Dec 212013
 

First of all, take whatever seasons greetings you would like from the list above, and ignore the others.

And now onto the ranting.

Reading some US-based Atheist blogs, it appears that our friends on the other side of the pond can sometimes get a little wound up about what seasons greetings they receive. To the extent that a woman has been punched for saying “Happy Holidays” – hopefully the assailant will get prosecuted for ‘aggravated assault’ or something equivalent. After all getting physical with someone who has deliberately insulted you is wrong; getting physical with someone who has just wished you well is downright evil.

Except for occasional outbreaks of gross stupidity such as Birmingham’s winterval controversy, people in the UK are just a little bit more sensible about the whole situation. In particular christmas is not seen as an exclusively christian event – to the extent that I’m seen as a little weird when I wish people “Happy Winter Solstice” (and I’m happy to be thought of as weird!) even though people know I’m not a christian.

Christmas isn’t a christian event? Of course not. Even christians don’t do the religious thing over the whole period; for most there is just a short christmas midnight mass and then it is back to eating and drinking too much in the company of family. If I were the christian god, I’d be shouting “Get on your knees you miserable sinners” the whole period.

And bear in mind that some of us get confused as well: I recently wished someone a “Happy Winchester” as a seasons greeting.