Last week I wrote of my concern over the increasing substitution of “Happy Holidays” for “Merry Christmas” in an effort to be politically correct. Since that time I have read a commentary by Ben Stein given on the CBS Sunday Morning program on Dec. 18, 2005. Mr. Stein also addresses the use of Merry Christmas. I think his comments are worth passing on. What follows is a portion of what he said.
I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don’t feel threatened. I don’t feel discriminated against. That’s what they are: Christmas trees. It doesn’t bother me a bit when people say, “Merry Christmas” to me. I don’t think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn’t bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a creche, it’s just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.
I don’t like getting pushed around for being a Jew and I don’t think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can’t find it in the Constitution and I don’t like it being shoved down my throat.
Mr. Stein is indeed a man of goodwill. I wish him a Happy Hanukkah and a Merry Christmas.
This post is also available in/Esta entrada también está disponible en: Spanish