Richard Urban said:
Happy Holidays - whatever your faith or religious persuasion may be.
Have a peaceful, glorious day and coming new year - filled with love and
friendship.
Richard Urban,
No offense meant, and none is implied if you were considering taking any.
And please don't be offended if you were perhaps thinking you may have a
good reason to be offended. Please take this as just a little example of
how absurd little sayings like the one you mention above sound. I mean, for
goodness sake's, if you are going to wish someone happy holidays, do you
really, really need to put a non-exclusionary clause in such a simple
greeting as happy holidays? Why not just say "Happy Holidays" and let that
be it if that is what you want to say, instead of putting an explanation of
just who you may or may not be talking too when you say happy holidays.
Here is an article that I copied and pasted from another news-group, I don't
claim it to be my own but I think it quite nicely encapsulates how some
people such as yourself may feel about a holiday that some people are afraid
to say the name of.
Cut and Pasted:
"Please accept with no obligation, implied or
implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially
responsible,
low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice
holiday,
practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion
of your
choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the
religious/secular
persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice
religious or
secular traditions at all.
I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally
fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the
generally
accepted calendar year 2006, but not without due respect for the calendars
of choice
of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America
great.
Not
to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the
only
America in the Western Hemisphere. And without regard to the race, creed,
color, age,
physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee. By
accepting
these greetings you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to
clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to
the
original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement
any of
the wishes for herself or himself or others, and is void where prohibited by
law and
is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher.
This wish is warranted to perform
as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one
year or
until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first,
and
warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at
the sole
discretion of the wisher."
For everyone else: Here's wishing You a Merry Christmas and a Happy New
Year
