One of my friends posted a message on his Facebook. It's similar to something I saw last year. It said:
I was going to be quiet... I really was. However, I thought conversation was needed:
Tonight we took mom out to Palazzo Ristorante for a special Christmas dinner. She loves their scallops alla Piccata.
I told her about my Facebook conversation. I thought she'd agree with me. Instead she smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. We're Buddhists."
"But mom" I said, "I have friends who celebrate Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Diwali. Don't you think you should be inclusive of them?"
"The words of greeting are not important." she said. "It is the warmth and feeling behind it."
And to all this my daughter wrote about my 6 year old granddaughter:
"KC has been thinking that people are wishing us a Happy Halloween! I had to explain to her what Happy Holidays means. She got it right and said, "Oh... because they don't know what you celebrate....Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa....you need to ask them first."
So there you go. Two different opinions from two different generations.
Therefore since this is Christmas Eve, with all the warmth, feeling and love in my heart I'd like to wish everyone of every faith a Merry Christmas.
And just to be safe...Happy Holidays too.
"I'm inviting all my Facebook family and friends to join me in returning to the traditional greeting of "Merry Christmas" instead of the politically correct "Happy Holidays"!! If you agree with me, please repost this message. Merry Christmas! We need Christ back into our lives. God is welcome in my house. If God is welcome in your house, repost this."
I was going to be quiet... I really was. However, I thought conversation was needed:
"Asking this is not really inclusive of those who are not Christian is it? I have many friends of many faiths. I love to wish happiness to all of them."He wrote back:
" Hi Kay, thanks for your response! The point of the post is that the reason for the "holiday season" is because we celebrate Jesus' birth. Without Christmas, there is no holiday season. When I worked at the cellphone store, the company told us that we couldn't wish customers Merry Christmas, we had to say happy holidays because they were afraid of offending someone. Does that make any sense at all when you know the reason for the season? It seems kind of extreme to me that we don't say Merry Christmas anymore just because we might offend someone. If someone wished me Happy Hanukkah, or Happy Bodhi day, it wouldn't offend me because that is that person's belief and way of wishing me happiness, joy etc. If anyone wishes me happy holidays, I just say thank you, and Merry Christmas back to you!To which I replied:
"The reason for the season can be Hanukkah or Diwali or Kwanzaa also. However, thank you for clarifying your position. It's wonderful to talk these things through so we can better understand each other. Merry Christmas to you and your beautiful family."My friend wrote back that it was good that we could discuss this together. I was really happy too, because I love this guy. I'm glad he didn't UNfriend me.
Tonight we took mom out to Palazzo Ristorante for a special Christmas dinner. She loves their scallops alla Piccata.
I told her about my Facebook conversation. I thought she'd agree with me. Instead she smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. We're Buddhists."
"But mom" I said, "I have friends who celebrate Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Diwali. Don't you think you should be inclusive of them?"
"The words of greeting are not important." she said. "It is the warmth and feeling behind it."
And to all this my daughter wrote about my 6 year old granddaughter:
"KC has been thinking that people are wishing us a Happy Halloween! I had to explain to her what Happy Holidays means. She got it right and said, "Oh... because they don't know what you celebrate....Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa....you need to ask them first."
So there you go. Two different opinions from two different generations.
Therefore since this is Christmas Eve, with all the warmth, feeling and love in my heart I'd like to wish everyone of every faith a Merry Christmas.
And just to be safe...Happy Holidays too.
