Seasons Greetings or Merry Christmas, which do you prefer?

I always say Happy Holidays. I am completely aware that I don't celebrate the same winter holiday that most of the people around me do, so I'm not exactly going to say "Happy Solstice" because most people aren't going to understand it. However, I don't feel that I should say "Merry Christmas" to someone when I don't celebrate it, unless I KNOW for a fact that they celebrate it. I will say "Merry Christmas" back to someone who said it to me, but I'll do the same with Hanukkah, Yule, Kwanzaa, or any other holiday.

I agree with ya 100% they are taking God out of everything now I aslo chose Merry Christmas to

I normally say Merry Christmas i dont know why but i say and so do the other family members .

It bothers me that people wants to change it and take Christ out. It is the Christmas Season, and should be treated as such.

I am a Christian so I am very put off by Season's Greetings and the constant use of X-mas. I first encountered that in grade school and I am 46. Back then it was so shocking to me. Today it is not shocking but I am put off by it.

I prefer Merry Christmas. I am celebrating the birth of our Lord and Saviour on Christmas day. If I have freedom of religion then no one should be able to tell me what I can or can not say when I celebrate a religious holiday. Because even though retail stores have turned it into something completely different. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. And I plan on having a Merry Christmas!

You know what we have the same point of view here. I, myself also prefer to use the phrase Merry Christmas or Christmas instead of X-mas. Because the person whom we are really celebrating in this season is our lord Jesus Christ and by using the word X-mas its just like canceling His name on the word and replacing it with the letter X. And for me it seems to be not right... :D

I prefer saying Merry Christmas. But it does not bother me if someone uses a different term for it. Everyone has different beliefs.

To me it doesn't matter how people address me at Christmas time. I however, can understand how some may get offended, on both sides of the spectrum. You have the non-believers of the Christian faith, there's Hanukkah and Kawanzaa that's also celebrated during the month of December, and than you have the follower's of the wiccan\pagan religions as well who know "Christmas" as Yule, which has nothing to do with Christ at all, plus there may very well be other festivals and holidays that are celebrated by others at that time as well. So you have a great quantity of different religions and customs clashing against each other, and by saying Season's Greetings or something that includes everyone it's bound to be less offending to someone else.

I work in retail so I often run in to this problem around the holidays. I would never say merry x-mas (phonetically like that), because it just sounds stupid, and a bit disrespectful of people's beliefs. However I will use the abbreviation say if i'm taking notes (writing something down) just for myself. I rarely say seasons greetings because it just sounds like a greeting card. I will most often say Happy Holidays, and I prefer when people say this to me. I don't assume people celebrate a certain holiday so I say happy holidays. I also say this because I don't celebrate Christmas either, so I would rather hear Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. However, since the majority of the US does celebrate it, and if someone says it to me, I will take its as them wishing me well. I will, in return, say thank you and happy holidays to them too.

For me it really doesn't matter because we all have our own beliefs and I believe that Christmas is the Birthday of Jesus Christ our savior, therefore "Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays" it all works for this ol' gal because in my heart I think I know what it all means. Good you're thinking ahead though OMG it's only 96 days away. Take Care my friend. (YES you're still on my friends list even after this news break) hehehehe

Good Morning! I just want to say I agree with you. I prefer to say Merry Christmas. Jesus is the reason for the season and I don't like it when stores take Christ out of Christmas. Hope you have a wonderful day! SheliaLee

To those I do not know, or I do not know their religious preference, I just say Happy Holidays or Seasons Greetings. With my family and close friends I'll say Merry Christmas. I do not want to offend any one person with a comment that may not be "socially" or "politically" correct, so I straddle the fence you might say.

I have to say that I agree with you on this one because all of the holidays are different. Grant you, they're close together but they are different nonetheless and should be treated as such. We don't say Seasons Greetings during Halloween or Thanksgiving and they're only a month apart so why should we for Christmas and New Year?

To me, I usually say christmas, but if I am in a hurry or just too lazy I do use X-mas, I do not however do it to take "christ" out of it, but as a way to shorten the word.

I do not choose to be offended by someone greeting me, as the bottom line on that is that they are wishing me well. I say Christmas, but in the spirit of Christ I try to be generous to the people who are different from me. I was raised to consider that X was the unknown, and that it has no business in Christmas, but when I was older I was told that X represented the first Greek letter for Christ (not sure this is true, just what I was told) and so the early church used X for Christ and Xmas is Christmas. I still do not abbreviate it that way, because of the earliest training I had. I am not going to raise Cain with a store for telling its employees to say "Happy Holidays",but if it comes down to choosing between two stores when I call about item availability, I will say my husband says the one who says Merry Christmas will get our business. I do not know if I answered your question or not. I say Christmas, but I do not waste my energy being angry over someone saying something else.

i agree 100% about saying Merry CHRISTmas... its about the celbration of christ and all is to be merry... When i know someone doesnt celebrate christmas they celebrate hanukiah out of kindness i will say happy hanikuah or happy holidays and on return i will kindly hear Merry Christmas and i like that... i know occasiobally when im making a list and doind inventory on whom i have left to buy for etc etc i will write on the top X-mas but thats either because im in a hurry or because i know my daughter migt find the list shes 6 learning how to read and the word christmas is a favortie of hers she has yet to know the word Xmas.. BUT i prefer CHRISTmas regardless...

i prefer Merry Christmas for Christ is the reason why we celebrate it and Christ is at the word Christmas.

I have always grown up with the holiday being called Christmas and I don't see the big issue about it. It irritates me that we have to make amends for a lifelong tradition because someone else finds the word offensive. If they don't believe in the holiday don't celebrate it, but leave us that do alone! I am sorry, but that is just how I feel and this is a source of irritation for me. I don't go around saying that Ramadan or Kwanza or any other holidays that aren't associated by my traditions are wrong and I am offended. I believe everyone should celebrate their own traditions and be proud of it, but don't infringe on those who use Christmas as a word to describe our holidays. I remember when that X-mas thing started. I thought it was completely ridiculous and still do!

Typically, a greeting consists of the word "Happy" followed by the holiday, such as "Happy Independence Day" or "Happy New Year", although the phrase "Merry Christmas" is an exception. When someone wishes to convey a greeting to another regardless of which particular holiday the other may personally observe, the collective phrase "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings" is often used as a simple way to refer to all of the holidays within the month of December, such as Christmas Day and New Year's Day. The greetings "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Christmas" are traditionally used in North America, the United Kingdom, and Ireland beginning a few weeks prior to the Christmas holiday on December 25 of every year. "Merry" dominates in the United States and most of the Christian nations like the Philippines; "happy" in the United Kingdom and most of the English European countries. "Merry Xmas" is usually used to avoid the length of "Merry Christmas", with the "X" (sometimes controversially) replacing "Christ". Saying these phrases however, may become hostile to others specially to our non Christian friends. But I would like to express that when I wish someone (believer or non-believer of Christ)a 'MERRY CHRISTMAS' or 'SEASON'S GREETINGS' I simply take it as a gesture of friendship and caring. I simply would like to wish anyone well without any prejudice nor intent to offend the person's beliefs.