the_matt79

Happy Holidays!

Yes, I said Happy Holidays, and that is something I am transitioning towards in my life. A few years back, back when my Catholic upbringing was firmly entwined in my psyche, back before I ventured out into the world and began my journey into Anthropology, back before I took the English classes that showed me the meanings behind the words and how to find it, back before I thought of the questions and came to my own answers rather than merely accept those of an authority figure in my life, yes back then I would have always said Merry Christmas.

I still venture towards saying that, but that is because I celebrate Christmas, and always have, but now I see the rest of the picture. I also can say that a few years back I might have even let my stubborness shine forth and insist that saying Merry Christmas was the way to go, to be, to utter, but no longer.

I know that there are more than one Holiday going on right now, there is more than one faith celebrating, and there are those who take no solace in faith celebrating as well, and all of these people deserve respect and salutation as well. Yes, Matt has grown up, and has learned to respect all cultures and faiths, yes, Matt is an Anthropologist.

I was scoffing at Sarah Palin, something I do a lot, about how we should be putting Christ back in Christmas and yada yada yada....I would point out to her that Christ is firmly in Christmas, but that Christmas is not the only thing going on right now. Saying Happy Holidays is not an attack on Christmas, it is not a looking away from Christ, but merely an appreciation of others in this world. Perhaps she is looking to those that say Xmas, and sure Christ can go back in there, but alas those that say such things may not have a faith that embraces Christ, and so I say thee, let them be. (Watching the Tempest right now, so my language might reflect it if I don't watch out)

I may be rambling on from my original point, but I think the gist of it all is that Christians should not see Happy Holidays as an attack on their belief system, and should not think that the opposite politicians are to blame, or other faiths for that matter. We need merely to be aware that there is a lot going on right now, and we should be embracing one another, especially in matters of faith and celebration. Do not look on one another as the means for your disappointment or for your faiths lack of position in the public eye.

We are humans, we think differently, we feel differently, we make sense of the world differently, and we all have differing views of how and why things happen and are as they are. Religions vary, but usually have the same message, a message we let slip by when we take offense at what others say to us. In a land of political correctness we may go overboard with our appeasement of one another, and maybe that is where the problem arises.

We shouldn't question why someone says Happy Holidays to us, but rather open a dialog with one another and see what and why we do. Open a dialog year round to understand one another, and if you are unwilling to do that, then open a book, a newspaper, a magazine, something that has information in it outside your norm, something that allows you to learn as you move forward. To many of life's woes arise from people that decide at one point to no longer learn and stay firm in their beliefs and ideals, taking offense at any that go against their grain.

So to my Jewish friends I say enjoy your festival of lights, to my Christian friends I say Merry Christmas, to those celebrating Kwanzaa I say enjoy your celebration, to those of the pagan nature I say enjoy the solstice and all it brings, to those of an atheist bent I say enjoy your fellow man and whatever celebration you see fit, and to all of us with calendars I say Happy New Year and may 2012 be full of success, joy, and smiles for us all!