Will you Say "Happy Holidays" to be PC or "Merry Christmas" for tradition sake?

If I were to say Merry Christmas to someone and they got offended, I would simply say "I'm sorry you got offended, and happy holidays" instead... or if they didn't like that I'd apologize again and just say "have a nice day" or something like that! I think that most people are open minded and realize that not everyone is going to know when you'll be offended, etc... So while we may say something that offends another, the other person will most likely be open minded and say "I don't celebrate that but I appreciate the sentiment all the same"...

I do not care if they are offended or not. I will still say Merry Christmas. I suppose if they are Jewish they would say Happy Hannakah, I do not know about Kwanza, but I think that is a made up holiday. As for the Happy Holidays. We have our vacation in July, so I was thinking of saying "what? It is not July yet!"

hi of course bearballew I am going to say Merry christmas as i have for decades and woe be to the one who gets offended, he can happy holiday me all he wants but its still Merry Christmas for me. That was what i did seventy years ago at age 13 and what I will do now at age 83 so there and so how.

I dont beleive in being politically correct I say whatever I am in the mood to say generally I say what I know the person observes (if I know them) if I know they are Christian I say merry Christmas, If I know they are Pagan I say Blessed Yule, etc., etc. I dont ever say "happy holidays" it just sounds too generic

When I was working, our company, as most companies, would give us Christmas off, and often the day before and after. What I found very interesting was the non-christians, some Jewish, some Indian, who would also take the day off, even though they had no intentions of celebrating Christmas. So why do they get the best of both worlds...these people should be working. We never got any Jewish Holidays off or other cultural holidays. It just seems that they are willing to take advantage of our Holiday, yet they claim to be sensitive to our display of what day it is. Therefore,I have no problem saying "Merry Christmas" to everyone, Jew, Greek, Indian, etc. If they take advantage of our Holiday, then they need to recognize it for what it is....Christmas, the Birth of Christ!

I'm not from America, I've never even set foot in the country. So maybe my perception of this Happy Holidays v. Merry Christmas feud is slightly warped. But I'm afraid I think that it is not politically correct at all. By saying 'Merry Christmas', you are not saying 'you must believe in this holiday and I expect you to believe in it, otherwise you shall be shunned'. It is YOUR religion. YOU say whatever the hell you want about it. You can't detract from what you, yourself believe in just because it may have the slim chance of somehow offending someone. Taking your example of Hanukkah, think of it this way: If a Jewish shop keeper said to you, 'Happy Hanukkah', what would you think? 'Oh my grapes, this man has offended me! He has shown compassion for his own religion in front of someone who doesn't share that religion. Why, by Jove, he might as well be tying me to a chair and trying to convert me!' No. I doubt you'd think that. Maybe you might feel the need to draw attention to the fact that you aren't Jewish, but accept his kind words. Maybe you wouldn't say anything expect smile and say 'Merry Christmas' to him. Of course, if you know someone is a certain religion, it would be better to give them a greeting they could relate with. That's just common courtesy, and the person will appreciate your consideration. Anyone who gets dreadfully offended by teh use of Merry Christmas really better wise up. The Christmas-celebrators are only wishing you the best in the time of year that they find the most joy in. To be honest, Christmas has lost most of its religious value anyway. If someone came up to me (I'm atheist, by the way) and wished me a Merry Christmas, I'd think it was rather nice that they had said that. I wouldn't be offended that they believe in something I think isn't really plausible. It's their life, they can say and believe in whatever they want. And in my area (Northern Ireland), Christmas is actually devoid of very much Christianity at all. Muslims wish each other Merry Christmas, and all other religions do too. It's more social, I think, nowadays. So, no. I won't be saying Happy Holidays. That is a very American thing to do. I don't know why you guys need to do it over there, but I guess I'm just not that tuned into what's right and wrong on your side. ^_^ Merry Christmas! xox

Let me narrate a very funny incident…in our small office of around 30 people, all except two are Hindus…of those two, one is a Christian and the other is a Muslim. Well, the Christian guy’s been here for long so he knows what to expect. He wishes us Happy Puja for our Hindu festivals and we all shout Merry Christmas to him, but this Muslim guy is very new and so just before our Hindu festival holidays started, he was roaming around aimlessly and we could make out that he was really confused as to what he should say…finally he wished us Happy Puja but and on the spurt of the moment we were about to say ‘same to you’ when we realized that he’s a Muslim so we kept his wishes pending for Id! What I’m trying to say is that wishing each and every person for his or her individual religion beliefs and festivities does not divide society, rather it makes us more aware of each other’s customs and teaches us to respect them. ‘Happy Hols’ is so impersonal that it fosters no bonds between people…rather if we wished each other as Merry Christmas or Happy Diwali or Id Mubaraq…isn’t that just wonderful and a healthy acknowledgement of the plural nature of society!

To tell you the truth I am sick and tired of the so called political correctness where Merry Christmas is concerned. I am also sick and tired of people buying into this unbelieveable lie that there are other religions offended. I have heard many other people from different religions say. "Offended, we are not offended, how can we be offended, it is Merry Christmas it is a Christian holiday;others from all walks of life are welcome to participate in the festivities it is great. Why would we call it anything else but Merry Christmas even though it is not my religion or someone elses. If we don't like it then we should copy them and have our own seperate holiday where we do the same thing of giving gifts". And I agree either call it what it is which is Merry Christmas or start your own holiday on a different day. This day Dec 25 was chosen as a day to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. You don't have to celebrate his birth if you don't want to, you can buy and give gifts and be a part of that but don't change the name for crying out loud. All your doing is giving into the handful of people who don't believe in God the atheist and the agnostics and they want to take God out of everything. Are we going to give into them? I sure am not! They to can start there own gift giving holiday if they want to. God sent Jesus as a gift to this world and so as an expression of Gods loving gift to us we give gifts to each other. Merry Christmas!

I say both. It is the spirit of what is said that should count. The way the whole thing has been blown out of proportion is just sad. I agree, I try and make the correction to whatever individual I am speaking to. But honestly, most are not offended. All I can do is shake my head.

i celebrate christmas so it is MERRY CHRISTMAS for me and mine. if that offends anyone it is their issue not mine. it is meant as a well wish for those who do celebrate the holiday and for those who do not then they do not have to reciprocate or listen if it offends them. when i hear someone say HAPPY HANUKKAH i do not get offended. i just know it is not my holiday and get on with my day. i think we have become TOO politically correct and that offends me!

I say Merry Christmas because I'm Christian. It has nothing to do with tradition or being politically correct. Maybe I should say Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays - for those who don't celebrate Christmas but celebrate the holidays - whatever holiday it is that they're celebrating. I think that should cover my bases.

It has always been "Merry Christmas" for me and it will always continue to be "Merry Christmas" for me. I've actually never had anyone to be offended for me to say "Merry Christmas" to me. As a matter of fact, our playgroup is having their annual Christmas party in a little over a week. Santa Claus will be visiting with the children and we will have a feast. All of this is no big deal, but one of the main organizers of the event is actually Jewish. I know that she would not be offended if someone was to wish her a Merry Christmas.

I'm not catholic, so I don't care about Christmas. When people comes on and on with their "merry christmas" I just answer with "happy holidays" or just give a "yep, ok" smile back. Not a taboo or not, but not everyone celebrates Christian holidays.

Personally, I will continue saying "Merry Christmas". I am celebrating Christmas, not just some holiday. Although, the word "holiday" did originate from the term "holy days", so I guess some could say that saying "Happy Holidays" isn't really politically correct. But, I think it is pretty sad that people are so sensitive that they get offended at the slightest little thing anymore! How ridiculous is it to be offended for someone being nice and saying "Merry Christmas" or "God bless you"? I mean, I do understand that not everyone believes in God, and not everyone is a Christian, but are we so sensitive that we can't show common courtesy no matter what our beliefs are?

I will be wishing everyone "Happy Christmas!" Call me a wowser if you like, but I don't wish people a "Merry Christmas" because to most people the word merry infers drunkenness (here in Australia it does.) I allow them their right to get drunk if they wish (as long as they don't drive or cause anyone else injury) but I will continue to wish them "Happy Christmas" I cannot see how anyone would be offended by my using the word Christmas. If anyone did take offence, I would simply say, "Well, that's OK. That's your right. I hope you have a happy day anyway. Enjoy the holiday" I do not see how banning anything to do with Christmas - trees, santa, reindeer, nativity scene etc - from public buildings IS political correctness. Political correctness would be something to suit the majority. The MAJORITY of Australians have no objection to such things and choose to use them themselves. It is reported that some people from other countries object and say it is an offence to them. Well, as far as I'm concerned, they came here to live and should accept our ways. I know that if I went to their country and objected to their ways, I would be in serious trouble. Political correctness there would mean fitting in with THEIR ways.

That happend to me just the other day. I asked a girl at work if they put up there tree yet and she told me they don't celebrate Christmas because there religion. I just said "Oh" and that was that. But it doesn't really matter to me. I like telling every one "MERRY CHRISTMAS and "HAPPY HOLIDAYS"

Before Thanksgiving I use Happy Holidays. It's more all encompassing. After that, I usually say Merry Christmas. I've never had anyone get mad before. I do have a job now where I work with a very diverse clientelle and they may not celebrate Christmas, so maybe I will try to be more PC.

I tend to say Merry Christmas. If I know that the person I am speaking to doesn't celebrate Christmas then I will alter my ways. I wouldn't be offended if someone said happy hanukkah to me. It's the holiday season I don't think that the words that are said are that important, its the idea of wishing someone a good holiday that is.