’t quite grasp why some Christians get upset about people saying ‘Happy Holidays’ instead of ‘Happy Christmas’. ‘People who use the word holiday now face angry Christian protests,’ they assert. Well, if they have faced such protests, it’s news to me. Most Christians I know simply snicker when the C-word is avoided in order not to cause offence. What reasonable people get upset about is being forbidden to say Happy Christmas themselves, or call a Christmas tree a Christmas tree. Actually, I don’t think I know of a single Christian who rubs his Christianity into non-Christians by wishing a Happy Christmas to a devout or non-devout Muslim or Hindu or Jew. Mind you, it might slip out, but no offence is ever intended. At least I like to think so.

But, let’s face it, non-Western immigrants observe Christmas because we Christians observe it, not because they like it or enjoy it or are expected to.

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