Happy Holidays -- Uh, Christmas, Or Something

Merry (christmas?) uh, Holidays? Happy Holidays? No, it’s Christmas and we’re all Christians, even if the percentage who actually see the inside of a church is less than 50%. The Eastern branch of the Catholic Church celebrates on what we call Epiphany.

But we are going to celebrate Hanukkah starting tomorrow night, so Happy Hanukkah; after all, we are religiously descended from the Jews.

Then, again, the Christian New Year was December 2 (happy new year, Christians) and everybody else celebrates it on January 1. Well, the Jews kept it the evening of September 12 this year; the Muslims on January 10 of 2008.

Let’s not forget Kwanzaa, a cultural African-American holiday, which is not connected with Christmas or the New Year’s celebrations.

So I’m never sure exactly what to say. I guess if you don’t know the person, then “Happy Holidays” fits pretty well, as there are several which we all celebrate in common. If it’s a Jewish friend, Hanukkah and the civil new year’s will work. Most Catholics don’t realize that their new year is the first Sunday in Advent, so fool them with “Happy Catholic New Year” and watch the reaction.

Maybe it’s time we realize our country is filled with different cultures and “Merry Christmas” just isn’t the only thing going on at this time of year.