"Jesus is the reason for the season". If this year is like recent ones, we will soon be hearing that everywhere. Depends.
If this is the Christmas season for you, then yes, you are correct. But it is perfectly legitimate for someone to see it as the Hanukkah season, Kwanzaa season, Solstice season, or just winter.
Jesus is not the reason for any of those. In fact, most of those predate Jesus. Some of them even predate history, or mankind.
Equally factual: America is in the throes of becoming, once again, more like its theoretical self. You know, the hope of the world, a nation of immigrants. Melted into Americans we may be, but we are not melted into white Anglo-Saxon Christians. Bill O'Reilly has faced it, not that he is in any way happy about it, but at least he has pulled his head up and looked around.
The first European Americans may have been Christian, but even then, other religions were already here. And those of other western faiths followed shortly thereafter. Even more divergent believers were brought here as the centuries went by, with the expectation of course that they would convert. Some did, but many didn't.
In the last few decades,(thank you Madalyn), many of us have become brave enough to admit we are not Christians and to insist on our right to believe what we actually do and behave accordingly.
Happy Holidays is not an attempt to remove religion from the season, it is just a recognition that many DIFFERENT faiths are celebrating holidays and wish their adherents, all the adherents, a happy time no matter what.
So, as a 21st century American, floundering techologically, but keeping up pretty well culturally,
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
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