Merry Christmas Anyway!

There I said it! And I really don’t care if you are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, atheist, agnostic or believe in some other kind of -ology that would make my list too long to mention. For some reason that seems to have been erased from public consciousness, those of us who would consider ourselves to be human resources professionals are supposed to be faithless monitors of political correctness. Can you tell yet that I am not a subscriber to that philosophy? I am not alone in being irate at all of the “Happy Holiday” crap that is supposed to be the mandatory greeting from mid-November through New Year’s Day, but even those who would agree with me often believe it for the wrong reason. Can I be the only normal person left? Is society rationalizing that to prevent possibly offending the sensitivities of some paranoid anti-religious individual that I must change my beliefs? If you are offended by my religion, you could also be offended by the fact that I am a straight, white, male, baby boomer, veteran, meat-eating, college educated geek. How much of that should I change to please you? Here’s a clue… don’t try it because it won’t work!

Religious Bias is ALWAYS Wrong – There is never a case in which my beliefs are universally right and your beliefs are blatantly wrong. Wars have been started and continue to be fought because of religious differences. Even sects of the same faith have done damage to their own image by promoting hatred rather than tolerance toward each other. We not only take sides politically when countries declare war based on religious differences, we arm them and allow them to commit acts of violence with our assistance. In the most polarized conflicts, the perceived injustices actually began centuries ago. During this holiday season, armed Christians living on different sides of man-made boundaries will celebrate the birthday of the Prince of Peace while cleaning their rifles.  

Protecting a Right Never Means Taking Rights from Others – Secular governments in the United States taking action against Christian displays of faith during the holidays may mean well, but they are terribly misguided. The angry backlash, calling this a “War on Christmas” is polarized in the opposite direction. While lawyers from one side battle lawyers on the opposite side of the issue and duke it out for the money, we all lose. The courts will decide who is legally right, but there are many that are wondering how a country dedicated to freedom OF religion has turned into a country trying to give everyone freedom FROM religion. The courts will act but God will have the final decision. What new laws of man will HR have to enforce after this is all over.  

A Culture of Inclusiveness Is By Definition Not Restrictive – If we truly value diversity of thought, we cannot penalize employees for displaying symbols of their faith. Companies that ban office Christmas trees during the holidays have also been known to target personal preferences for desktop or cubical wall decorations at other times as well. Is a crucifix really that offensive to anybody? Is saying Merry Christmas as a well wishing holiday greeting wrong? Most would say no, but for some reason we have all lapsed into the neutrality of “Happy Holidays.” How is neutering someone’s beliefs an act of inclusiveness? We are all missing out on an opportunity for cross cultural enlightenment and a belief in God is not a prerequisite to learning.

When I say Merry Christmas it is not so much an assumption that you are Christian as it is a declaration that I am a Christian and that I am not ashamed of it. It also means that I am wishing you a “happy holiday” season in any way you choose to celebrate it. I attribute my belief in forgiveness, dedication to my fellow man, going the extra mile, and my insistence on fairness for all to be rooted in my Christian faith. That does not mean that I consider myself to be better than anyone else. In fact my friendships with persons of different faiths have enlightened me and expanded my personal boundaries. It is really not all that important to me that everybody thinks as I do. You won’t see me standing on a street corner waving a Bible and spouting prophesy to all who pass by, but I do take my faith very seriously. I won’t proselytize you, but if you are interested in knowing more I would not pass up an opportunity to share my faith with you. Why don’t we allow all people to search for truth in their own way and let God sort it all out in the end?

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