The Games We Play With A Holiday That Dare Not Speak Its Name
Throughout the year there are ten major Christian celebrations, six Islamic, four Hindi, seven Jewish and five Sikh. They each have a name and many are linked to the sighting of a new moon and some move around, such as Easter , but as far as I can establish in 2008 , only March 21st did any celebrations coincide. ( Good Friday, Holi, Purim, on the 21st and Milad al-Nabi on the 20th Mach )
So why do we avoid the use of the name of the holiday. Christmas has become “Happy Holiday†so as not to offend. As a holiday, or holy day to use the original meaning of the word, we imply it has some significance but then seem to avoid the actual name of the holiday. Yet all others falling earlier in the year are recognised be they Eid, Easter, Diwali or Shavout.
On December 22nd it is Hanukkah, I am certain the Jewish faith will not have confused this with Christmas on the 25th December, nor the Islamic New year 1430 on the 29th December. So are we guilty of diluting the specific greeting so as not to inadvertently offend, rolling the celebrations in a global greeting that dilutes the significance entirely. A card with “please delete where appropriate†might be more appropriate! But the educational significance of recognising other religions would be lost.
Whilst educating our children to understand important facts we play some incredible games with the concept of Christmas to avoid offence. Should we just tell the truth.
