What is the deal with Target and a few of the other stores omitting the words Merry Christmas from their ads this year? and if that is true how do you feel about it?

"Happy Holidays" is more politically correct than "Merry Christmas". It doesn't make a difference to me. I think Target and other stores are trying to not upset anyone and play it the safe by omitting it.

"Happy Holidays" is more politically correct than "Merry Christmas". It doesn't make a difference to me. I think Target and other stores are trying to not upset anyone and play it the safe by omitting it.
It does not make much difference to me either..I am just asking how others feel here..I know of one person that is going to rip me for this..but before you do let me say this is just a question for everyone and I am not a racist ( Figured I had to throw that in for that person)..I am not knocking anything here..just curious..

I think it's ridiculous. No one has ever forced anyone else to participate in Christmas. I'd like to see a store post a sign that says, "We celebrate Christmas here. If you have issues with that feel free to spend your money elsewhere."

Well IMHO as close thanksgiving and xmas are its more or less holiday's so why not call it happy holiday's. But I am not in much of holidays spirits anymore more xmas than anything. We have to put up xmas decor around my town I work for and every year we dread and it always turns out that its a pia and something goes wrong. Then after dealing with that battle/adventure I am not in a xmas mood. I use to be but not anymore, I am though for my kids but not me. I get stuff for the kids, but I ma happy not getting anything as long as the kids haveing something.

I think it's ridiculous. No one has ever forced anyone else to participate in Christmas. I'd like to see a store post a sign that says, "We celebrate Christmas here. If you have issues with that feel free to spend your money elsewhere."
If they want to be "politically" correct and just say, "happy holidays," then I will shop elsewhere. The problem with stores and people nowadays is that they want to take the true meaning of Christmas out and replace it with everything secular.

I agree that Target and other stores are making this move to try to keep offending people...but they are making a big mistake. If the store does not have "Christ" in Christmas, then they will not get my business. I already know people that are boycotting Target this year, and I am one of them.

I guess...and this is not only about Christmas..but it just seems to me America is losing it's identity as we are forced more and more to conform to the people that come here to live now and change our traditions to make them happy..and I think that is what really bothers me about things..the fact that we have to change for them..we talk about this at work even in the auto industry American cars used to be unique..now the European engineers that come here to work want our cars to be more like theirs..to many of you this may all sound stupid and seem trivial..but to me it is a big deal to be loosing our identity as America and what we once were just so we can keep other people happy..yes I do tend to go off on my rants because it pisses me off so badly... here in Dearborn we have to observe a muslim holiday and shut our schools down for three days..but yet they want us to remove the word "Christmas" from our ways..and the more and more of this kind of thing we are conditioned to accept the more and more of our identity we are going to lose as Americans..screw political correctness and having to walk on eggshells around the rest of the world..this is America..like it or leave it.

These days, "multi-culturalism" somehow means traditional American culture is offensive, and yes, there IS an American Culture. I agree with Keith and Marininer.

There is nothing wrong with embracing other cultures and how they do things. In fact that's part of what make this country so great. However, it does need to be a two-way street. Other cultures need to be open to how things are done here and blend with it. I think that in a effort to appear as culturally diverse and open as possible, some groups take things to an extreme, which is equally as bad as total exclusion of other cultures.

In the case of Christmas, the problem isn't so much with a company trying to accomodate a certain group (Muslims, Athiests, whatever) - they are only trying to be inclusive - the problem is that why would someone of a different faith be so offended in a multi-cultural country such as ours in the first place? Can not someone of a certain belief system tolerate being in contact in any way with another failth that is different from their own? If so, then America is not the place to be.

There is nothing wrong with embracing other cultures and how they do things. In fact that's part of what make this country so great. However, it does need to be a two-way street. Other cultures need to be open to how things are done here and blend with it. I think that in a effort to appear as culturally diverse and open as possible, some groups take things to an extreme, which is equally as bad as total exclusion of other cultures.

In the case of Christmas, the problem isn't so much with a company trying to accomodate a certain group (Muslims, Athiests, whatever) - they are only trying to be inclusive - the problem is that why would someone of a different faith be so offended in a multi-cultural country such as ours in the first place? Can not someone of a certain belief system tolerate being in contact in any way with another failth that is different from their own? If so, then America is not the place to be.
Other cultures are indeed what made this country a great place to live.. back when people came to this country years ago they came here to improve their quality of life and help make this a great place to live..including my ancestors..the problem is now many of them come here to take the hand outs and try to make us change our ways to accomodate them..they knew what it was like here before they moved here so dont try to change my ways now or there will be a fight on your hands..I dont bend and break like alot of people do..I would not be surprised if one day the people that come here to live will also want to bring their own laws and set of rules here for them to live by..different than ours..and we will also have to give in to that also..but then again I guess our laws may not be as harsh as theirs..so maybe that is why they come here and commit crimes they would not otherwise commit..so maybe we need to apply their laws to them if they commit a crime here..I guess this got a little off the original topic so I'll get off my soap box now..just venting here..you all know about my tantrums by now.. :LolLolLol

Many non-christians celebrate the Christmas holiday for reasons other than the birth of christ. How many immigrants do you think actually care if stores used the terms merry christmas or even care to actively promote secularism?

I've always used the term holidays because it seems like the entire season is devoted to the holidays. Not shopping at Target simply because the company decided to use the word holidays is like not shopping in my store because I said I don't celebrate christmas.

How do you feel about saying x-mas instead of Christmas? A minister once told me that it was part of the devils plan to eliminate Christmas. Another minister told me it didn't matter and it was just shorter way of saying it.

I just dont like saying x-mas because it is kinda like a lazy mans way to say Christmas..almost like ebonics whereas your too lazy to use the proper terms to say what you want to say. Although I believe in GOD I am definately not a religious person.

I just dont like saying x-mas because it is kinda like a lazy mans way to say Christmas..almost like ebonics whereas your too lazy to use the proper terms to say what you want to say. Although I believe in GOD I am definately not a religious person.
Saying x-mas is just the same as taking "Christ" out of Christmas. Any minister that says saying x-mas is ok, should not be in the ministry. If it says Merry x-mas on the sign, I will not shop there....simple as that.

Typical attitude by many ignorant (as in lacking in knowledge) fundamentalists. Here's a good explanation of the origins of "Xmas"...



From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

(Redirected from X'mas (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=X%27mas&redirect=no))
Jump to: navigation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X%27mas#column-one), search (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X%27mas#searchInput)
X-MAS is also an abbreviation for the WWII (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWII) Italian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian) frogman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frogman) group called Decima Flottiglia MAS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decima_Flottiglia_MAS). Xmas (or X-mas) is an abbreviation for Christmas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas). It is derived from the word ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ, transliterated (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transliteration) as Christos, which is Greek (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language) for Christ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ). Greek is the language in which the whole New Testament (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Testament) was written.

Originally, in "Xmas", X represented the Greek letter χ (see chi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chi_%28letter%29)). It was pronounced with a hard [kh], which is the first letter of Christ's name in Greek. However, because of the modern interpretations of the letter X (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X), many people do not know this and assume that this abbreviation is meant to drop Christ from Christmas as a means of secularization (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secularization) or a vehicle for political correctness (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_correctness).

The occasionally seen belief that the X represents the cross (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross) Christ was crucified on has no basis in fact; St Andrew's Cross (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Andrew%27s_Cross) is X-shaped, but Christ's cross was probably shaped like a T or a †. Indeed, X-as-chi was associated with Christ long before X-as-cross could be. The use of X as an abbreviation for cross in modern abbreviated writing (e.g. "Kings X" for "Kings Cross (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kings_Cross)") may have reinforced this assumption.

In ancient Christian art χ and χρ (Chi Ro--the first two letters in Greek of Christos) are abbreviations for Christ's name. In many manuscripts of the New Testament and icons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icon), X is an abbreviation for Christos, as is XC (the first and last letters in Greek, using the lunate sigma (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigma_%28letter%29)); compare IC for Jesus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus) in Greek. The Oxford English Dictionary documents the use of this abbreviation back to 1551, 50 years before the first English colonists came to North America (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America) and 60 years before the King James Version of the Bible was completed. At the same time, Xian and Xianity were in frequent use as abbreviations of "Christian" and "Christianity".

I'm sure we'll be seeing greeting cards like this soon :LolLolLol

Politically Correct Seasons Greetings

Please accept with no obligation,
implied or implicit our 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 persuasions
and/or traditions of others, or their
choice not to practice religious or
secular traditions at all ...

and a fiscally successful,
personally fulfilling, and medically
uncomplicated recognition of the onset
of the generally accepted calendar
year 2005, 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 or is
the only "AMERICA" in the western
hemisphere), and without regard to the
race, creed, color, age, physical ability,
religious faith, choice of computer platform,
or sexual preference of the wishee.

- DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTABILITY -

(By accepting this greeting,
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
her/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.)

I'm sure we'll be seeing greeting cards like this soon :LolLolLol

Politically Correct Seasons Greetings

Please accept with no obligation,
implied or implicit our 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 persuasions
and/or traditions of others, or their
choice not to practice religious or
secular traditions at all ...

and a fiscally successful,
personally fulfilling, and medically
uncomplicated recognition of the onset
of the generally accepted calendar
year 2005, 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 or is
the only "AMERICA" in the western
hemisphere), and without regard to the
race, creed, color, age, physical ability,
religious faith, choice of computer platform,
or sexual preference of the wishee.

- DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTABILITY -

(By accepting this greeting,
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
her/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.)
LMAO!!!!!!!..I am going to print that out and send it in a card to my sister and brother in law since we all got into a heated argument the other night about the subject...started by yours truly. :ohno:

Cut and pasted it, but it should read "calendar year 2006", not 2005.

I had this same discussion recently, and I think it's just fine for stores to use the greeting "happy holidays". Considering their big "sell season" starts in November and ends in January, it's perfectly acceptable to wish someone happy holidays. Reason being, it's the HOLIDAY season. (there are more holidays involved than just Christmas.)

Even though I am a Christian and celebrate Christmas, I use the phrase. What's wrong with being sensitive to others beliefs? Some of my friends are Jewish and I send them Season's Greetings cards instead of my normal Christmas cards. Is this somehow un-Christian?

I'm really confused about this being an "issue".

I was just wondering the other day if Target Stores and other businesses who refrain from using the terms " Merry Christmas" will use the terms " Happy Easter " when that money making season comes as well. I know the meaning of Easter but I also know that every holiday is a money making opportunity for businesses as well. I think they will still use the term Happy Easter. If so don't you think that contradicits their intentions?

Boycotting stores at the holidays doesn't work. Almost all major retailers use the word Holidays. Walmart, Kmart, and Target all use Happy Holidays.

Getting hung up on words during a season that has already lost most of its orginial meaning to greed and excess, is just plain moronic.

Happy Holidays is a fine greeting and a fine way to be inclusive of all holiday traditions. Too many faiths celebrate during this time of year to limit it.

Companies use "happy holidays" because some people are Jewish, and others have different beliefs. So, since Christmas is the birth of Christ and Jews do not believe in Christ, and some others do not as well, it is more appropriate to say "happy holidays." Not only that, we have two holidays within a week of each other. So the term covers both.

Boycotting stores at the holidays doesn't work. Almost all major retailers use the word Holidays. Walmart, Kmart, and Target all use Happy Holidays.

Getting hung up on words during a season that has already lost most of its orginial meaning to greed and excess, is just plain moronic.

Happy Holidays is a fine greeting and a fine way to be inclusive of all holiday traditions. Too many faiths celebrate during this time of year to limit it.
I disagree. Boycotting stores does work. I don't get "hung" up on the words during the season, however, it does make me sad that there is so much greed around the holidays that some people forget the real meaning.

Happy Holidays is way to generic, and it means absolutely nothing to me. Why limit happy holidays to Christmas and New Years? I guess instead of saying Happy Memorial Day, Happy fourth of July, Happy Labor day, Happy Veterans Day, and Happy Valentines, we could just say "happy Holiday's." I mean, they are just holidays....right? Wrong. I think you get my point. Anytime you put "happy holidays" in the place of the actual name of the holiday, it loses its meaning.

I disagree. Boycotting stores does work. I don't get "hung" up on the words during the season, however, it does make me sad that there is so much greed around the holidays that some people forget the real meaning.

Happy Holidays is way to generic, and it means absolutely nothing to me. Why limit happy holidays to Christmas and New Years? I guess instead of saying Happy Memorial Day, Happy fourth of July, Happy Labor day, Happy Veterans Day, and Happy Valentines, we could just say "happy Holiday's." I mean, they are just holidays....right? Wrong. I think you get my point. Anytime you put "happy holidays" in the place of the actual name of the holiday, it loses its meaning.
Amen brother :tiphat:

I don't think it's the term "Christmas" near as much as it's easier to use the term Holidays to cover Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years, along with Hanukkah.

I consider "happy holidays" to mean happy thanksgiving, happy new year, merry christmas, happy kwanza, and happy Hanukkah, etc. I always did. No one ever explained it to me that way when I was younger, but there are so many holidays crammed into such a short time, why exclude all the non-christians? I would have to say a different thing to every person that crosses my path! Maybe that's lazy, but it's my way.

I don't care what others call it, or what stores call it, it's still the same holiday to me. Other people can feel differently. I will still shop at Target because it's a LOT better than Wal-mart, IMHO. Where else can you find the $1 spot?

People seem to be so snippy about the holidays this year. Happy Festivus to all, I say.