What’s Wrong With Saying Merry Christmas?

  By Dan Wilson

 It seems that as soon as the snow starts to fly this question rears its ugly head. But it’s usually the “other side” that raises it, offended that some people are offended by such an “innocuous” salutation. So I’m going to take a stab at explaining it, being one of those who does take offense to it.

 The simple answer is this: there’s absolutely nothing wrong with saying Merry Christmas to someone else. That is of course, if you’re saying it to someone who has the same beliefs as you do, such as a family member, close friend or someone you know from church.

 However, if the recipient, let’s say a total stranger you encounter on the street or at the shopping mall, has a “problem” with Christmas, Christianity in general or is affiliated with a different religion (or rejects religion altogether), there might be some friction.

 But that’s what one assumes when one says Merry Christmas to someone they don’t know during the HOLY-day season, isn’t it? One assumes the person a) is Christian, b) is someone who celebrates Christmas anyway, regardless of religion, or c) won’t be offended if a complete stranger says “Merry Christmas” to him or her. Well, we all know what happens when we assume things. 

 But how could anyone get upset over a simple, harmless little greeting? It’s because it’s not a simple little greeting – it’s a religious greeting. And religions are rarely harmless.

 Imagine, a few short days or weeks after September 11^th, 2001, someone of middle-eastern descent passes another person, a complete stranger (oh, let’s make this person a white, Christian, third-generation American male) on the street in New York City and says, “Assalamu Aleikom Wa Rahmatoh Allah”.*

 What do you think this all-American boy’s reaction will be? Obviously I can’t know what every red-blooded American is thinking, but for this experiment I can offer an opinion. I think he might get upset. I think he might be offended. I’m not saying he would be right to be upset, but I can certainly understand it, given the circumstances and the way Muslims were depicted in the news back then (and still are).

 He might believe Muslims were responsible for the destruction of the World Trade Center buildings; he might believe all Muslims are terrorists; he might believe Islam is a religion of violence; he might believe this individual is a threat to his way of life, his country’s security and his own religion.

Whether he’s right or not is irrelevant, what he believes is. And what people believe, as opposed to what they know, has been the cause of much suffering, persecution and slaughter throughout much of our history. So greeting a total stranger with “Assalamu Aleikom Wa Rahmatoh Allah,” might not be the wisest thing to do in this situation.

 In fact, I’ve met a number of Muslims over the years and not one of them has ever greeted me in this way. Come to think of it, no Jewish person has ever approached me and said, “Shalom,”  “Shanah Tovah,” or “chag Chanukah sameach,” – not even during Hannukah.

 Maybe that’s because they don’t assume everyone believes in the same God they do, or maybe because they don’t believe in flashing their religion in everybody’s face, or maybe they know it might offend people of other faiths – perhaps to the point of violence – if they did, or maybe they have just a little more respect about these things than some Christians do.

 My point is that to a lot of people, religion is a deeply personal, private and emotional subject. This is also true for those who choose NOT to be religious at all, like atheists, agnostics and antireligious people. To flaunt it and display it in public, knowing that many do not share their religious views is both arrogant and disrespectful.

 How many? According to Statistics Canada in 2001, Christians comprised 77% of the population while non-Christians made up 6.4%. An additional 16.5% of Canadians claimed NO religious affiliation. Although the next census won’t be out for a year or two (based on 2011 figures), projections for 2006 and 2031 show the number of Christians in Canada will continue to fall, estimating 75% and 65% respectively.

 In fact, data from StatsCan’s 2009 General Social Survey shows the only growth and persistence of religious traditions are among immigrants – most of them being Muslim, Hindu and Sikh – with 50.4% saying their faith is highly important to them, compared with 30.6% of native-born Canadians when asked the same thing. The survey results also show that for people born in this country, 28% consider themselves non-religious, compared with just 1% prior to 1971.

 There are myriad reasons why people reject religion in general (and Christianity in particular), but here are just a few:

 For some people, religion has less to do with a heavenly creator who loves you and more to do with controlling people. Some believe that much of the world’s problems are caused by religion. Perhaps the idea of worshipping something or someone for which there is absolutely no evidence is silly.

 Maybe the idea of a perfect and all-powerful (yet jealous and spiteful) God who allows children to suffer and die from leukemia and hates homosexuals (commanding they all be killed) is just too much for some people.

 Perhaps the Bible and other holy books are too violent, and condone the plundering of our planet, the slaughter of people with different beliefs, and the oppression and exploitation of others, including non-humans.

 Whatever the reason, one thing is certain: there are nearly 7,000,000 Canadians that are NOT Christian, according to the 2001 census. Assuming everyone you pass on the street is Christian and celebrates Christmas is therefore rather… presumptuous.

 I can’t stop you from believing what you want to believe, no matter how silly, misguided or harmful I think it is. But don’t be surprised the next time you wish someone “Merry Christmas” on the street and they tell you to stick it in your corncob pipe and smoke it – because he or she might be of another faith or worse, someone who believes the same way I do.

 *Assalamu Aleikom Wa Rahmatoh Allah is Arabic for, “Peace and mercy of Allah be upon you.”

Dan Wilson is a Niagara resident and frequent contributor to commentary on Niagara At Large.

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