

Its holiday time! But really how much of a holiday is it? An Office worker will get about 2 days off, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, a student is recovering after a deadly week of exams and trying not to think about the upcoming semester ahead, and retail workers are ripping their hair out dealing with all the crazy shoppers. And we are calling this a holiday?
Its Christmas, we are doing all the baking, shopping, decorating, and gift giving because December 25 is marked Christmas, not Holiday day. Ironically Christmas is slowing being stripped from Christmas, as “Happy Holidays and Seasons Greeting” is apparently the polite thing to say in this modern world.
Tim Hortons and Wendy’s workers are instructed to say “Happy Holidays” or “Seasons Greetings” and never a “Merry Christmas.”
When asked, Sophie Fatsis, sales associate at spring shoes, her thoughts on the lack of “Merry Christmas” she remarked that, “I feel I have the right to wish anybody a Merry Christmas…I feel that this shouldn't offend anybody since we are in a multi-cultural community.”
Leonard Swidler, Professor of Catholic Thought and Interreligious Dialogue, comments that, “I make it a habit to wish my Muslim friends a blessed Eid at that time, my Jewish friends a Happy Hanukkah at that time, my Hindu friends a blessed Divali – and Christians a Merry Christmas at Christmas time!”
Many believe Jesus is the reason for the season and want to express their religion at this time of year. However in Modernized Canada it seems religion is not making the cut.
Ben Stien on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary exclaimed that, “I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period.”
In Canada Christians should not be getting pushed around! Canada is categorized as a Christian country so why should celebrating or even as little as acknowledging a Christian holiday be so difficult? The choice to keep Christ in Christmas should be a personal choice as well as a free one.
According to Bernard Stephenson, assistant pastor at Mississauga City Baptist Church, “it's a choice of the cup of water or the cup of poison. Which one will society take? Unfortunately, to take Christ and all that represents out of Christmas is to choose the cup of poison and all that that entails.”
A large portion of flyers, commercials and sales associates are representing the holiday side of Christmas only. That's okay, Christmas comes from the heart, and as long as it is still alive in there have a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year.
City On Line hosted a call in 2007 on the Merry Christmas vs Happy holidays topic. More opinions on this controversial subject can be found here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaY_wQZ143o