Five things people say about Christmas that drive me nuts
Christmas does not belong in the workplace because it undermines diversity at work. And businesses that promote diversity have more profits in the long run than companies that do not have a diverse workforce.
A big problem with Christmas is that those of us who have no reason to celebrate it have to spend a month between Thanksgiving and New Year’s dealing with Christmas at work. Christmas is the only religious holiday that everyone has to stop working for. It’s the only religious event that offices have parties to celebrate. These practices alienate non-Christians.
Businesses that curtail practices that alienate minorities will see growth to their bottom line as a direct result of this action. And besides, promoting acceptance of diverse backgrounds at work enriches our lives, independent of the bottom line.
But encouraging diversity doesn’t mean diverse ways to celebrate Christmas. Diversity is giving people space to ignore Christmas. Forcing people to take the day off requires everyone to run their work life around this holiday in a way they might not have chosen for themselves. Yet still, Christmas continues to permeate workplaces across the United States.
Do you want to make a difference? Start with yourself. When it comes to discussing Christmas in the workplace, here are five offensive things people say to someone who doesn’t celebrate Christmas. Don’t say them.
1. “Christmas is not a religious holiday.”
The only people who think Christmas is not religious are the Christians. Everyone else thinks, “This is not my holiday.” In fact, only a Christian would feel enough authority over the holiday to declare that it is not Christian.
To think that Christmas is for everyone is tantamount to Americans who think that everyone says bathing suit for the thing you wear to go swimming. In fact, the British say “swimming costume” but you’d never know that if you only hang around Americans. The smaller your frame of reference the more convinced you are that the way you do things is the way everyone does things.
2. “Stop complaining! You get an extra day off from work.”
I don’t want a day off on Christmas. It’s a great day to work. No one calls. No one interrupts me. And in many workplaces there’s great camaraderie in the office on Christmas because only a few people are there, and they all have something in common: They don’t celebrate Christmas.
I want a day off for Yom Kippur, which I usually have to take a personal day for. Why do I have to take a personal day for Yom Kippur but no one has to take a personal day for Christmas? This is not equal treatment for religious groups.
3. “Christmas is about good cheer. Focus on that and lose your bad attitude.”
I know I have a bad attitude. But consider that the fact that good cheer is mandated in December is also a Christian trope. For example, Thanksgiving is the holiday that makes a lot of sense to surround with good cheer. It’s about gratitude. Makes sense that we’d focus on Thanksgiving.
And the idea that we add Hanukkah to the mix is ridiculous. Hanukkah is about a war victory. The good cheer mandates are not coming from the Jews except in a sort of peer pressure way to cope with the Christian insistence that we all be happy because the Christians are happy.
4. “You can also take a day off for Hanukkah.”
First of all, Hanukkah is eight days. Second of all, the holiday isn’t a big deal to us, except that it’s a way for Jewish kids to not feel outgunned in the gift category. Jacob Sullum wrote in Reason magazine last year, “It is inappropriate…to make such a fuss over Chanukah, a minor Jewish holiday whose importance has been inflated in the popular imagination by its accidental proximity to Christmas.”
So look, we don’t want a day off for Hanukkah. Or any other Jewish holiday. We want floating holidays that everyone uses, for whatever they want. It doesn’t have to be religious, or it can be. But we don’t need our work telling us when to take time off. It’s insulting and totally impractical.
5. “We get Christmas off at work because this is a Christian country.”
People actually say this to me. Every year. I’m not kidding. People tell me that I should move to Israel if I don’t want to celebrate Christmas. Really.
I tell you this so that you understand what it’s like to be a minority. The majority of the country is not New York and Los Angeles, and the majority of the country thinks Christmas is actually sanctioned by the government. For example, my son’s public school in Madison, Wisconsin has the kids make a December calendar that includes the birthdays of four saints. Surely this is illegal mixing of church and state, but I don’t hear any complaining from parents.
People want tolerance and diversity but they are not sure how to encourage it. There is a history of tolerance starting first in business, where the change makes economic sense: Think policies against discrimination toward women, and health insurance that includes gay partners. Tolerance and awareness in the workplace reliably trickle down to other areas of society.
So do what you can at work, where you can argue that tolerance and diversity improve the bottom line, and you will affect change in society, where tolerance and diversity give deeper meaning to our lives.
I don’t particularly see Christmas as a “Christian” holiday but then, I’m Catholic (not a very good Catholic though). Since historically, the date comes from a pagan (Sun God) celebration, it doesn’t matter what you believe.
I actually don’t get the fact that people object to the idea of a red-suited guy delivering gifts and giving us a holiday. Sure; technically it’s breaking and entering but it’s still nice for kids.
Santa doesn’t wear crucifixes, his magical reindeer would have fundamentalist Christians crying “witchcraft!” and his name is an anagram of Satan. Even worse, his annual visits are the height of consumerism. I don’t see how he could possibly be seen as a religious figure.
Australia is a pretty culturally diverse country but we don’t hear much about other religious festivals. I think that’s a shame. Any excuse for spiritual bonding is good – and we could all learn so much from each other’s beliefs and customs.
In some ways, I see Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol” as being more symbolic of Christmas. A tale of finding one’s own heart again and of mending one’s ways and one’s relationships with family and friends.
Finally, Christmas provides a much needed “stop-the-clock” for the world and allows workers to schedule some time with their families and friends.
Personally, I’d like to see everyone celebrating some kind of togetherness (or a break) at the same time – just once a year – regardless of what you want to call it.
Speaking as a decidedly conservative Christian, I can only say one thing (unfortunately two years after the original post):
Bravo.
I think that the entire problem with Christmas celebrations in general lies securely in your very first point: too many Christians say that it isn’t a religious holiday. It is. It always was intended to be. And Christians are so excited about having their holidays popular that we can’t even see the fact that our holy days have been completely changed. What’s worse is that we don’t seem to care.
I wish our Christmas celebrations were more like Hanukkah — low key, private religious celebrations. Unfortunately, we messed it up — and now we have to complain about stupid things and call them “Wars on Christmas” in hopes of making ourselves feel better.
^ agreed.
Penelope, i think you make some excellent points. i DO celebrate Christmas, but would love for this entire holiday to be toned down. it’s supposed to be a beautiful celebration of Christ’s birth – of God’s perfect wisdom and grace to send his son to the earth to eventually be the savior of mankind. it’s not about trees and lights and presents and days off. of course, i would not want to work on Christmas Day, but if you do, then what’s the big deal?
my only concern about the floating holidays is that depending on the size of the office, if only a few people want to work on Christmas, it may require someone from security/facilities to be on site for those few people. maybe someone would volunteer but maybe someone wouldn’t. sometimes the mandatory holiday is just more practical.
anyway, whatever your stance, i hope you get some rest before 2010 kicks off. and have happy new year!
You’re an idiot. Do you also pull wings off flies? Arrogant when you have a job and a friend doesn’t?
Probably the most annoying thing for me during the Christmas season is that people say you’re supposed to be good, nice, generous, etc.
Is it just for Christmas that we’re supposed to think about the others, share, be friendly and care? Isn’t that something we should do all year long?
I knew tons of Jewish families who celebrate Christmas. To be honest it always annoyed me (especially when I was a kid) and my Jewish friend would come into school wearing a santa hat and talking about how her family decorated their tree.
I do agree though that you shouldn’t have to take a personal day for a religious holiday. But really if you think being “forced” to take off Christmas. I’m a Catholic American living in Ireland. Here we’re given both the 25th & 26th off as national holidays for Christmas & St. Stephen’s day. Then our company requires us to take the 3 days between then and New Years out of our personal days. We’re also required to take off Good Friday. Now I can say with fairly good accuracy that all of our employees do celebrate Christmas, even the non-nationals like myself. Now I always complain that we’re forced to take those 4 extra days out of our holiday allowance but at the end of the day it always ends up being a really nice time to relax, spend time with friends/family etc. Also, the country effectively shuts down during the time in terms of business. Even though the rest of the days aren’t national holidays, everyone takes off becuase nothing does get done. We get 20 days of vacation here though, so taking away 4 is less of a big deal.
I love Christmas and I do understand why you wouldn’t want to take the day but perhaps people who don’t want to take a day off should just appeal to their company and see if exceptions can be made. Most of the non-Christians I know just like the day off… consider it like Labor Day!
Penelope:
I have been reading your blog for about a month and a half now, and while I don’t agree with everything you say, I have to say I get what you’re saying here.
I celebrate Christmas, but I also celebrate Solstice, and consider Christmas a commercial holiday, but Solstice a spiritual one (I’m agnostic, but spiritual rather than religous). I tried to find a Hanukkah card for my boss this year, and they had *none*, and it’s only furthered my mindset that we’re too focused on Christmas and ignore other holidays completely. We have 4th of July cards, but no cards for any other major religious holidays. My boss really does celebrate Hanukkah, so I would like to be able to get him an appropriate card, in place of “Generic Winter Holiday “Peace” card with a dove on it” or “‘Holiday’ Card in red and green”.
My current workplace has 10 vacation days – 9 scheduled, one floating. What I’d eventually like to see (and after reading this, plan to personally suggest) is all floating holidays, for all employees. We have many Muslim, Japanese, and Chinese employees, and other employees from all over the world. Everyone has different holidays – and I for one, would rather take off Halloween than Memorial day, or Beltane than Good Friday.
Good post!
Interesting post.
I work for a major bank…we are given all Federal Holidays off (10 per year). If we don’t want to take them and choose to work, we get a floating holiday to use another day.
Seems fair to me. Not everyone wants Veteran’s Day, Columbus Day, etc off either. Some people just want to take a Friday off.
But while we are allowed this luxury at a higher level, those who work in branches or those who have support center roles are afforded this. Because some jobs can’t be done by just a few people. In those instances I say to enjoy the extra day off…just like *most* people who enjoy evenings, night time and weekends. You may be most productive from 1 – 5 AM but your company is most likey not going to need you to work then either…
And don’t weekends come from a religious origin?
I’m pretty sure I read this entry last year and wanted to say a big old HELL YEAH, but … it bears repeating.
I’m going to print this out and post it on my office door. Maybe if I’m lucky it will derail at least one of the batch of coworkers who come by to call me Scrooge every year.
First, I apologize for the nasty comments you have received. Second, I agree with you and I am a Christian. There was a time when every office was decorated for every holiday but we are not children. We are paid to do a job not share our beliefs. I go to church every week but most that work with me don’t know that because that is my private information.
Now lets get some work done!
I think you make some good points, but I don’t think all workplaces could adhere to your No. 2. I am Catholic and practice Christmas, but I work in a business that is a 365-day a year business, so I’ve had to work many Christmases. So yes, I agree, sometimes it’s nice to work while everyone else has off and no one is calling or e-mailing. But many, many, many other businesses are not like mine. I imagine many small workplaces (like shops and restaurants) could not manage to open if a majority of their staffs choose to take off Dec. 25 to celebrate. If a business can manage to allow people to work on Christmas if they choose, then great. But I think in this country it’s a bit unreasonable to think that every business can do this.
"All are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusions is called a philosopher."
"The lunatic, the lover, and the poet are of imagination all compact"
Damn, you’re hateful.
I am a Christian….not the “I got baptized as a child and go to church when someone dies/gets married/my folks make me kinda Christian, but a believer who tried to live a Christ-like life. I too wish America wasn’t such a “Christian” country that makes folks believe that Christmas is just about presents and snow and Santa and twinkling lights and trees. It distracts too many from the true reason for the season. So, I agree with you and do not say bah humbug!
btw – I’d hate to go on about what us native american indians think about the puritan values of Thanksgiving. . . then again – it’s a free day off of work!!
Totally ridiculous! I completely disagree with the article/post.
I don’t know ms. Trunk, you sound more grumpy about Christmas then I am and I’m a Christian who believes that Christmas is a completely Pagan celebration more akin to Satan then to Santa.
My wife is a Jew and the only reason there is any Christmas activity in our house whatsoever. She was raised a Jew but did the Christmas thing in the same light of doing the Chanukah thing.
Try to look at it this way ms. Trunk; Christians are non-Jews who have been grafted into the Covenant of God because of a Jew. Christians may not all want to acknowledge it, but Christianity is all about God’s relationship with Jews.
I attend all of my wife’s family holiday events and avoid Christmas like the plague. I don’t see any reason to be upset over others in the workplace using the holiday for a little R&R though.
I agree that Christmas is obviously Christian, and assuming I celebrate it is the sort of insult I’ve lived with so long that I barely notice it anymore. A few small points I disagree with: Why would you term Thanksgiving a secular holiday? Who, exactly, is being thanked? It’s as religious as Christmas is, just not as specific. Also, the fact that Hanukkah is not a Torah holiday and is not a day when work is prohibited doesn’t make it a “nothing” holiday. It is also not primarily a celebration of war, although since it celebrates liberation from oppression (like July 4, Memorial Day, Veterans’ Day, need I go on?) and is explicitly a celebration of the rededication of a Temple that was profaned, war is obviously mentioned. Jews are required to celebrate it, and if you think only people exposed to Christmas make a big deal out of it, spend some time in Israel. It may not be Rosh Hashanah, but it’s a significant holiday (celebrated on the 25th of the month, by the way. While many of the traditions may have come from the Saturnalia and Druidic tree worship, we know where the choice of date came from.) Floating holidays are great and I’d prefer one to Christmas if employers were willing to go along with it. Most employers would probably just take it away. Alas.
Ms. Trunk,
Do what you want on Christmas. If you are forced to take a holiday or time off, change jobs. But I’ll not subscribe to your whiny complaints about it. Really? Maybe you need to get off the parochial bandwagon your on and write about something a little more relevant.
I feel sorry for Penelope. I hope she seeks help with her issues.
Anyone who disagrees with this — which is long overdue and a damn good job of explaining why we should fear those fools who say America is a “Christian” nation — should go to their $mas tree, unscrew a light, lick their finger, and stick the wet finger in the socket.
Hurrah for you, Penelope.
Humbug forever!!!
How sad are you people? Get a life and look for positives, I also feel really sorry for your children. Magical times and special events are great memory makers. Australia follows America in many areas (unfortunately), I really hope we don’t follow your really bad attitude.
You are the one with NO tolerance. If people want to celebrate Christmas they have the right to. Whether you believe it or not, this Country was founded on the bible and Christian principles.
And show me in the bill of rights or the constitution where it says anything about seperation of church and state. You can’t because there is nothing written in the constitution about seperation between church and state.
Know this. one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the Glory of God. Remember, eternity is a long time to burn in hell
Um, actually John, the United States of America was founded by Diests – they were not Christians. I could go on breaking down your argument piece by piece, but I don’t make it a habit to argue with ignorant, ill-informed Christians.
I was raised a Christian. We celebrated Christmas. I’m now an Agnostic. However, I never before considered how alienating it must be to be a minority until I rejected religion all together, much less a minority who has had a different religion their entire life. I think this article has a lot of good points, but they aren’t delivered in an objective fashion nor do they include much about minority religions other than Judaism.
Overall, I think she has a point and I can only hope this nation becomes less and less obsessed with the notion of being a “Christian” nation.
All the evidence points to the USA being founded on freemasonry. And the thing I truly enjoy about faith based beliefs is how impervious they are to facts and/or logic and/or their own teachings.
Cheers John, enjoy your ‘mad as hell’ season as you build your apoplectic rage.
You are the one with NO tolerance. If people want to celebrate Christmas they have the right to. Whether you believe it or not, this Country was founded on the bible and Christian principles.
And show me in the bill of rights or the constitution where it says anything about seperation of church and state. You can’t because there is nothing written in the constitution about seperation between church and state.
Know this. one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the Glory of God. Remember, eternity is a long time to burn in hell
http://www.heraldmag.org/literature/doc_36.htm
For unto us a child is born; unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder. – Isaiah 9:6
Thank you, John, for proving my point. The constitution guarantees freedom OF religion and freedom FROM religion.
You worship a very small god.
I think you are totally correct!! Forget these people who want to defend alienating other who don’t celebrate Christmas. Furthermore, why do people vociferously defend global celebration of a Christian holiday which isn’t the major one for us? EASTER is the major Christian holiday! That has always left me perplexed. I think companies should give workers one or two religious holidays per year (so each worker could choose), and limit company celebrations to a picnic in the summer.
Totally agree with you – that is why I love New Year’s – a party for all — even though its roots are religious (ck a Catholic calendar and you will see it is also denoted as “Feast of the Circumsion” as it is 8 days after Jesus Christ’s birthday (his bris!) curious that eh?
p.s I often have the same experience as you describe in your other post – re: Jewis jokes “Oh sorry, I did not know you were Jewish!” BS!
Wow – what a crock! I will never read anything of yours again. I think I’d be hung if I said something like this about the Jewish faith. And since you lumped everyone into one nice little categorical trashcan, should I assume that this is how all Jewish people feel about Chritmas and Christians? I sincerely hope not. …And why aren’t your panties in a bunch about Halloween?
I am very sorry that people have made jokes about your relgion. That’s not right and it happens to all of us. However, it’s a bit better than the onslaught of hate you just poured out.
“Chritmas”?
First I must preface my comment by saying I am not a believer and I don’t mean Santa Claus, yet I look forward to Christmas more than my kids do who have had a catholic upbringing.Christmas has evolved into something larger that appeals to more than just Christians. If you don’t like Merry Christmas then try Happy Holiday’s. I still prefer Merry Christmas (and as previously stated, I don’t believe). I support your right to your beliefs however your article comes off as derogatory to everyone. I think your in the minority not because of your beliefs but because of your attitude. It seems you are suggesting a happier workplace means more profit and I agree with you, BUT the vast majority of people look forward to this holiday and most of what it brings whether its the lights, the presents or just the goodwill and cheer, which you seem to be missing in your life. Anyway, time to get back to what is really important about this holiday, spending quality time with the family, Merry Christmas.
“I’m pretty sure in America they don’t have a day off for the Queen’s birthday.” Posted by Chloe
Chloe: Totally understandable that the U.S.A. wouldn’t celebrate a foreign queen’s birthday. However, the British don’t have a day off for the Queen Elizabeth’s birthday either. But Christmas, that’s another matter. Christmas is very much tied up with ancient traditions and culture – not just a religious holiday. I’m sorry you don’t like it
I have such happy memories from childhood associated with Christmas.
I find this offensive. I am a Christian. Do not group me into a category. I would never dream of saying such rude things to someone. You are right- there should be diversity, but yet you fail to grant it to religious groups such as Jews and Christians. I do not have the same views as the person sitting next to me in the pew.
You do make a valid point in saying that we are all confused on how to encourage diversity. This year I made an effort to approach my Jewish friends around the important Jewish fall holidays (there are a lot of them) and ask them what the holiday was about, what it means to them, and what they are doing to celebrate. They were all confused about why I was interested and stated that they really didn’t care about the holiday.
I am a Christian and I do not celebrate the holiday known as Christmas. As a matter of fact, my wife (who is Jewish by birth and Christian by choice) doesn’t celebrate it either.
And, the fact is, the Christmas holiday has more to do with non-Christian beliefs than Christian beliefs.
So, before you start laying all these trumped up charges on Christianity (becasue of your obvious bias toward it) do a little better research.
For an author, you’re not too big on facts are you?
You’ve lived in a bubble. Jewish holidays directly impact my job and my income during those months. I work with lawyers, and a lot of them are Jewish. I work markedly less during their holiday seasons. I respect every religion, and to single out Christmas as the most intrusive holiday to the workplace is extremely misguided to say the least. Some of the x-mas decor is obnoxious, but that doesn’t affect my bottom line. I get hit during every holiday in a big way, Jewish or Christian.
Thank you for your perspective on this. I absolutely agree on having floating holidays and that Thanksgiving is really the holiday about good cheer. Christmas definitely feels more like a holiday about spending too much money and accumulating more “stuff.” I am a Christ follower who celebrates Christmas and this year, we will celebrate with the usual food, family gatherings and gifts but I am trying to focus my immediate family more on honoring our faith, celebrating what we’re thankful for and spending time together.
I am glad to know your thoughts on this (and I’m not offended). I always enjoy reading your opinion!
P.S. Over Thanksgiving weekend, a family memeber shared with me that she suspects that her sister has Aspergers. I think she’s right. I have learned so much from you about it and am grateful that you have shared about your experience with that, too.
“For example, Thanksgiving is the holiday that makes a lot of sense to surround with good cheer. It’s about gratitude. Makes sense that we’d focus on Thanksgiving.”
I fundamentally agree with your thesis, but I am bothered by how you overlook your own assumptions. In the same breath in which you decry the promotion of Christmas, you extol Thanksgiving. In Boston this year, the United American Indians of New England just held the 42nd annual National Day of Mourning. While some may argue that “Thanksgiving is about gratitude,” is that not a similar argument to “Christmas is about good cheer”? The fact remains that while Christmas sits squarely in a Christian perspective of the world, so does Thanksgiving sit squarely in a colonial perspective of the world, one that does not include the perspectives of American Indians, a number of whom see Thanksgiving as an idyllic cloak for the outrageous injustices perpetrated against them in the past and continuing into the present day.
We all have a frame of reference, the frame may be larger for some than for others, but we are all limited by it. If I might be so bold, I would be greatly appreciative if next time you asked that others give some critical thought to their frames of reference, you might do so as well.
Christmas is NOT a Christian holiday. Christians follow the Bible and it is NOT Bible based. It is a pagan ritual that the Catholics started. In my area we get Jewish holidays off. They are based on a calender that is modern and no longer authentic. But the Jews think that they have got it right when in actuality, NOT so much.
I think you should search for Bible truth and use the days off to spend time with your family, instead of whining, complaining, about stuff that won’t change unless you move. And it should be illegal to have to take a Jewish holiday off. Everybody knows you guys are running the country!
CHRISTMAS IS A PAGAN HOLIDAY NOT CHRISTIAN BE MAD AT THE PAGANS!A REAL CHRISTIAN HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH CHRISTMAS! THEY FOLLOW THE BIBLE!
If what you say is true and this post is because you want people to ‘understand what it’s like to be a minority.’ then you have really missed the mark. And shown yourself to have quite a prejudice.
1. “Christmas is not a religious holiday.”
It is supposed to be a religious holiday and many treat it as such. Many more however, treat as a shopping extravaganza. To each his own.
To think that Christmas is for everyone – etc.
You don’t like Christmas? Fine. Have that. Technically however, Christmas is the season of giving, and including.
2. “Stop complaining! You get an extra day off from work.”
I don’t want a day off on Christmas. It’s a great day to work.”
The world doesn’t work to satisfy what you want in all areas. it’s about time you figured this out.
Why do I have to take a personal day for Yom Kippur but no one has to take a personal day for Christmas? This is not equal treatment for religious groups.
This is a B.S. argument. Catholics don’t get a day off for Good Friday, or Ash Wednesday either, but they do celebrate Christmas. Is that not equal treatment for religious groups also?
3. “Christmas is about good cheer. Focus on that and lose your bad attitude.”
You want to focus on Thanksgiving? Then do that. Who is stopping you? When people try forcing you to be cheery, tell them, ‘Bah-humfuck.’ Then get on with your life.
4. “You can also take a day off for Hanukkah.”
We’re all aware that Hanukkah is eight days. We’re also all aware that when your employer offers you a free day off, you take it no questions asked.
“So look, we don’t want a day off for Hanukkah. Or any other Jewish holiday.”
MANY Jews will argue this one with you. I’m not Jewish so I’ll leave it to them.
We want floating holidays that everyone uses, for whatever they want. It doesn’t have to be religious, or it can be.
This is what personal days are for.
But we don’t need our work telling us when to take time off. It’s insulting and totally impractical.
Whomever owns or runs the company can close up shop whenever they choose. This is their right. If they choose Christmas the employees can deal with it, or start their own company and do it their way.
5. “We get Christmas off at work because this is a Christian country.”
People actually say this to me. Every year. I’m not kidding. People tell me that I should move to Israel if I don’t want to celebrate Christmas. Really.”
Why exactly does this surprise you? Did you NOT know this is a Christian country? ‘One Nation Under God’ ring a bell?
I tell you this so that you understand what it’s like to be a minority.
NO. You tell us this to get a little bitching and venting done so you can get your petty feelings out in the open. Which is fine. Do not however try to twist it to make it seem like the entire U.S. is wrong, and you are right. Any country you go to will be this way. Live in India as a Christian and you will feel this way when you DON’T get Christmas off. Live in Israel as a Christian, and you will be aggravated when nearly the entire country closes down from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown.
Not one of your better posts.
Some people are not happy unless they have somethings to piss and moan about. I am a victim, hear me roar.
My amusement stems from the fact that Xmas was never an issue in North America until North American started trying to become uber tolerant of everybody and their religious practices,politics and customs.Because of that we have seemingly said that it is ok for everyone who is not a native , Christian North American to stand up and complain about their perceived mistreatment…what ever happened to the concept of “majority rules?”. Sociologists can tell you without any additional study that it is impossible to please everyone in a diverse culture..and that the only thing to do is to stop trying and let the majority decide…if you do not support the majority you do not have to take part (unless mandated by law)so that is your “freedom”… otherwise keep your disdain for what the majorty wants to do to yourself. It is one day/week/month out of a year…learn to go along to get along and we will all benefit as a culture.I have no problem allowing you to celebrate Yom Kippur , or others Eid or whatever…why must you and your ilk always be whining about MY chosen yearly celebration?
You sound bitter, I am sad for you. I hope you try to look for a more optimistic point of view.
Have a Merry Christmas….
I am so tired of all this politically correct bs. If an employer gives you the day off, for whatever reason, just take it! And if you’d prefer to work that day, then do it! Get over yourself. You are not the center of the universe. No matter where you live, people will celebrate a holiday that perhaps you don’t. So what. Accept it.
Well written article with an interesting point of view and lots of interesting comments; however, my opinion of you is not postive. I feel the article was written to either create controversy in order to promote your name and your blog or either you are a very negative person. If it is the former, you must have failed because three years later and I just today learned who you are (and I now have no further interest) and regarding the latter, you and I live in a world and a country when for us our glass is nearly full and you want to focus on the part of your glass that is empty.
Penelope Trunk: you are dead wrong. We celebrate Christmas in the United States of America because the United States of America IS a Christian country. All your protestations about the USA NOT being a Christian country won’t make that true. Obviously you don’t know the history of the USA.
I so agree with you! I am not Jewish, I am atheist. I get very very tired of people who try to make this a “Christian” country, which it seems to me means doing a lot of shopping for crap for their kids and placing manger scenes on public (AKA my tax dollars are paying) spaces. I agree – lets just have secular set holidays – July 4th, Thanksgiving, etc. and lets provide a few personal days for religious/secular observations. I, for one, am sure that my attention and joy regarding the World Cup exceeds many Christians feelings about Christmas and Easter.
I totally agree with you.
I was raised Methodist, which I think is one of the more tolerant denominations of Christianity, but I grew up in the Bible belt and had various other forms of Christianity shoved down my throat for two decades. Then I moved to a Catholic part of the country, where people had a whole different set of issues, but were not as shove-it-down-your-throat about it. I currently work at a non-profit that prides itself on its religious tolerance (we have significant Muslim and Jewish populations for our location), but we still decorate for Christmas, and it drives me nuts. People shouldn’t have to grow up or live with any holiday shoved down their throats– or just “assumed,” which is almost worse because the assumption that you’re Christian and celebrating Christmas erases diversity in a really smug, privileged way.
I also think we should all celebrate Yom Kippur and Ramadan if we’re all going to be forced to celebrate Xmas. We could all stand to atone and to fast.
Thank you for writing this. You’ve hit on all of the things that I hate about this time of year. I’m the lone Jew in my department, and one of only a handful in the organization. We’re in a semi-rural part of the Midwest and I moved here for the job. For some reason, this year finally put me over the edge. Normally I’m fine with being a good sport and going along with all the nonsense, but not this year. So again, thank you for writing this.