Re: Good article
>And I believe your beliefs make you an asshole.
Speaking as an agnostic with definite atheist tendencies, I think the whole "holidays vs Christmas" thing is kinda silly, from both ends of the spectrum.
Like another form of PC-speak, where someone is "vertically challenged", rather than "short".
The holidays around Dec 25 are time off holidays for most workers. They happen to be originally motivated by something that might or might not have happened 2000 years ago. That's besides the point, for me, but they are important enough, on most folks' schedule, for work or family reasons, to warrant easy identification during communication. "Christmas" seems to be the natural choice and easily understood.
Otherwise, if we successfully wiped out Xmas as a designation you'd end up with "the holidays in Dec" and the "holidays in April" (Easter). A bit silly, innit?
"Joe, please make sure the program identifies the correct non-work days around the April holidays."
And Halloween being All Saints Eve originally? Surely another candidate for "the October 31st Holiday"?
Myself, I find the "sky fairy" terminology a bit over the top. A bit in-your-face to believers and I am relaxed enough in my non-belief not to impose it onto others. But at least it has the shock value to remind people that one person's belief is another's superstition.
Insisting on re-labeling a public holiday's convenient and generally accepted designation because of its, fairly tenuous (because of lack of actual observance by most), link to Christianity seems rather pointless however. Let alone caring overmuch about not offending other religion's followers, when you can be fairly sure they would feel no compunction not to label their own holidays naturally and probably don't care either way (traditional Muslim doctrine rates Atheists rather lower than Christians).
Just as pointless as the folks stridently insisting on "Christmas" in fact.
Happy Holidays, or Merry Christmas, y'all. Whatever floats your boat. Live and let live ;-)
p.s. now, if only my the cafe I am in would turn off their @*%$& Holiday carolsl!!!