Doesn't "Festivus" exist only in a Seinfeld episode?
Anyway, I appreciate the banner that says Merry Christmas. Indeed most of the CRO faithful likely come from your typical Canadian whitebread background, myself included. And that means most of us here celebrate Christmas.
However, the militancy surrounding the use of the phrase Happy Holidays gives me pause. Undoubtedly at this time of year, you get the forwarded emails bemoaning the fact that Christmas is somehow being taken from us…which is completely and utterly untrue. No one’s ever told me I can’t say Merry Christmas.
The fact is, we live in a true multicultural society. This whole country is founded on the idea of immigration. We sometimes forget that, unless you’re First Nations, we
all came from somewhere else at some point….and archeologists have suggested that even the natives came from someplace else in the beginning.
We have this society rich with differences, where we are indeed free to worship and celebrate in any way we desire without fear of prejudice. (ideally anyway) That’s a pretty beautiful thing.
So we have this amazing diversity of cultures, and it would seem that most of them…most of the major ones anyway…have some sort of cultural/religious event that happens over the winter season. Trust me I know – as a kids entertainer, I worked events for many many different ethnic groups over the winter. I was busy every weekend in late November right thru to Jan 1st and I’d say a third of them were not “Christmas” parties. So it seems everyone is celebrating something.
So, as a government official, or even a business operator that is working within this multicultural society, if I choose to be inclusive of everyone and hang a Happy Holidays banner in my store window, what of it? Now I’m being inclusive and sending a happy shout out to everyone….not just other Christians. And the best part is that in my home, and with friends, family, people on the street, and acquaintances, like the CRO faithful, I’m still more than free to wish them a Merry Christmas, put a tree up in my home, go to midnight mass, and celebrate the birth of Christ according to my/our beliefs. Jesus IS the reason for the season…for me and most of us here.
Its only unfortunate that some feel that the idea of the public sector’s being all inclusive somehow equals some sort of restriction on their own form of expression. Its not…you’re free to greet anyone any way you like—and that includes shouting “Happy Festivus” from the rooftops, if that’s your thing.
Everyone wins.
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