Merry Christmas! Happy Chanukah! Merry Festivus! Happy Kwanzaa!

Say

"Merry Christmas!" to Christians.


Say

"Happy Chanukah!" to Jewish people.


Say

"Merry Festivus/Happy Solstice!" to non-believers.


Say

"Happy Kwanzaa!" to Africans who might celebrate Kwanzaa.


and Say

"Happy Holidays!" while in public, because it's polite.

No one is stealing a Christian's right to say "Merry Christmas!" in public as a private citizen: at home, on the street, at a business, or in a government building. Employees working for government and business, however, are different. They sell products to and provide services for everyone, which includes Christians, Jews, Africans, and Non-Believers. They SHOULD say "Happy Holidays!" to customers as a sign of respect. Canada is, constitutionally, a multi-cultural society, and in a multi-cultural society the proper holiday greeting is "Happy Holidays!"

In my opinion, it's best for a private citizen to say "Happy Holidays!" in public if only to avoid the slightly embarassing situation when a non-Christian responds, "I don't celebrate Christmas" to "Merry Christmas!" In other words, it's the polite thing to do.

Among Christians and some non-believers of Christians heritage, such as myself, a heartfelt "Merry Christmas!" is definitely welcome and appropriate. So while I respectfully disagree with you that "they" are stealing your right to say "Merry Christmas", I still want to wish you a

Merry Christmas!