"Merry Christmas" vs. "Happy Holidays".

Jow

#1: The date of Jesus' birth was moved to coincide with the pagan festival Saturnalia as a way to convert more pagans (in the same way that saints were invented for pagans who were uncomfortable with monotheism)
#2: Easter falls on the Sunday following the Paschal full moon.
#3: There was a Roman census around the time Jesus' birth was estimated

Sources: I am still being raised a catholic

RabbitWho

I don't think anyone actually objects but it would just sound pretty idiotic of me to say Merry Christmas to my Chinese friends. If all of your friends come from a Christian culture then go ahead and say Merry Christmas.

I went to a catholic school and our priest was the one who told us that Jesus was born in the summer and that Christmas was chosen to compete with pagan rituals.

It doesn't say anywhere in the bible that Christians have to ignore the reasons behind the historic spread of Christianity...

Surely the least interesting and least contentious thing about any religion should be the days of the year it celebrates its festivals on....

Jow

I still go to Catholic School and one of my former priests told us all of those things. He believed that a religion's history, even the bad parts, were important to learning the true meaning behind the religion.
I wish my priest and teachers now were more like him. I often tell all of my friends all of these things, but I do try to keep it to a minimum. One can easily get reprimanded in my school for, what many of my teachers believe is, belittling Catholicism.

RabbitWho

That's hard :( They'll lose people with that attitude, they can't hope that when their students go out into the real world and are affronted with this they're just going to block their ears and say "la la la la". They should talk about it openly.

Also one of the nice things about religion is its connection with other subjects like history and the development of philosophy and art, okay, the art part isn't going to create any controversy.... but it's a pity to just ignore things like the church rejecting Descartes and then much later appropriating his ideas, that's fascinating!

Jimmy Snyder

Me too. I'd be more likely to say 聖誕快樂.

RabbitWho

Heh heh, good point, I'd be more likely to say Bones Festes!

Jow

Unless I am certain of a person's beliefs, customs etc. I greet them with the usual pleasantries. I wont even use "Happy Holidays" I simply say "Hello"/"Goodbye". If someone says "Merry Christmas" to me, I will say "Merry Christmas" back. It is the same if they say "Happy Hanukkah".

ZombieFeynman

I know someone who wishes everyone "happy solstice" and responds to everyone sneezing with "zeus strike the sickness from you."