HAPPY XDAYS!

I digress from water for a moment.

A friend told me that, at a recent Christmas party, she wished everyone a Merry Christmas. "The people were shocked and dumbfounded", she related. "No one says 'Merry Christmas' anymore!" they exclaimed to her.

They were correct. Today, it seems, people are afraid to express "Merry Christmas." Instead, they tend to utter "Happy Holidays" or similar phrase incorporating the word "Holiday". Media. in all forms, including greeting cards, wish or refer to "Happy Holiday" or "Seasons Greetings."

Maybe it all started many years ago, when signs and print advertisements said "Xmas" instead of "Christmas." The abbreviation was justified on the ground of space limits. However, saving only four letters seems a lame excuse.

It is unclear why people shy away from saying "Merry Christmas." Perhaps it is due to a misguided attempt to be politically correct. Or it may be related to a national secularization of anything religious. It is interesting, however, that the word "holiday" obviously is derived from "holy day.", and one of the dictionary definitions of the word "holiday"is "holy day." So, why not greet using the word "Christmas?"

But, wait, there is more! One cannot blame our courts for the reluctance to refer to Christmas. For example, the US Supreme Court held that a creche (nativity scene) erected in a park in a city did not violate the prohibition in the First Amendment of the COnstitution against establishment of religion. The Court wrote: "It would be ironic, however if the inclusion of a single symbol of a particular religious event, as part of a celebration acknowledged in the Western World for 20 centuries, and in this country by the people, by the Executive Branch, by the Congress, and the courts for two centuries, would so 'taint' the City's exhibit as to render it violative of the Establishment Clause. To forbid the use of this one passive symbol--the creche--at the very time people are taking note of the season with Christmas hymns and carols in public schools and other public places, and while the Congress and Legislatures open sessions with prayers by paid chaplains would be a stilted over-reation contrary to our history and to our holdings. If the presence of the creche in this display violates the Establishment Clause, a host of other forms of taking official note of Christmas, and our religious heritage, are equally offensive to the Constitution.+

Can you imagine Bing Crosby sitting at his piano next to a "holiday" or "Xmas" tree singing "I'm dreaming of a white holiday"?

"Happy Holidays", Seasons Greetings", "Xmas"...bah, humbug. Three huzzahs for...MERRY CHRISTMAS!


____________________________________________________________________________________

* Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668,686 (1984)