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Originally Posted by Allmycats
 I'll be happy if they just say "Have a nice day" and give me a smile
 Get over it |
"Have a nice day" would be just fine for most normal people. 
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Originally Posted by Allmycats
Nah, didn't miss a thing, just kinda nut-shelled it.
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Originally Posted by Skippymjp
So, if people are free to use whatever greeting they like, why are there christian groups threatening to boycott retailers that don't wish them a merry christmas? Where did all that freedom go?
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Originally Posted by Telynn
Because those retailers used to wish a Merry Christmas. And upper management told workers not to say it anymore. Tha'ts different from suddenly being forced to say something they never said before, which you make it sound like.
At lot of this isn't from a minority that is against hearing and seeing anything about Christmas. That started it true, but most people who don't celebrate it really don't care that much if those that do put decorations up and show their celebrations in public. Where some of the biggest problems come in, are people who have knee-jerk reactions and try to stifle all signs of Christmas, not because they don't celebrate it, but because they don't want to offend anyone. As if someone saying Merry Christmas is offensive. If you didn't celebrate it it might get annoying but that's really it. Here is a good op-ed piece written a few years ago by Ben Stein. http://www.benstein.com/121805xmas.html |
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Originally Posted by Skippymjp
I completely agree, it doesn't bother most people. So why should a retailer who wants to be inclusive of all his/her/their customers be threatened with boycotts of his/her/their business and livelyhood by people who demand to be pandered too?
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Originally Posted by Allmycats
Exactly!! Majority rules!! Why is it liberals always want to change the truth?
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Originally Posted by Telynn
Because the VAST majority of people out shopping right now are not out looking for "Winter Solace" gifts.
And the shopkeeper isn't doing it to be inclusive. They are doing it because they have the weird idea that wishing someone a Merry Christmas would be offensive. |
But then, there were times that mandated greetings were very popular. A couple of really well known one's were "Greetings, Comrade" and "Heil Hitler". 
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Originally Posted by ckblv
People are free to boycott anyone they want. Retailers and others get boycotted by many different groups, including gay people. I have seen where gay groups boycott groups that supported Proposition 8 in Californina. They are free to do that. We all are free to boycott whomever we want.
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Originally Posted by Skippymjp
So are you saying you think that (a) A standard non-secular greeting should be mandated to all retail establishments, and... (b)that every retailer in the country is under some kind of "weird" influence in which they are not doing what they want at all.
Sounds like an unconstitutional paranoia episode to me. But then, there were times that mandated greetings were very popular. A couple of really well known one's were "Greetings, Comrade" and "Heil Hitler". |
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Originally Posted by Telynn
It is the opposite of what you are saying. It is stores that used to tell everyone Merry Christmas who suddenly is telling their employees not to. It is companies who used to have Christmas parties suddenly having "Winter parties". It is a Christmas tree being called a holiday tree. It is schools being told no Santas. It isn't about making people celebrate Christmas, it is about protesting when someone tries to STOP things that have happened for years and in some cases decades.
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And their reasons for doing so are entirely up to the company, though public one's may have to answer to shareholders.
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Originally Posted by ckblv
There are many on the left that really detest Glenn Beck and started a boycott of the sponsers of Beck's television show on Fox. They are free to do that. I think everyone is free to make their disagreement known of issues important to them as long as we aren't infringing on anyone else's human rights or anything related to that.
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Originally Posted by Skippymjp
The words do not. The demand that people of other faiths use them, does.
 Does this mean you're NOT going to look up "Constitutional Federal Republic"? |
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Originally Posted by Skippymjp
So, if people are free to use whatever greeting they like, why are there christian groups threatening to boycott retailers that don't wish them a merry christmas? Where did all that freedom go?
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Originally Posted by Telynn
It is the opposite of what you are saying. It is stores that used to tell everyone Merry Christmas who suddenly is telling their employees not to. It is companies who used to have Christmas parties suddenly having "Winter parties". It is a Christmas tree being called a holiday tree. It is schools being told no Santas. It isn't about making people celebrate Christmas, it is about protesting when someone tries to STOP things that have happened for years and in some cases decades.
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Originally Posted by Allmycats
Who's doing that? Not I.
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Originally Posted by Skippymjp
You may want to research your stance a bit, whatever it is. It would make participation in the thread a far richer experience.
But to make a long story short, the entire "War on Christmas" hoax is perpetuated for no other reason than for a pundit to sell a book on the subject. |
| Hanukkah celebrates the rededication of the Temple after the successful Jewish revolt against the Seleucid monarchy. The Jews found only enough ritually pure olive oil to light the menorah for one day, but the supply miraculously lasted eight days until a new supply could be obtained. In celebration of this miracle, the chanukkiyah has eight branches for eight candles or oil lamps, none higher than any other. These lamps are not to be used for secular purposes, such as providing the sole source of light or heat for the room. The Hanukkah menorah has a ninth branch for an auxiliary candle, the shamash, that, by shedding its own light, keeps the other candles from inadvertently serving any purpose other than their ritual one. The shamash is also used to light the other candles. The holder for the shamash candle is generally distinguished in some way from the other eight, traditionally being placed higher than the others, and often in the center, with four of the other candles on each side. |
| The ancient pagans, Druids, Egyptians, Chinese, and Hebrews celebrated the Winter Solstice, (Dec. 21st), the day of the year that the Sun begins its ascent in the sky thereby ushering a fertile time of planting and bountiful harvests. Hence, the evergreen tree represented eternal life and the promise of replenishment during the cold winter solstice[citation needed]. Apples and other fruit were hung upon the tree to represent the plentiful food to come. Candles were lighted to symbolize the warmth and brightness of the sun. While the Christmas tree is generally associated with Christ, it predates this religious figure by many centuries. |
Cinders has MY vote 
I agree with you so wholeheartedly, except for Memorial Day, because now it's Memorial Weekend, the first big hurrah of BBQing, and seems to have lost it's meaning of remembering the fallen...when I was a kid, the VFW would hold a ceremony at our school & tell us what theater they served in and on Memorial Day, my folks would take us to the cemetery for the rememberance ceremony.
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Originally Posted by Telynn
It isn't about making people celebrate Christmas, it is about protesting when someone tries to STOP things that have happened for years and in some cases decades.
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Originally Posted by Cinder
#3. Give every employee one day a year to celebrate their culture, heritage, hero, whatever.
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Originally Posted by Cinder
I'm sure there is some nice generic greeting we can wish one another too. I'll let you know just as soon as I think of it.
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Originally Posted by Telynn
It is the opposite of what you are saying. It is stores that used to tell everyone Merry Christmas who suddenly is telling their employees not to. It is companies who used to have Christmas parties suddenly having "Winter parties". It is a Christmas tree being called a holiday tree. It is schools being told no Santas. It isn't about making people celebrate Christmas, it is about protesting when someone tries to STOP things that have happened for years and in some cases decades.
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Originally Posted by ut0pia
Would anyone who isn't a muslim be comfortable if a store clerk told you "Ramadan Mubarak" on Ramadan?? Then what's wrong with being courteous and eliminating religious greetings from stores in order to try to not make anyone who doesnt' celebrate feels excluded?
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Originally Posted by strange_wings
Most people already get some form of this - it's called a "floating holiday", "personal day/time", or vacation. If you're salaried and work any overtime, you may also get a day off from places that don't pay for overtime.
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Originally Posted by ebrillblaiddes
If I were, for whatever reason, in a country where the majority celebrated Ramadan, I would take it as kindly intentioned and accept it in that spirit.
Someone (who was Wiccan or something like that; they celebrated the Solstice) on another forum once put it like this: Saying "Merry Christmas" (or I guess, by extension, any other holiday greeting) is like offering people chocolate covered cherries. If you offer chocolate covered cherries to everyone you talk to, that's a nice thing to do. If you persistently offer chocolate covered cherries to someone who can't or won't eat them, that's freaking obnoxious. (Also by extension, insisting on being offered a chocolate covered cherry would be obnoxious.) What that means is that, if I don't know if someone celebrates Christmas, there's nothing wrong with expressing goodwill in the way that comes naturally to me, but if I know that someone doesn't celebrate Christmas, it's better to express goodwill in a way that works for them. Both sides of the political correctness debate miss the mark on the "Merry Christmas" issue. What we really need is a return, in the spirit of the season, to graciousness and common sense. If someone says "Merry Christmas" and you celebrate something else, or if you celebrate Christmas and someone says "Happy Holidays," just accept their kind wishes in the spirit in which they were offered. |
| Before the tree was lit, Obama said its story might be Christian but its lesson is universal. "It represents a tradition that we celebrate as a country — a tradition that has come to represent more than any one holiday or religion, but a season of brotherhood and generosity to our fellow citizens," he said. |
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Originally Posted by Dusty's Mom
Obama has renamed the National Christmas Tree. It is now the National HOLIDAY Tree.
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