A cheerful greeting is not an intolerant decree
By Jamie Katz 21 Dec 2010A pair of high-spirited teenage girls scurried across a busy Manhattan intersection, braving the crowds and frosty weather to hit one more Fifth Avenue shop before closing time. I was a step behind them as they passed a Salvation Army Santa ringing his bell and a traffic cop in earmuffs.
"Merry Christmas!" one of the girls sang out to the policeman, who returned the greeting with a big smile and a wave.
Right away the mood changed.
"How can you say that?" the second girl admonished her friend. "I mean, what if he's Jewish?
"Well, I don't care, OK? I'm just sick of this 'Happy Holidays" stuff."
I wish I'd flagged them down, because there's something I'd like to have told them very clearly: It's all right to say Merry Christmas. In fact, it's lovely.
I happen to be Jewish. And I've lived most of my life in New York City, where, on the whole, contrary to rumor, people of every faith, language and hue do a pretty good job of getting along.
Not once, ever, publicly or privately, have I heard anyone — Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Cherokee, atheist or Aqua Buddhist — say he or she was insulted by a sincere holiday greeting that included the word Christmas.
Of course, if you're aware that someone celebrates a different tradition, it's nice to acknowledge that too. And if you have no idea whether he or she prefers Kwanzaa, Hanukkah or Omisoka, you can always say, "Happy Festivus for the rest of us!" or even "Happy holidays!" It's not that bad.
But just as Americans of every stripe acknowledge English as the common tongue, we all know that a hefty majority of us profess Christianity in one form or another. As long as we are free to do otherwise, where's the problem? Sane adults understand that a cheerful greeting is not an intolerant decree.
The confusion arises when government gets in on the act. The Founding Fathers made freedom of religion No. 1 in the Bill of Rights for a reason. They were born when people still remembered the days of wholesale massacres and hideous punishments in the name of religious doctrine: It was Christians killing Christians — and a lot of them fled Europe for these shores to practice their beliefs in freedom. Some early colonials — such as the New England Puritans — did attempt to impose religious laws by government fiat. (Not a jolly bunch, they also disapproved of Christmas festivities and had them banned in Boston for part of the 17th century.) But with a proliferation of diverse groups, saner heads prevailed.
And now we are all free to enjoy Christmas — yes, the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ — just as we wish. For anyone, it can be beautiful to acknowledge his joyous tidings of peace, charity, hope and love.
"If I could work my will," Scrooge declares in Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," "every idiot who goes about with 'Merry Christmas' on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should!"
Well, bah humbug to that. Even Scrooge melted before the joy of the season — and the fear of death without loving connection.
So go ahead and say it, one and all: Merry Christmas!
Jamie Katz is a freelance writer and editor from New York City
