COMMENTS

We welcome your feedback. Comments may not exceed 1000 characters.

Privacy Policy

Your information will not be shared or sold without your consent. Get all the details.

Terms of Service

JewishJournal.com has rules for its commenting community.Get all the details.

It’s called backlash. For 45 years there has been an attack on American traditions. A country only 235 years & this last generation selfishly gets to choose what is said & how things should be done. Changing your culture so as not to offend Hispanics’s, Muslims, feminists, homosexuals (I should have said “gays” as in “Don we now our gay apparel” ... get it?? I’m sick of liberal theft of our language & our culture…My Old KY Home is ruined when the word/line gay is sung) Tradition is meaningful it says who we are & what we believe in, & why. Melting pot? No! If that were true Israel & China would look like America. I don’t recall growing up with a KWANZA & who comes together in any great numbers for that? I have no memories of divinely inspired Jewish or Muslim music played in December do you? Name those favorites we all hum at “Christmas time.” Where’s the Muslim equivalent of Handel’s Messiah? Freedom doesn’t mean “let’s not offend” and neither does Christmas.

Comment by Bart Singleton on 12/16/11 at 10:43 pm

my only response in response to the checkout clerk is “you too.”  Simple and yet to cause anger.  One item—keep walking after your comment.  Seems to work for me.

Comment by akiba on 12/17/11 at 12:12 am

I love Christmas but HATE the entire fight over Happy Holidays vs Merry Christmas..the fake “war on Christmas”.. the attitude that “they” are taking Christ out of Christmas….really?  These people need to chill out…I love Christmas, but even I get sick of the over the top decorations, shows, carols…none of which have a single thing to do with the birth of Jesus..

Comment by tracy on 12/17/11 at 6:10 am

Kind of agree with you. I don’t mind nativity scenes in town halls. Christmas trees in airports. Or anything else. Difficult to say merry Christmas though. Just doesn’t roll out easily.

Comment by Bill Pearlman on 12/17/11 at 7:00 am

From a Christian perspective - wouldn’t it be nice if the Christians appreciated & honored Hanukkah as we obviously should, and if the Jewish people appreciated the Christian’s celebration of all that is good & doesn’t conflict with their beliefs about Christmas - the Christmas spirit, peace on earth good will to men, and if we taught these things to our children.

Comment by John Zimmerman on 12/17/11 at 9:16 am

A beautiful example of Jews & christians enjoying, honoring, & appreciating each other’s holiday this time of the year:

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2009/12/the-true-story-of-orrin-hatchs-hanukkah-song/31567/

Comment by John Zimmerman on 12/17/11 at 9:38 am

I think what has happened is that those who celebrate Christmas have been made to feel that we cannot say Merry Christmas anymore without getting a lecture from the don’t-offend-the-non-celebrators-of-Christmas-crowd.  The non celebrators have become so LOUD in their insistence that we do not offend them that many (including myself) have been brainwashed/bullied into saying Happy Holidays rather than Merry Christmas—how we have been bashed into accepting the “rules” of those who we now understand do not have our best interests at heart. And here’s the thing—no one cares about offending us at every turn—and we are all beginning to see this. And we’re sick of it and we see how much we have lost by going along with the loud and obnoxious PC crowd who would screw us over in a heartbeat.  People are waking up and saying Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays feels like one way we can take something back from the thieves who wish to steal away who we are little by little.

Comment by karen on 12/17/11 at 7:58 pm

If I meet up with a Jewish friend I wish them a Happy Hanukah abd often engage in holiday conversations.  Shopping for groceries today I wished all a Merry Christmas. Most Christians relate to our country’s laws governing the freedom to ptactice whatever faith one desires.  These laws were formulated by Chritians to protect minorities.  In that spirit I wish you Happy Holiday as you do mine and do not mention your holiday’s name.

Comment by elaine comstock-leirer on 12/18/11 at 4:45 am

I haven’t gotten any backlash for saying “Happy Holidays” yet. I say that to make sure I’m inclusive. Why should I assume everyone is a Christian? I come from a Buddhist culture but I’m agnostic. Don’t let that woman get to you. I think the idea about the “war on Christmas” is ridiculous. As far as I can see, Christmas is not about to die anytime soon. The only thing I don’t like about it is the blatant consumerism and greed you see on Black Friday. It makes humanity look bad.

Comment by Jessica on 12/18/11 at 9:04 am

Should the lady have snapped at you?  Nah! But, I think many people are hitting a limit with the Political Correctness of life.  It seems that every word, phrase or gesture we seem to do seems to offend someone.  It is becoming harder and harder to carry any kind of conversation.  Tolerance is actually being lost.  I am not offended with Happy Holidays but I think it is sad that someone is offended if I choose to say Merry Christmas, I think people are becoming silly over ridiculous things.  A nativity scene will not make you believe in something that you don’t believe in and I am not sure how it is offensive,anymore than the Hanukkah candles will make me believe in the Jewish faith.  Faith is a touchy subject and we love to use the Separation of Church and State, but we have gone too far, all the way around and we are becoming nasty with each other in the process of becoming politically correct. We are forgetting the true meaning of Tolerance.

Comment by Terri on 12/18/11 at 4:27 pm

The way I look at it, the majority gets to decide what traditions and holidays they accept as ‘theirs’. If you were in China surrounded by Buddhists, would you expect them to take down all their Buddhist decorations at whatever main holiday they enjoy, or insist that they say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Namaste” or whatever? I hope not. In the same way, the majority of Americans are Christian, or at least of a Christian background. So who cares what a tiny minority of Jews think? It’s bad enough we all have to buy kosher food because the tiny minority insists on everything being made to their stupid religious standards- you will not take our holiday from us. No matter how hard you try or how many ACLJew lawyers you send in. MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Comment by Yeshua on 12/18/11 at 10:39 pm

Being a Messianic Jew, I myself admittedly can get offended when people don’t say “Merry Christmas.” I actually said to a professor “Have a good Christmas.” Offended, I guess, she responded, “Happy Hanukkah.” Flustered, I said, “Thanks; you too.” I didn’t know that she’s Jewish up until that point. I didn’t mean to offend her. By the way, “Yeshua”, the actual Yeshua was a Jew who would not appreciate your using his name as you have.

Comment by Nickidewbear on 12/18/11 at 11:57 pm

So, Jewish woman initiates good will by expressing a wish for perfect stranger to have a happy “holiday”.  Crabby shrew stranger lashes out at Jewish woman for insulting her by voicing a wish that shrew has a happy holiday. Is “Christmas” NOT a holiday?  Are Jews not ALLOWED to wish other people, Jewish or not, happiness and good will? I don’t suppose it ever occurs to people that there’s nothing “holy” (as in “holiday”) about Christmas for Jews, yet here a Jewish woman extended herself to voice hope that this stranger’s foreign “holiday” would be happy?
Yeshua wrote:  “...we all have to buy Kosher food?” Really? Under what dictatorship do you live that forces you to do this? (And where do you shop?) Calm yourself. No one is going to “take your holiday from you.” I would wish for you a happy holiday, but I’m sure my positive intent would be misread. It’s sad, how very warped we have become. Therefore, I couldn’t care less about your holiday, but I do wish you peace.

Comment by JustDroppedBy on 12/20/11 at 9:30 pm

Nickidewbear, perhaps your professor was “sharing” her holiday wish with you, and including you within the broad holiday spirit, rather than chastising you?  Maybe I’m crazy, but when someone wishes me “good” something, I want to wish “good” back. I may come from a different mindset, but that doesn’t change the good will intended. Maybe your professor was just trying to include all holidays, or something simple like that.  Or maybe she knows you’re Jewish? Personally, I wish you a Happy Hanukkah, and a happy Christmas, and, above all else, peace and happiness.

Comment by JustDroppedBy on 12/20/11 at 9:36 pm

Chanukah is just as American as Christmas. Paul Revere wasn’t the only patriot riding into the night warning of the advancing British troops there was a Jewish man name Israel Bissell. If not for another Jewish gentleman named Haim Soloman then George Washington wouldn’t have had the money to feed, clothe or equip his soldiers. I personally have three (3) relatives who fought in the Revolutionary War that led to the Independence of the United States. So I make it simple. To me Chanukah is just as American as Christmas. So I have no problem wishing people a Happy Chanukah. I don’t need to water down my observance and call it a Holiday and I don’t need to be pressured into saying Merry Christmas.

Comment by Adam Kratt on 12/22/11 at 5:28 am

To me, the push-back that Christians have had to the notion of including everyone with their personal gestures and salutations has been quite interesting and perhapse slightly telling.  We’re a selfish society when the majority of us are offended at the thought of being less exclusive.  No one wants to punish anyone for being Christian or excited about Xmas, but for crying out loud political correctness is meant to be an equitable and caring philosophy.  To be inclusive does not mean that your rights are stripped away, only that your cares go beyond yourself to include the entire human race.

Comment by happy on 12/22/11 at 5:05 pm

Post a Comment

Name:
Email:

Type the word you see below:

Comment:

Remember my personal information

Notify me of follow-up comments?

About this Blog

Blog Home
About the Blogger(s)
Contact

Blog Archive

• By Month
• Categories

• By Month
• Categories