-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Scarberry, Mark
Well, Rick, I probably would not wish you a Happy Hanukkah or a Happy Passover - pretty much for the same reason I wouldn't wish you a Happy Birthday on my birthday or wish my Canadian friends Happy Fourth of July. I know you do not celebrate those holidays so it makes little sense for me to tell you to enjoy celebrating a holiday that you don't celebrate because it isn't a holiday for you. As for being offended by having someone wish me a Merry Christmas. I don't get offended. But like most people, I appreciate being positively acknowledged for who I am and what I believe. I don't experience that when people tell me Merry Christmas. But that's a far cry from being offended. As for store displays, I am neutral between Happy Holidays displays or displays that say Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah etc. Both messages seem inclusive to me. A store that only has a Merry Christmas display doesn't offend me. But I don't feel positively acknowledged by that message standing alone. No one is obliged to say things that make me feel appreciated or acknowledged. I try to say things to people I like that makes them feel appreciated - but I don't insist on comparable expression from others. I suspect that with regard to spoken messages by sales clerks, some businesses may think that having clerks say Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza etc. is something of a mouthful. So they tell their clerks to say Happy Holidays as a way of being inclusive. That doesn't strike me as being anti anything - although it doesn't provide a specific acknowledgement of anyone's holiday. Alan Brownstein _______________________________________________ To post, send message to Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others.
