Wednesday, December 8, 2021

Do The Math!


Dear Friends,

“Happy Holidays!” said the sales clerk as I walked away. I turned back to her and looked in her eyes for a moment. “Merry Christmas!,” I responded. Her face lit up and she said, “Oh yes. Merry Christmas! Thank you for saying that to me.” No other customers were in line so I asked if her  company told her that she should say happy holidays and she looked a little confused. She said that they hadn’t told the employees what to say but everyone said happy holidays and she assumed that was just what she supposed to say. We had a nice conversation about our Christian faith for a few minutes...

I have no qualms about saying “Merry Christmas” to people after they have just wished me a happy holiday. It always frees people to then tell me, “Merry Christmas.” I do not hesitate to say “Merry Christmas” because I understand the math. The most recent surveys show that 96% of people in America celebrate Christmas! That number may surprise you but even 81% of non-Christians in our Nation celebrate Christmas. 

That means that eight out of every ten atheists, agnostics and people of other religions celebrate Christmas. One third of American Jews have a Christmas tree in their home. 76% of Buddhists and 73% of Hindus celebrate Christmas. On Al Abrbiya News, a commentator complained about the increasing number of American Muslims who are now celebrating Christmas. Of course most non-Christians view Christmas more as a cultural holiday than a celebration of the birth of Christ, but they are certainly not offended when we wish them a “Merry Christmas.”

When you do the math, you realize that if you say “Merry Christmas” to one hundred people, you may say that to four people who don’t celebrate Christmas. Who are those four? Atheists who prefer to sit out the holiday. Wiccans and other Pagans who prefer to celebrate the winter solstice. And the one million Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Church of Christ denomination who don’t acknowledge Christmas. But of those four percent, only a very small percentage admits to being actually “offended” if someone says “Merry Christmas” to them. 

According to some atheist websites, most atheists who do not celebrate Christmas, are not at all offended if someone wishes them a “Merry Christmas.” They just say “Merry Christmas” right back. I was unable to find actual statistics on how many people are genuinely offended by someone saying “Merry Christmas” but a conservative guess would be that 1-2% of Americans might possibly be offended. And that would mostly be those who are obsessed with being politically correct.

Some call it a “war on Christmas” but it’s a very powerful movement by those on the politically far left to normalize Christmas as a non-religious secular holiday. While recent polls show that the self-described “liberal progressives” are only about 6% percent of our society, they are the ones most offended and outraged by Christians and Christmas. Because they control much of the media and our Country’s educational systems, they are most effectively leading our Country in its secular direction, and I’m personally not worried about offending them since they are already offended because I’m a white, Christian, male.

If I say “Merry Christmas” to one hundred people and one or two are possibly offended, I’m okay with those odds. That’s because you and I offend people all the time. That’s life. To offend means to cause another person to feel upset, annoyed, or displeased. 

Let’s just take me as an example. I offend others just because of my gender, skin color and faith. Polls show that 32-34% of non-White Americans will not like me because of my race. Some women will instantly dislike me because they simply don’t like confident males. I’ve offended “woke” friends who have “canceled” our friendship because I believe in the Bible that they say contains “hate speech.” I’ve even offended fundamentalist Christians because of my beard! When I order a medium-rare hamburger in a restaurant, I no doubt upset and offend the animal-lover vegan (5% of all Americans) who’s picking the bacon bits out of his/her salad at the next table. 

And you my friend, offend (upset, displease) people simply because of your skin color, race, religion, economic status,  etc., and you really upset them when you remind them of that dreadful ex-wife or ex-husband! Knowing how offensive I am for just being me is why I’m okay with wishing someone a Merry Christmas and potentially annoying 1-2% of them for doing so. You and I both offend a greater percentage of people just by showing up and breathing!

Even some dedicated church-going Christians have succumbed to the politically correct movement that celebrates Santa as the reason for the season. We need to deflate the family of Snowmen and put the Nativity back on our front lawns. We need to stop being ashamed of our faith. We need to remind people that Christmas is about Jesus. We need to boldly tell people “Merry Christmas,” because  when we do, they are then empowered with the same boldness to tell others “Merry Christmas.” It’s time to let people know, “Hey, it’s okay to say Merry Christmas!”

1 comment:

  1. There's a lot of information to unpack here but but very good and thoughtprovoking!

    ReplyDelete