I was listening to our new annual Christmas tradition in the U.S. - debating whether merchants uttering "Merry Christmas" is innately offensive to non-Christians. It strikes me all as rather silly. I can't believe we have these debates because I can't believe those two words have been banned by some merchants and have the power to offend some shoppers. It's not silly to object to their banishment, it's silly to ban them in the first place.
How does the greeting "Merry Christmas" have the power to offend the sensitivities of non-Christian customers when the store they are shopping in is obviously decked out for Christmas. The decorations being sold are red and green, they are Christmas trees and stockings. Santa Claus is staring down at them and Christmas carols waft through the air. The store is screaming "Merry Christmas" with the goods filling the aisles. Once they've withstood the Christmas decorations, can the two words really offend them?
Look, it's Christmas. It's the holiday in December the vast majority of Americans celebrate, religiously or secularly. You can't live in the U.S. without being exposed to Christmas in some form. It seems to me that adults have the fortitude to tolerate a simple greeting for a holiday they might not share since the celebration is ubiquitous in the culture from about October on. It's not as if they can avoid it.
Tolerance is celebrated as one of the great virtues of our country. Tolerance entails putting up with something you don't agree with or like. Can't we tolerant two little words "Merry Christmas"? I can certainly tolerate two words if they're uttered to me, "Happy Hanukkah." Tolerance is not about creating a banal, homogenized, unoffensive culture. It's about putting up with our differences. That's why I find banning "Merry Christmas" silly. It's intolerant.
