The War on Inclusion, Pt. 1.

Happy Birthday Everyone

Oh, it’s not everybody’s birthday? That’s kind of awkward. Not bad, of course. But just silly, really, to be saying happy Birthday to someone not celebrating a birthday. So let me try again.

Have a nice day, everyone.

There that should be fine. What’s that? Oh sure, it’s someone’s birthday. No doubt. But the birthday girl/boy wouldn’t be offended by that would they? I mean, it’s not like I said “Have a nice day unless it’s your birthday in which case screw you.”

They are offended? Whatever for?

This last leap is, of course, the crux of the War on Christmas® meme that Fox News and others on the Right have been fomenting the last few holid– sorry, Christma- . . . oh just screw it – seasons.

The War on Christmas, in the eyes of people who believe in such things, exists on a couple of fronts. One is the extent of Christmas observance in public schools, about which more anon. Another is an apparent trend among retailers to greet shoppers with “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.”

Fretting about this second front is uncommon silliness, even for the likes of Bill O’Reilly. After all, “Happy Holidays” encompasses all the holidays. Christmas first and foremost, but also Hanukah, Kwanza. Chinese New Year and Tet are coming up, some years Ramadon is around this time, Western New Year for rigid secularists among us. . . it’s just a holiday time of year. It’s not like stores are saying – as I did recently – Blessed Winter Solstice, or something else patently exclusionary. The point isn’t to favor non-Christians but simply to include everybody.

It’s worth remembering that the entities making this decision are large profit-making corporations. These companies don’t pick a wall color without focus-grouping it to death. I’m sure piles of corporate research exist showing, not that non-Christians are offended by “Merry Christmas,” but that they like being included with a “Happy Holidays” greeting.

I decided to blog on this subject when my family stopped at a doll store in Amish country on our way out east last week. The proprietors of this independent small business wear their Christian faith proudly, from the contemporary Christian music piped through the store to the “Everything I Need to Know I Learned from the Bible” poster dominating the wall behind the counter. The family and I are – trust me on this – indistinguishable as non-Christains. Yet the owner said as we were leaving “have a nice holiday.”

Had she suddenly turned? Was she attempting to unravel Western Civilization? I think not. Instead, whe was being inclusive instead of assuming that we were Christian and bing exclusive. In other words, she was being polite.

It that’s not a Christian act, what is?

Some LINKS added after the fact:

If you happen to be in Lancaster, PA with a hankering for doll paraphernalia, check out Aimee and Dalia's Doll Outlet. Despite the overtly religious bent of their enterprise and despite the boycott led by the Pro-Life Action League, they still stock American Girl clothes and books.

After I started drafting this post using the "Happy Birthday" hook, I found this contra post using a similar framing device from occasional poster (and imminent SummitCo blogrollee) judeandelise. Great minds think differently in like ways, apparently.

A couple of "chill out already" pieces have emerged on the Right. This one from the National Review and this one from Micheal Meckler. It's great to hear some cooler heads on this. This was also about the closest to real criticism of Fox News I've ever heard from a house organ like Natty R, and monkeys very nearly flew out of my butt as a result.

If perhaps you doubt the significance of Chanukah to Jewish life, check out the Chanuka posts by Jill Miller Zimon. The post for the final night of Chanukah is here. I've read these a bit wistfully since the Jewish family with whom we celebrated Chanuka has given up on NEO and I miss them. Regardless of your personal connection, bear in mind that folks who object to saying "Happy Holidays," object to including people like Jill into the conversation.