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December 24, 2007
Merry Christmas
This time of year I like it when people wish me a Merry Christmas. I enjoy using that greeting myself. It is comfortable; it is traditional; it is secular.
Of all the holidays that have Christian origins, Christmas (and, I suppose, Halloween for quite different reasons) has the most secular trappings. Christmas is a time when it is okay to be merry, when it is okay to upbeat, when it is right to be in contact with old friends who have otherwise drifted away. And oh yes, Christmas is a time when it is okay to indulge others and yourself. It's also the time when Shirley and I select our charitable giving for the next year. For us, part of the Christmas tradition is our small effort to mitigate the luck factor in life and our net negative contribution to the ecosystem.
If you want to greet me with "Happy Hanukkah," "Joyous Solstice," "Habari Gani" or, yes, even "Happy Holidays," I'm okay with that. It's wonderful that you give me warm greetings in the spirit of your tradition. But I am a secularist whose secularism is the product of the Christian tradition.
And so, I wish my readers and your families and friends a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Posted by Duane Smith at December 24, 2007 7:16 AM | Read more on Odds and Ends |
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