When did “Happy Holidays” become fighting words? These days, the phrase seems to rankle some folks, perhaps most notably Bill O’Reilly of Fox News, who annually dusts off his charge that there is a “War on Christmas.”
O’Reilly has been joined by President-elect Donald Trump, who last week promised supporters that things will change once he’s in the White House.
“Merry Christmas everybody, Merry Christmas,” Trump told a crowd in Michigan, a stop on his “Thank You” tour. “… We’re gonna start saying ‘Merry Christmas’ again.”
O’Reilly and Trump seem to think that Christians are pitted in a battle against Christmas-stealing left-wing agitators and atheists, whose battle cry is “Happy Holidays.” As they say in a different arena, “Come on, man.”
“Happy Holidays” is a fine greeting that not only expresses good will (appropriate for the holiday season), but also promotes inclusiveness of other viewpoints, religions and cultures. And let’s be clear, a whole lot of Americans don’t celebrate Christmas.
According to the Pew Research Center there are some 90 million people living in the United States today who are not Christian. Given those numbers, we think a secular, seasonal greeting is the more respectful choice when addressing those who don’t celebrate Christmas, or those whose religious beliefs are unknown.
“Happy Holidays” has been around for a long time, without much objection being raised, until recently. Where was the outrage, for example, in 1942, when political conservative and devout Catholic Bing Crosby immortalized the greeting when he sang Irving Berlin’s “Happy Holiday” in the movie “Holiday Inn”?
And who raised a hue and cry in 1965, when Andy Williams (another political conservative) recorded his own version of that song? Or in later years, when it was sung countless times by popular artists like The Manhattan Transfer, Michael W. Smith, Johnny Mathis and Peggy Lee, as part of their Christmas albums.
It didn’t appear to bother them, so, what changed? Well, for one thing, the religious makeup of the nation.
According to the Pew Center, in 1962 (shortly before Williams crooned the song), 93 percent of Americans identified themselves as Christian; 5 percent practiced non-Christian religions, and 2 percent had no religious affiliation. If you wished someone a “Merry Christmas” back then, it was a pretty good bet, statistically, that you were talking to a Christian.
But those numbers have shifted over the last half-century. By 2015, the Christian population in the U.S. had decreased to 70 percent, and while non-Christian religions remained at about 5 percent, the Pew Center expects that population to be on the rise. Also, those with no religious affiliation now total nearly 23 percent of the 325 million U.S. population.
With those statistical shifts come real-world changes, too. Today, there are 13 religious holidays other than Christmas that are regularly observed in the United States in December. Eight of those relate to the Christian faith, but there’s also the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, as well as spiritually significant days for Muslims (Mawlid el-Nabi), Buddhists (Rohatsu), Wiccans/Pagans (Solstice) and Zoroastrians, one of the world’s oldest monotheistic religions (Zarathosht Diso). And there’s also Kwanzaa, a non-religious holiday, which honors African heritage in African-American culture.
Fear-mongers might say this is proof that anti-Christmas warriors are afoot, angling to steal the holiday. We disagree. It is, however, evidence of real change — change that we think Americans can, and should, embrace and celebrate. And our language should reflect respect, not fear, as the prominence of non-Christians in our country continues to grow.
So, by all means, say “Merry Christmas” to those who celebrate that holiday.
But for the millions of others, why not wish them a hearty “Happy Holidays”? Or perhaps its cousin, “Season’s Greetings”? It’s the respectful thing to do.