'Happy holidays' is fine in several contexts, such as at work where you don't know the faith or not of many people you communicate with (such as by e-mail). It both respects religion (as two religions have holy days at this time) and people's freedom and privacy.

The row over it is really a whole lot of nothing, a tempest in a teapot brewed by the neocons to keep the Protestant religious right cheering them on and distracting the masses from the quagmire in Iraq.

'Season's greetings', however, is pathetic, ignoring religion, and I'm glad to see it fading away.

BTW, merry Christmas.
The young fogey | Homepage | 12.23.05 - 8:51 am | #

+JMJ+

Good post.

Merry Christmas to you, JMT!
Enbrethieliel | Homepage | 12.24.05 - 12:09 am | #

It's really so not the neocons. I know this for a fact.
Samuel J. Howard | Homepage | 12.25.05 - 5:15 pm | #

One of my theology teachers in high school railed against the "Xmas" abbreviation. He himself used--and he urged us to use--the full chi-rho, the P and X combined [as it is unreproduceable in hmtl, I'll use represent it as (PX)]. Just as you note with the X by itself, this meant that Christmas become (PX)mas, Christians were (PX)tians, and Christ was Himself (PX). The habit still sticks with me today.
Bob | 12.26.05 - 6:40 pm | #

Did you write to him on this matter? If not, you should have.
michelle | 01.05.06 - 7:40 am | #

Also, can we not send "seasons greetings" cards in the summertime? Summer's a season, and, well, there's nothing wrong with greeting people then...
michelle | 01.05.06 - 7:42 am | #

Michelle,
I was asking my friend Sarah about that when discussing her ex-bf's card. I asked why we only say "season's greetings" in the winter and say "hey how's it going" in the spring, summer, and fall.
Jeanetta | Homepage | 01.05.06 - 10:41 am | #