Jason Evans is the publisher of the Arctic Sounder. - Arctic Sounder Photo / for Alaska Newspapers

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Holiday greeting should not be a source of frustration

December 23rd 3:18 pm | Jason Evans

In recent years, it has become politically incorrect in many circles to say, "Merry Christmas." Instead, happy holidays is substituted, assumedly to protect those who celebrate a holiday other than Christmas.

The controversy surrounding the use of the term "Merry Christmas" seems to be counter to the whole point of a Christians' beliefs about the birth of Jesus their savior. Jesus came to the world to spread the message that all people are worthy of God's grace.

Christmas should be a time where we cele- brate our mutual humanity, embracing all people and respecting all beliefs. If you are a Christian celebrating Christmas during the holiday season, it would be expected that you would wish other fellow Christians a Merry Christmas.

But if you are not a Christian and you are celebrating some other holiday during this holiday season, it would be expected that you might wish someone a blessing for the holiday they are celebrating. The Christian thing to do would be to be spreading joy and love to all by wishing all a Happy Holiday season.

After all, as a Christian are you offended when someone wishes you Happy Halloween?

Probably not. In fact, many Christians probably wish others a Happy Halloween despite Halloween being an ancient druid celebration honoring those who died in the prior year and have risen up to roam the earth for the night.

The real Christian holiday is after Halloween on November 1st-All Saints day and November 2nd-All Souls day, but how often do you hear Christians wishing everyone a Happy All Saints/Souls day or even celebrating those holidays for that matter.

Either way, it should be perfectly acceptable to wish all your fellow humans glad tidings, whether that is by saying Merry Christmas or by saying Happy Holidays to spread the real meaning of Christmas — God's love for all.

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Copyright 2012 The Arctic Sounder is a publication of Alaska Media, LLC. This article is © 2012 and limited reproduction rights for personal use are granted for this printing only. This article, in any form, may not be further reproduced without written permission of the publisher and owner, including duplication for not-for-profit purposes. Portions of this article may belong to other agencies; those sections are reproduced here with permission and Alaska Media, LLC makes no provisions for further distribution.