People that say this are so silly.
You’re not being oppressed. It’s just that saying merry Christmas to a crowd of diverse backgrounds is like wishing your mum a happy fathers day. She won’t be mad or offended, she’ll just think she should have breastfed you.
Yeah, I say Happy Holidays to someone I know who obviously doesn’t celebrate Christmas.
Also, it is weird for conservative Americans to be offended not greeting “Happy Christmas”, when the migrant ancestors of modern Americans did not celebrate it as a holiday until more recently. Protestants thought celebrating Christmas is a Catholic abomination. Look how tables have turned and acting hypocritical as always…
Or telling someone “happy birthday “ when they’re in a group of people who aren’t having birthdays themselves. Only a three year old would get upset that they’re not included.
Back in the day, Christians would build churches on ground that was holy to other religions, and invent Christian holidays on the same day. So imagine you’re a mediaeval pagan, it’s time to celebrate the solstice, and you go to the sacred grove where the local goddess likes to hang out. And the trees of the sacred grove have all been cut down and used to build a church in their place, and the Christians welcome you in and say “merry Christmas”. Well, it’s still the only way to pay respect to the goddess, so you go in, and you do your traditional ceremonies, and you bring your kids so they can learn the traditions. And ten years later your kids are celebrating Christmas and they’ve forgotten all about their own culture.
That’s why Christmas was invented. Christmas was invented so you could say Merry Christmas to other religions and steal their heritage.
Maybe it’s different in the US and other cultures, but as an atheist I’ve never seen the phrase as a very religious thing. I say “merry Christmas” and “happy holidays” indistinctly and I’ve never seen anyone offended by the use of either, independtly of their faith (or lack thereof).
I say “merry Christmas” on the actual Christmas day though.
