Delma Francis
Merry Christmas! The exuberant greeting of the season used to bring me such joy — both to give and to receive.
But I almost never hear it — or utter it — anymore. The fear of offending a non-Christian has taken this pleasure from the season. I have become PC on the issue, I'm afraid.
I believe I am pretty strong in my faith (I never write Christmas with an X) but I would never deliberately belittle anyone else's by wishing someone I knew to be of another faith a merry Christmas. After all, Jesus is the reason for the season, and to force my belief in him on someone who believes he was a great man, but not the Messiah, would be tacky and insensitive.
Sadly, holiday greetings have inspired violence this season. Almost two weeks ago, three Jewish subway riders on New York's Q train were attacked by a rowdy group of 10 after Walter Adler responded to a wish of "Merry Christmas" with "Happy Hanukkah." And who came to their rescue? Hassan Askari, a Muslim student from Bangladesh.
Unbelievable. To quote Rodney King: "Can't we all just get along?"
How do non-Christians react to greeting?
Adler handled the Christmas greeting in a perfectly acceptable way by responding with his religion's greeting of the season. How do other non-Christians feel when they're wished a merry Christmas?
It depends whom you ask.
Marcia Zimmerman, senior rabbi of Temple Israel in Minneapolis said, "You feel clearly part of the minority population at this time of the year. It's a very important time for Christians, and I find beauty in the tradition." But how she feels when people wish her a merry Christmas depends on where she is at the time, Zimmerman said. "If I'm in a church as a visitor, OK, but if I'm in a grocery store or department store, there's an assumption there that we are all of one religion. We are of many traditions."
"My fellow Jews may or may not agree with me, but this is a huge, huge meaningful holiday for the majority," said Gail Rosenblum of Minneapolis, a former colleague of mine at the Star Tribune. "There is no meanness when someone says 'Merry Christmas.' It's an assumption (that I'm Christian). I just say 'Thank you. Have a happy holiday.' "
Rosenblum says she also doesn't mind receiving Christmas cards. "I have a love for the season." She's come by that honestly. Her father's love for Christmas carols saved his life during World War II. Stationed onboard the troop carrier Leopoldville on Christmas Eve 1944, headed for the Battle of the Bulge, 19-year-old Sidney Rosenblum joined about 200 other soldiers on deck singing "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," "We Three Kings of Orient Are" and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing."
A few minutes later, a little past 6 p.m., the bottom stern section of the ship was hit by a German torpedo, killing hundreds. If not for the lure of the Christmas music, Sidney Rosenblum would have been below deck, probably among the dead.
Christmas carols saved his lifeBut beyond that amazing story, Rosenblum says she is secure enough in her faith that she doesn't get caught up in all the political correctness of Christmas greetings, adding, "I feel sorry for my Christian friends who get bogged down in saying, "Happy holidays,' and calling parties holiday parties. They're Christmas parties. I can enjoy it without owning it."
I also worked with Mike Meyers, a Minneapolis atheist, who says he's unaffected by wishes of a merry Christmas. "It doesn't mean anything. It's become a secular holiday. It hasn't mattered to me since I wanted a red bike under the tree."
"It doesn't bug me because we celebrate Christmas, just not the Jesus part," said Nicole Bue, an 18-year-old senior at Brooklyn Center High School whose grandfather is a Buddhist shaman. "My family doesn't have an official religion...we kind of observe our grandfather's beliefs out of respect, but my dad said it's up to us to decide" what religion to embrace.
Is Shruti Mathur, a Hindu from Wilmington, Del., bothered by being wished a merry Christmas? "It probably depends on my mood that day," she jokes.
Mathur, who grew up in Minnesota and worked at the Star Tribune, said her family celebrated the secular side of Christmas, with a decorated tree and gift-giving, but Christmas greetings do bother her in the sense that "it brings that sense of 'otherness.' You're just trying to make your place in the world, and someone else's opinion means more. But you balance it like everything else. There's no need to berate a drugstore clerk for saying, 'Merry Christmas.' Just wish it back."
Source
Here's a unique idea...
If your not a Christian and someone wishes you "Merry Christmas," respond in kind with in what ever manner that's appropriate for your faith. What better way to share the joy of the season with people of all faiths.
Before you go any further, read this...
Dictionary.com defines a redneck as:
1. an uneducated white farm laborer, esp. from the South.
2. a bigot or reactionary, esp. from the rural working class.
It goes on to say that redneck is A slang term, usually for a rural white southerner who is politically conservative, racist, and a religious fundamentalist. This term is generally considered offensive. It originated in reference to agricultural workers, alluding to how the back of a person's neck will be burned by the sun if he works long hours in the fields.
While I can't say all that fits me to a tee, a lot of it is pretty damn close.
You see, I lost both my parents before I turned 12 years old. I bounced around in a couple of foster homes before moving in with my uncle when I tuned 15. By age 17, I was on my own. I dropped out of school half way through 11th grade so I could go to work full time. Three months after my 18th birthday, I got behind the wheel of a cab for the first time.
I've learned more about life in 28 years in a hack than any philosopher ever could know. I've had multi-million dollar businessmen, celebrities and pro athletes as well as crack whores, drug dealers and murderers in my cab. I refuse to be an airport jockey or one of those guys that only stages at the hotels, so unfortunately, I have to deal with more of the bottom feeders of life than I do the upper crust.
It is the dealings that I've had the bad apples that has made me what I am today...
The Redneck Cabbie.
You see, to escape the madness of the city streets, my mind drifts off (not while I'm driving) to a quiet country town. A place where everyone knows everyone, and a man's handshake is as binding a contract as a person needs. A place where friends gather to down a couple of cold ones and listen to music that you can actually understand the words.
A place where young men don't walk around with their pants falling down over their ass, and young ladies don't have to dress like sluts to draw a man's attention.
I think you get the picture. I know, boring as whale shit to most city folks. I'd be living in a town just like that if it weren't for the fact that there's just not much demand for my line of work in most small towns.
This blog will reflect these feelings. If I seem a little bitter now and then, its just because that wonderful little town is nowhere in my near future, and because the life expectancy of someone in my line of work doesn't extend much past retirement age, all I can do is dream about it.
1. an uneducated white farm laborer, esp. from the South.
2. a bigot or reactionary, esp. from the rural working class.
It goes on to say that redneck is A slang term, usually for a rural white southerner who is politically conservative, racist, and a religious fundamentalist. This term is generally considered offensive. It originated in reference to agricultural workers, alluding to how the back of a person's neck will be burned by the sun if he works long hours in the fields.
While I can't say all that fits me to a tee, a lot of it is pretty damn close.
You see, I lost both my parents before I turned 12 years old. I bounced around in a couple of foster homes before moving in with my uncle when I tuned 15. By age 17, I was on my own. I dropped out of school half way through 11th grade so I could go to work full time. Three months after my 18th birthday, I got behind the wheel of a cab for the first time.
I've learned more about life in 28 years in a hack than any philosopher ever could know. I've had multi-million dollar businessmen, celebrities and pro athletes as well as crack whores, drug dealers and murderers in my cab. I refuse to be an airport jockey or one of those guys that only stages at the hotels, so unfortunately, I have to deal with more of the bottom feeders of life than I do the upper crust.
It is the dealings that I've had the bad apples that has made me what I am today...
The Redneck Cabbie.
You see, to escape the madness of the city streets, my mind drifts off (not while I'm driving) to a quiet country town. A place where everyone knows everyone, and a man's handshake is as binding a contract as a person needs. A place where friends gather to down a couple of cold ones and listen to music that you can actually understand the words.
A place where young men don't walk around with their pants falling down over their ass, and young ladies don't have to dress like sluts to draw a man's attention.
I think you get the picture. I know, boring as whale shit to most city folks. I'd be living in a town just like that if it weren't for the fact that there's just not much demand for my line of work in most small towns.
This blog will reflect these feelings. If I seem a little bitter now and then, its just because that wonderful little town is nowhere in my near future, and because the life expectancy of someone in my line of work doesn't extend much past retirement age, all I can do is dream about it.
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