Showing posts with label happy holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label happy holidays. Show all posts

01 December 2006

So Here It Is Merry erm... Winterval, Holidays erm Yule

Of course it's the holiday season, there is Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year, Bohdi Day, Kwanzaa which is a cultural festival rather than religious, Winter Solstice and Eid Al Adha for starters all in December. So while the UK may be majority "Oh I suppose I'm a" Christian it isn't exclusively and really it isn't polite to wish someone a happy Christmas when you know full well that they actually celebrate Bohdi Day, so if you are not sure what if anything someone celebrates saying "Happy Holidays" although an awkward construction is a safe way of acknowledging there is a holiday in the offing.

But on the flip side we are a multicultural society but to assume that non Christians would take complete offence at being wished Happy Christmas is daft. Most people don't I'm an atheist to my knowledge I've never thrown a strop at being wished happy Christmas. I've never met someone who complains about a free day off. When I lived in the states Yom Kippur was a day off from school, I wasn't offended.

Often, rather than actually talk to someone who is different from ourselves we make assumptions about what will or will not offend them, because it's easier than actually engaging with people who might actually be a bit different from ourselves. That is the truly daft thing.