My Objection to People Who Object to "Merry Christmas"

It's Christmas season again, and also time to hear from almost everyone: "Happy Holidays". I don't in principle object to having a standard, secular holiday greeting to be used in cases of unknown sentiment, religious or otherwise.

What I do object to is twofold. First, the presumption that Christmas will never be a secular holiday, and therefore wishing someone a "Merry Christmas" will always carry a certain degree of religious insensitivity. The second is that "Happy Holidays" is a suitable replacement to be used even when religious sentiments are known.

As to the first, regardless of the religious origins of Christmas, there have been winter solstice festivals in hundreds of cultures for thousands of years. Same with harvest festivals, ceremonies equivalent to marriage, burial rituals, etc. Sure, there are tens of thousands of Christians out there who would object that Christmas is not some pagan holiday to be lumped in with your run-of-the-mill solstice festival, but in the modern secular state outside of overtly religious contexts, the coming of Christ the savior, et al. is no longer mentioned or even hinted at except, perhaps, through some oblique deconstructionist analysis of the imagery used in assosiation with Christmas, and of course, the name of the holiday itself. We don't hear people objecting that Mardi Gras (which is literally "Fat Tuesday" in French) is a religious holiday and wishing one a happy Mardi Gras is insensitive. Truth be told, it originates as a celebration of the last day before Lent. Why? Because it has been secularized and institutionalized. I, as an agnostic (and ex-Roman Catholic) take "Merry Christmas" the way I imagine a foreign traveler might take "Happy 4th of July"--not something to be offended at, merely as indication that some people happen to think it's a great day to hold some spectacular parties.

As for the second, just as Christmas has been secularized, it is still a very religious holiday for lots of people around the world, and the entirety of the significance of the season is that it's Christmas, the day the arrival of the Christ is to be celebrated by all sufficiently reverent Christians around the globe (allowing for time zones, of course). But when we say "Happy Holidays", we are automatically automatically lumping Christmas into the big basket of every other holiday that happens to fall between 15 December and 5 January (roughly). We are saying, in effect, it doesn't matter which holiday you're going to celebrate, none of them are really special or worth recognizing as such. Whether it's Hanukkah, Christmas, or any other holiday the effect is the same. Is it really less offensive to say all holidays are equal (and to the devout they are not) than to say only holiday X matters?

My approach is simple: If I don't know what someone's preferences are, I'll say "Happy Holidays" and if it doesn't seem impolite, I'll ask. If I know, I use that holiday, especially if it's in season. Example: for my Christian friends, it's always Merry Christmas, for my Jewish ones, Happy Hanukkah. Simple.