Happy Holidays from People Politico

people-politico-belief-acceptanceHere at peoplepolitico.com I would like to wish you all a happy and safe holiday season. Yes, you read that right, Happy Holidays.

Not:

  • Felices Las Posadas
  • Happy Channukkah
  • Happy Day of Ashura
  • Happy Eid-al-Adha
  • Happy Hogmanay
  • Happy Kwanzaa
  • Happy St. Lucia’s Day
  • Happy St. Nicholas Day
  • Happy Wintertime
  • Happy Yule
  • Meri Tennō tanjōbi
  • Merry Bodhi Day
  • Merry Christmas
  • Merry Midwinter
  • Or any other of the many seasonal greetings.

There seems to be a common misconception that if you do not wish people a Merry Christmas during the month of December, you are somehow demeaning or slighting Christians and their particular holiday of Christmas. However, saying “Happy Holidays” has nothing to do with slighting Christians. Instead, it easily includes more of our fellows, Christians and beyond, offering a more rounded and universal holiday greeting. It is a sign of respect to everyone, including Christians, acknowledging the wide and varied beliefs of those around you. This country might be predominantly Christian, but there is no reason to exclude those that are not.

A Succinct Account Of All The Religions

A Succinct Account Of All The Religions

Saying “Happy Holidays” shows respect for neighbors, children, grandparents, co-workers, and all the other various people that surround us in our everyday lives. We all have different backgrounds, different beliefs, and different ideas about the world.

This greeting is meant to be a warm, friendly saying to wish people a happy season, regardless of a person’s individual beliefs.

So the next time you want to wish someone well during the holiday season, remember if you are not sure of a person’s beliefs, saying “Happy Holidays” should be a welcomed greeting. Those who insist on using one particular greeting may be causing those who do not celebrate that particular holiday to feel excluded.  We live in a country whose main tenet is inclusion of people from many different cultures. Our country was founded by people who wanted to exercise religious freedom, and be free from religious persecution.

The intent of a more inclusive greeting is to hopefully make someone else’s day better, and show that you accept those around you for who they are. Offering those around you goodwill and acceptance makes the world a better place. Isn’t that what the holiday season is all about?

Happy Holidays from People Politico

 

Season’s Greetings from People Politico

people-politico-obama-family-nov-2011

The presidential holiday letter was released this last weekend in USA Today. The letter was well written and had very little real politics presented in it. Of course there were a few small things but overall it was what you would expect from anyone else in your family. The letter had a quick mention of everyone in the Obama family and what they have been up to. His list of happenings was a bit more extravagant than the rest of us!

Of course, FOX News jumped all over his Thanksgiving Address and this holiday letter. Seriously, can they give it a break for 5 seconds? It is so agonizing how they push to find something wrong with everything. There is something fundamentally wrong with this whole outlook on the world. It comes as no surprise though as FOX news takes the cake for getting things wrong. More on this in another article.

The point is, can’t we all just stop for a while? Let’s take a few breaths and offer each other good will? That is what the holidays are about. We need to keep this poisonous vitriol out of this time of the year, at least out of the Season’s Greetings. We are all American’s aren’t we? Can’t we be civil enough to reflect on the good things in life and wish the same for each other? Who knows, we might actually surprise ourselves and find out we can get along after all.

If we learned to get along with one another, we could learn to actually get some things done in America. If we could use this idea of peace and good will towards each other we might have a shot at tackling some of the issues at hand.

For now, take a step back and remember why we celebrate this time of year. Why we should look to each other with empathetic and kind eyes. Keep peace and good will at the forefront, and it might just become a habit.

Here is a snippet of the Presidential Family’s holiday letter.

On behalf of the entire Obama family, I’d like to wish you and your loved ones a happy and healthy holiday season. For us, the holidays are a chance to eat some good food, sing some holiday songs (occasionally out of tune), affirm our faith, and spend time with the family and friends who make our lives so blessed.

It can be strange, living in the White House. After all, every time my family piles into the car, Secret Service piles in with us. But there at the Memorial, as we held hands in silence, we were just another American family. We felt the way I hope you feel, as you celebrate the holidays: surrounded by the ones we love, confident in the promise of tomorrow, and blessed to live in this great country.

Read the entire letter here: The Obama Holiday Letter

So have a happy and good natured holiday season. Wish those around you good health and good living. Use this time to reflect on what we have, what we can offer and how we treat one another. It never is the time to focus on the worst of us, but doing so is nearly blasphemous during this time of the year.

From our hearts to yours, your family, your friends, and your loved ones, have a happy holiday season from PeoplePolitico.com.