I don't care. I think most people don't. It's just a small minority on either side that are all vocal and getting their panties in a wad over something really stupidly insignificant. Dec 25 is Christmas, and the entire season is the holidays, so what's wrong with being wished well over it, no matter what your faith? less

What offends me is when nasty Christians (not meant to include all Christians, I love a great many of you guys ) insist on not taking Christ out of the holiday and then spend themselves into insane debt. The Holy Day is a celebration of your saviors birth not a day to "prove" how much you love your family and friends by giving them un-needed and over priced gifts! In my very vocal and silly family there have even been tears and yelling over getting a gift less expensive than they gave or not getting EXACTLY what they asked for! To my mind if you act this way you are celebrating Xmas (as in taking Christ out of the equation not the Greek word for Christ) anyhow.

The name of the holiday is not offensive to me in any way and I don't mind spelling it out or capitalizing the first letter. I love attending church with my Christian loved ones and friends. Still I really hate being blasted by Christmas carols the day after Halloween.... less

"When did 'sticks and stones' become inapplicable? Aren't we taught as children that what is said to us is simply words? Why get 'offended' ever?"

I fought with myself over whether or not to respond to this, but in the end I simply couldn't let this go by without sharing my opinion on it.

The 'sticks and stones' attitude is, simply put, complete and utter bullshit. Always has been, and always will be. Yes, we were taught this as children, but that doesn't mean it's valid...and in my personal opinion, this is not something that should ever be taught to children.

Do you really think that 'what is said to us is simply words'? Try talking to an African-American who has had racist epithets slung at them. Or a parent who has had a child commit suicide because of bullying. Or a person in the LGBT community who has experienced homophobia or transphobia. Do you think that 'sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me' is going to make any difference whatsoever to their experiences?

Words are not 'just words'. They have meanings behind them, often loaded meanings. Just because the people who speak them may not know (or care) what effect their words have on another person, that doesn't mean that the person to whom they are directed doesn't have the right to be hurt or offended.

I know that you probably were applying this to the "Merry Christmas"/"Happy Holidays" debate and didn't think of the wider implications of the 'sticks and stones' mentality, but the situations that I have brought up are the ones where that crap is preached the most. "So he called you a f*g. Big deal! Get over it, it's only a word." "N***er only has power if you give it power! Relax, it's nothing to get offended over." That kind of shit.

I'm sorry if this came off as brusque, or rude. I just absolutely despise this idea that has been instilled in us that 'words are just words' and that we shouldn't be offended by *anything* that's said to us. That's the kind of attitude that has let homophobia, bullying, and racism run rampant without any kind of meaningful resolution. less

words are just words though.

your mentality has allowed lawyers to sue successfully with bullshit charges like "mental anguish"

catering to people's "offense" is wrong and frankly weak.

real legal action can be made for physical pain, MAYBE emotional.

bringing up gays and blacks is the easy way to win, those groups have always been persecuted and words are simply words to them on the whole. check out Dr Martin Luther King for examples. less

This thread sure got derailed fast. It always amazes how personal "words" become to people.

xmas, christmas, yuletide, holiday. They are all implying good will, but when people use them they become tools of almost fanaticism instead of the offhand greeting they started out as. less

ideas are even less tangible than words.

bullets become dangerous when shot from a gun, ideas only become solid when enunciated.

ideas are indeed powerful, but being offended by them is silly. offense is based in emotion, not logic. logic makes everything less damning through perspective, its also fairly cold though. less

I think you're doubling down on your original post while ignoring an important word: context. Because I say Merry Christmas, and did so even when I was employed in customer service < 2 years ago. The kinds of words you're saying shouldn't offend people are all pretty benign, but to say all words IN GENERAL aren't offensive is pretty ignorant of the fact that humans are social creatures affected by the thoughts of others, thoughts generally represented by actions AND words. Oppression causes stress, a word originally used to describe forces that bend and contort solids, but then was applied to the human mind by doctors. Stress is unhealthy for the mind and words can definitely instill that if used in an oppressive way. Humans aren't robots made from the exact set of blueprints and could all experience things very differently from each other.

You're allowed to take bullshit in stride and not let it affect YOU, and you can have a philosophy that "it's best to not take other people's rude bullshit to heart", because that is in general a good idea, but humans are complex and can experience things very differently than each other. Sensitivity to certain words and their perspective of their use and history of use is one of those differing experiences.

People trying to defend the word 'Christmas' as if there's a 'War on Christmas' are living a made up fear giving to them by (the words of) places like FOX news to The Sun. It reminds me of when a straight gamer complained to Bioware that one could be gay in Dragon Age 2. The game developers responded with one great bit about being part of the privileged class:

"The truth is that privilege always lies with the majority. They’re so used to being catered to that they see the lack of catering as an imbalance. They don’t see anything wrong with having things set up to suit them, what’s everyone’s fuss all about? That’s the way it should be, any everyone else should be used to not getting what they want."

People are up in arms about their "right" to say Merry Christmas because they see businesses taking a logical move at attempting to be inclusive of everyone to attract more customers. Are people who say "Merry Christmas" being left out in the cold? No; but for once they see that they're not the only ones being tailored to and they don't like it.

Words have the potential to offend people but I don't think Christmas offends people. Being assumed to being Christian and taking part in Christian festivities offends people if they feel their culture and/or identity is being dismissed or ignored, but I can assure you there'll be no shortage of Christmas representation. I think it's mostly just Christians who think their holiday is being taking away because of the change of wording in commercials and city hall. Christmas doers are all allowed to say Merry Christmas to each other, but they'll be kidding themselves if they think this time of year is just for them or that others are going to play ball. less

I agree 100% I have long ago stopped reacting strongly to people trying to offend me and likewise have found a form of pity for those easily offended.

Life is too short to run around on such a short fuse.

I wonder how much of "christmas" will be replaced by commercialism. less

I don't know what it is that you agree with because you seemed to have missed the point. Your pity is condescending, as if you think you're better than others because they react to things you don't, like you're "sooo enlightened" to be "passed words". Is this your mantra for being rude to people around you and then telling them it's their fault for getting offended?

Words don't break bones but they can break hearts. Breaking one's heart is a metaphor for emotional and mental stability, which are just as valid to maintain as physical stability, which sticks and stones may threaten. The effect is an equation between the strength of the assaulter vs. the armor of the defender. You taking pity on someone with a different armor is your right, but you're also kind of an ass for being smug about how you'd handle the situation someone else deals with when you only know a very minor subset of their experience. Taking pity on them because you'd act differently if you were them is pretty small minded, because if you were them, how much of them are you? If it's the exact same set of molecules and biology under the exact same stimulae, then you're wrong; you'd react JUST like them. But you don't know them. You won't even consider them. That's why taking pity on them is pretty self centred. less

I have noticed lately that often, when the word Christmas is used, the speaker will be corrected by someone to use the word "holiday." I don't understand why this is a big deal. Even people who are not Christians celebrate the holiday, Christmas. The origin of the holiday IS, in fact, rooted in the Christian faith. It seems that rather than being INclusive of people of all faiths, the point of banning the word Christmas is more like to EXclude Christ. I have not been personally corrected-yet-but I wouldn't hesitate to defend Christmas. What about you, are YOU offended by the word Christmas? less

words are just words though.

your mentality has allowed lawyers to sue successfully with bullshit charges like "mental anguish"

catering to people's "offense" is wrong and frankly weak.

real legal action can be made for physical pain, MAYBE emotional.

bringing up gays and blacks is the easy way to win, those groups have always been persecuted and words are simply words to them on the whole. check out Dr Martin Luther King for examples. less

I read your post fine, thanks. I still think that you're the one who missed the point. Asking a Jewish person if they hate Christ is offensive, full stop, without any qualifiers. That's not difficult to understand.

Thanks for assuming that because I completely disagree with you, I must not have read your post.

Also, yes, people might be misinformed, or be "idiots", and that might be "expected", but I'll be damned if it's acceptable to me. less

I find that difficult to believe. My query wasn't with the fact that it's offensive, but rather the amount of offence taken.

And I didn't assume that, simply because you disagree. It's because you said 'You don't see anything offensive about ...(?) ' whereas I clearly state 'I don't really see those as out and out offensive'. That one sentence says that, while I find them offensive, I don't think they're offensive enough for the amount of ire that was conveyed in the original post. Therefore, I don't think you read my post, nor understood it, properly. Not because you disagree.

I don't really care if you find it unacceptable or not. less

But you are assuming I have not been in similar situations. Im not better because I am peaceful, I'm simply different. The thread was started to get my opinion, I did just that.

Smugness and truth look the same online through this emotionless, bland text. Im just telling you how I operate and giving my opinion with 100% honesty. You started debating my opinions. Why expend so much energy to tell me how im wrong? Why is this so important to you? less

You know, this has come up a bunch of different times on my FB in the past little while. So much so, in fact, that I finally had to make a filter blocking out any mention of the word "Christmas" because I was sick and tired of finding out that people I thought were cool are really religious bigots.

Here's how I see it (and this is just my opinion): Christmas is NOT the only religious holiday that takes place during this time of year. While Christians may be the religious majority, that doesn't mean that the celebration of Christmas is the only important one. Other religions (and non-religious individuals) have the right to celebrate (or not celebrate) as they see fit. I'm really, really sick and tired of hearing about the supposed "war on Christmas." No one is trying to steal Christmas, no one is trying to take it away. But there is something to be said about inclusion and the acceptance of other faiths and religions.

There was a story in the news up here (Canada) recently in which a school in Ontario chose to postpone their annual Christmas concert. Instead, they will be holding a craft fair (I think) and their concert will be moved to February; it will be a "holiday" concert, I believe.

There is such an uproar about this, it's ridiculous. The thing is, the school in question is a PUBLIC school, and the last time I checked, religion has no place in a public school. Guess what? Christmas is, at its roots, a religious holiday! Want your kids to be guaranteed an annual Christmas concert? Great! Put 'em in a private/religious school! This is Canada! We're a multicultural country (it's one of the greatest things about this nation, imo), so why should we cater to only one cultural/religious group? But apparently, because there are "only" nine non-Christian children in the school (or at least nine kids who don't celebrate Christmas) they don't matter and should just suck it up and deal (or sit in the principal's office while the other kids rehearse for the concert.) I actually have heard on several different occasions, "Well, if they don't like our traditions, they can just go back where they came from." Wait now. Who the hell says that just because those nine students don't celebrate Christmas, they're foreigners?

I just don't understand. Call it whatever the hell you want (Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, whatever) but don't force your own damn beliefs on anyone else. Why freak out over "Happy Holidays"/"S eason's Greetings" versus "Merry Christmas"? Good wishes are good wishes in my book, but apparently that's not the case in many peoples' minds.

Sorry for the rant, but you really have no idea how much this idea of "CHRISTMAS IS THE ONLY IMPORTANT HOLIDAY, HOW DARE YOU NOT SAY "MERRY CHRISTMAS"!!!" attitude irks me. This is not how you show goodwill toward mankind, people. Sheesh. less

For me, the answer to that question can be summed up here. less