Bill O'Reilly got a "bee in his bonnet" in 2005 over "Happy Holidays" and some people bought in on a nonsense issue.
The argument on what to say during the November and December months as a greeting in greeting cards arose at our Thanksgiving fest. Interesting hos we do not check for the history or facts when we get into these discussion. Bottom line is that Marry Christmas was NOT the original greeting at all. The original greeting was happy holidays. See the information below.
The bottom line: "Therefore, then or now, to wish someone “Happy Holidays” is to wish them happiness from the first night of Advent through the Feast of the Epiphany, including Christmas."
So MY BOTTOM LINE: Say whatever greeting is in your heart, and try to be at peace with your neighbor. Avoid a debate and anxiety over WORDS!
To make a more divisive scenario, do what Tweety does and make "Marry Christmas" a battle of words rather than a time of peace, goodness, giving and caring.
"Both greetings — Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays — have religious significance: Guest commentary"
by Bill Ruh, 13 Dec 2013
"The Question of the Week was about Christmas and what terms should be utilized; Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas. It might help to have a background on the derivations of both phrases.
To understand the meaning behind Happy Holiday(s) and Merry Christmas, one must look at the origin of the words.
The word holiday is a compound stemming from the words holy and day. The word “holiday” first surfaced in the 1500s replacing the earlier word “haliday” which was recorded before 1200 in the Old English book Ancrene Riwle. Earlier, about 950, the word was “haligdaeg” and appeared in the Old English Lindisfarne Gospels. It was a compound of the Old English “halig” (holy) plus “daeg” (day). Originally the word meant a religious festival and a day of recreation, free from labor and toil. As the English language and pronunciations changed the word evolved into our modern “holiday.” To wish someone a Happy Holiday was to wish them happiness for a singular day of religious significance “Happy Holy Day.” To wish someone “Happy Holidays” was to wish them happiness for the many Holy Days in a particular cycle of the Christian calendar, such as Advent. Advent is a cycle in the Christian calendar which includes Christmas and concludes on the Feast of the Epiphany. Therefore, then or now, to wish someone “Happy Holidays” is to wish them happiness from the first night of Advent through the Feast of the Epiphany, including Christmas.
The word for Christmas in late Old English is Cristes Maesse, the Mass of Christ, first found in 1038, as Cristes-messe. Cristes-messe referred directly to the specific date set aside for the Mass of Christ, a commemoration of the birth of Christ. The word became “Christ Mass” in Middle English and then “Christmas” in modern English. To wish someone “Merry Christ Mass” or “Christmas” was to wish them to be filled with joy on the singular day set aside to recognize the birth of Christ.
Both of these greetings have deep religious significance. In a very technical sense perhaps “Happy Holidays” has the greater significance as it wishes one happiness for the entire period of Advent, while Merry Christmas sends a greeting for only one day during that period, the day of the Mass of Christ.
Personally, I wish people a Merry Christmas."
Bill Ruh is a member of the Montclair City Council.
So what does Tweety do? Distract us from his failing Presidency, to start. He stives to make America even more tribal hoping he can keep his base, including Evangelicals. Sad, Dumb too. Divide the nation and make us NOT great, in fact, a nation uglier than ever.
"'SNL': Merry Christmas, here's your next culture war"
By Dean Obeidallah Updated 4:09 PM ET, Sun October 15, 2017
http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/15/opinions/snl-trump-christmas-opinion-obeidallah/index.html
"The reason we can expect Trump's war on happy holidays is simple. Like with the NFL controversy, it's part of Trump's twofold strategy. First, it plays to his base. With the NFL debate, Trump framed it as an issue of patriotism and respect for our flag and armed forces. That plays well with his right-wing base the same way demanding everyone say "Merry Christmas" will play well with his conservative Christian base.
Second, these issues distract from Trump's failed record of legislative accomplishments. There has been no Affordable Care Act repeal as Trump promised (though his recent executive orders have certainly undermined it). There has been no comprehensive tax reform yet. There is no shiny new wall along the Mexican border. And the list goes on.
So, come this December, don't expect a politics-free holiday season. Prepare for divisive and ugly partisan divides in stores across America. After all, in Trump's America, why should we expect the holidays to be any different than the rest of the year?"
"Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays, Round 2,016" [November, December, EVERY YEAR since at least 2005, a time to argue how to greet your neighbor. lol]
The perennial debate gets a new coat of cheer from Donald Trump.
Andrew McGill Dec 20, 2016
"The ruckus around whether to say “Merry Christmas” or “Happy holidays” usually starts at the end of Thanksgiving, as retailers take down the turkeys with pilgrim hats and hang wreaths instead. Most of the time, it’s confined to the letters section of the local newspaper.
But Christmas came early this year. President-elect Donald Trump made his position clear in June, and many times since: “Boy, do I mean it—we’re going to be saying ‘Merry Christmas,’ ” he told a group of evangelical leaders in New York. (He made a similar promise last year, when he also suggested boycotting Starbucks after the coffee chain abandoned its traditional holiday cup design.)"
Bottom line: Starbucks got it right! We do what we feel, and history says Happy Holidays covered Christmas.
"Ironically, it’s a Christian-friendly greeting at its root; “holiday” stems from the Old English for “holy day.” For much of the United States’s history, it would have been given and accepted by Christians without a bat of the eye, understanding that the holidays in question were those of Advent, or perhaps Christmas and the Gregorian new year. Only relatively recently has it become a catch-all for people of other religions.
This sensitivity didn’t always provoke backlash from the right. Political science professor David Greenburg noted a few years back in Slate that Dwight Eisenhower had mailed non-denominational cards in the 1950s, to little outcry."
"But at some point since then, the growing popularity of “happy holidays” has been derided as an attack on Christmas. The New York Times traces the trend back to 2005, when Fox News host Bill O’Reilly turned railing against “happy holidays” into a bit of an annual tradition on his program. That same year, President George W. Bush followed Eisenhower’s example and wished his Christmas card recipients a happy “holiday season,” a turn of phrase that prompted no end of bile."
