Merry Christmas! Yes, it's Christmas!

Is it just me, or have you also noticed that people are saying 'Merry Christmas' a whole lot more this year than last? The first thing that alerted me to this was the Canadian Tire ad in which the adult daughter of an elderly woman takes her out for a while, and the rest of the family with grandchildren decorate the house and tree outside. When the two woman return later, the lights go on, and the daughter says to her mother 'Merry Christmas'. I sat up in my chair and asked my wife if I heard that right. Yes, I did. The ad continues with a voice-over that includes wishes for 'Happy Holidays'. Now I don't know about you, but I find that perfectly acceptable. After last year, the greeting 'Happy Holidays' just made me sad. Political correctness, oh my. I am ok with 'Happy Hanukkah' and also with 'Eid Mubarak', greetings for Jewish and Muslim feasts that occur during this time of year. Interesting, I have not yet read an article by religious Jews or Muslims condemning 'Merry Christmas'. Those kinds of things seem to come from folks who want religion taken out of Christmas. That means in first instance taking Jesus out. How wonderful it is to hear people and ads and television shows using the word Christmas. Makes my day.

If you are reading this and you are a Christian, I challenge you to use what for you is the correct and accurate greeting. December 25 refers to one event and one event only. If you are not Christian, or are no longer Christian, I hope you are a person of good will who understands that, commercialization notwithstanding, keeping this reference in the culture alludes to freedom of religion, rather than being an issue of freedom from religion.