Merry Christmas to all!

By Aaraksh Siwakoti

It’s the most wonderful time of the year and hearing Santa Clause say “Ho Ho Ho, Happy Holidays” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

The same argument comes up every year around this time and it’s always about what people should say to each other during the holiday season and I’ve got my answer: “Merry fricken Christmas!”

Now I know that not everybody celebrates this joyful holiday, but if you came up to me and wished me a happy Hanukah, Kwanzaa, Yule or whatever you’re celebrating, I wouldn’t be offended, nor would I correct you to ensure that someone within earshot knew that I was a righteous fellow standing up for the little guy.

We don’t have to be politically correct about every little single thing that might offend someone. I get ­­it — it’s not in your religion to celebrate Christmas. It’s not in mine either but when December rolls around all I think about is the marvel that is the Christmas season.

You don’t have to say Merry Christmas to anyone if you don’t want to, but don’t get riled up if they say it to you either. I like wishing people a Merry Christmas and I’m not Christian, but that’s what this holiday season represents for me.

I don’t see it as a religious holiday; the Christmas spirit is what gets my sleigh running. The lights, the music, the decorations, and of course the warm fuzzy feeling when you watch A Christmas Story for the hundredth time while drinking eggnog.

Christmas is part of the western culture; the traditions have been passed down for ages.

What harm does it really do to someone who doesn’t celebrate it?

Back in Nepal I never saw a Christmas tree in the town square, the streets weren’t draped with lights, and no Santa Clause in the local mall. Seeing it here makes it feel like one of my own festivals like Diwali.

This notion that ‘Happy Holidays’ is the correct term means that the majority of the people who are celebrating Christmas aren’t even allowed to say it in fear of offending someone. Why do you care anyways?

Christmas means a lot of different things to people and for me it’s the time of year that my family and I get together, have dinner, share memories, open presents and are happy. There aren’t too many holidays that just bring people together and Christmas has always been that for my family and me — even though it’s not our holiday.

So the next time someone says “Merry Christmas” to you, don’t correct them just wish them whatever you want to say.

Merry Christmas everyone!

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Happy holidays or bust

By Steven Smeall

The biggest issue that comes with holiday season is the debate of which greeting is the proper one; the Christmas-specific “Merry Christmas” or the generalized “Happy Holidays.”

With the increase in people celebrating other holidays due to their religion, we need to stick to the term “happy holidays.”

Over the past few years, Christmas has become more of a general holiday that many people choose to celebrate. If those people are not celebrating Christmas, they may be celebrating holidays such as Hanukkah, Yule and Kwanzaa.

Because of this, some people take offense to the term “Merry Christmas” as it disrespects their religion and beliefs.

To me, the holidays are about enjoying time with the people that you hold close, not getting into a heated argument with a stranger about whose beliefs are correct.

That’s why in the past couple of years we have seen the term “happy holidays” become more common. It’s an attempt to generalize the holiday season for everyone and put an end to the nonsense debates that spark up around this time.

Quite often I hear people talk about how we need to respect others and not undermine what they hold dear to them, so why is it that the holiday season brings out the worst in some people when it comes to this?

Even though Christmas may be important to Christians, it is not right to force people of other religions to adopt your holidays.

On the same note, it is not right to tell Christians to ignore what they believe in to be kind to others.

That is why we need to adopt the term “happy holidays” as it respects everyone throughout the holiday season and will help people get along as everyone is out holiday shopping.

Many businesses have adopted the generalizing policy to avoid offending a certain kind of people, because if they were to pick a side there would be an outrage from that group.

Apart from businesses, you will rarely see any organization that deals with the public refer to the holidays as Christmas. So why should we summarize it as the Christmas holidays?

Everyone speaks of holiday joy and all that good stuff, but the season is constantly over shadowed by the War on Christmas, as it’s often called in media.

I’m just sick of it at this point.

So heading into all of your holiday traditions, take time and consider everyone else’s beliefs other than your own. If we can learn to respect each other this holiday season, then we can get to something that is common between everyone: enjoying the holidays.

Happy holidays everyone.