From Happy Holidays to Merry Christmas

Christmas is celebrated on 25th December around the world. It is celebrated to mark the birth of Lord Jesus Christ, who while on earth identified himself as the Son of God.

The traditional Christmas narrative, the Nativity of Jesus, delineated in the New Testament says that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in accordance with the Biblical prophecy. When Joseph and Mary arrived in the city, the inn had no room and so they were offered a stable where the Christ Child was soon born, with angels proclaiming this news to shepherds who then further disseminated the information.

It will be a surprise to many that there has been a deliberate effort across the USA and many other places to avoid the word Christmas. Instead of wishing Merry Christmas, they wish Happy Holiday. For example, Carnegie Mellon University’s Machine Learning Department’s Facebook page writes, “… we wish you a happy holiday season and a happy new year!” Defying the American norm, the University of Oxford’s Facebook page writes, “Merry Christmas everyone!”

In the same way, Wikipedia founder and writers changed the meaning of BCE from “Before Christian Era” to “Before Common Era”. Such a list of deliberate “curation” may be countless depending upon where you live. No wonder, Santa Claus today is a key figure representing Christmas with the message of joy. The other important messages of Christmas i.e. peace on earth and goodwill to mankind have been kind of lost.

The question however is, what would the world miss if we limit the message of Christmas to that of saying ‘Happy Holidays’?

The two most important themes of Christmas are God and mankind. The first and foremost requirement for a prospering society would be a belief in their Creator. This is usually different for different people, depending upon their country of birth, society, family or religion. However, the sense of accountability to an ultimate power makes us moral. In my opinion, this is a unique identifier of humanity vis-à-vis other forms of life. This unique characteristic makes human to take decisions which are not based on instinct or impulse. The sense of morality even goes beyond rationality, to make us what we truly are, the humans.

While loving God, if we miss the second point of loving our neighbors, the consequences are far-reaching. We cannot thrive as a global family unless we love each other. This love has to transcend our country, race, religion, and ethnicity. Peace with fellow human beings is a requirement for a peaceful world. The world living on the edge of nuclear warheads today needs to practice the message of love beyond anything else.

Love, joy, and peace. This is the true message of Christmas for humanity. It obviously cannot be summed up in wishing ‘Happy Holidays!’.

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